Aussie Life
Aussie life
It used to be believed that treaties could be agreed only between sovereign nations. No longer. The Victorian government, forward-looking…
Language
When a letter to the editor called a political talking head a ‘dingbat’ I searched for the origin of the…
Aussie life
Last week my contacts at Latrobe Valley Law Courts sent me a digital scan of one page of the Leongatha…
Language
Speccie reader (Joshua) asks about the expression ‘unrealised capital gains’ and in particular that worrying adjective. Well, ‘unrealised’ has been…
Aussie life
US eyes Darwin Port prise. That, in case you missed it, was the hedline on the frunt page of last…
Language
Calling all lovers of our language – the semicolon is at risk of becoming extinct! Forget about the bilby or…
Aussie life
They call America the Land of the Free; it’s right there in the New York Times small print. But the…
Language
Speccie reader Alan writes to say he was having a conversation about Liberal party factions, and (strangely enough!) two expressions…
Aussie life
In the 1980s there was a popular watering hole on Sydney’s Lower North Shore called The Plum. Its popularity with…
Language
I have wanted to write a column on ‘common sense’ for a long time – but it is a surprisingly…
Aussie life
In 1968 the anthropologist Bill Stanner gave the Boyer Lectures on ABC Radio and coined the phrase ‘the great Australian…
Language
Joe Hildebrand excitedly told me about a new word he had come across while doing a Times cryptic crossword puzzle…
Aussie life
Of all the Gospel parables, I’ve always thought the one that would be hardest to pitch to Hollywood would be…
Language
The New York Times has coined the expression ‘dark Woke’ to describe the current strategy being used by the Democratic…
Aussie life
Reading the works of Confucius and other Chinese ancients recently, with their guidance for a life of introspection and honesty…
Language
In the Weekend Australian I read a review of a book about AI and its disastrous impact on undergraduate student…
Aussie life
I happened to be in London when the UK’s Supreme Court confirmed what many people have long suspected about women…
Language
Everyone who has ever worked in an election campaign knows what a ‘corflute’ is. We have all seen them even…
Aussie life
The evolutionary psychologist Gad Saad once described woke as a mind virus. For the past decade, Western intellectual and cultural…
Language
At the end of this year (as every year) the dictionaries of the world will announce their choice for ‘word…
Aussie life
Like every country whose peace and prosperity has depended, for as long as most of its population has been alive,…
Language
In a recent post-budget interview Treasurer Jim Chalmers claimed his tax cuts (worth about a Mars Bar a day) are…
Aussie life
It’s hard to imagine climate fanatics smashing roof-loads of solar panels, gluing themselves to wind turbines or scrawling offensive semi-literate…
Language
Are you a ‘pejorist’? I wouldn’t blame you if you were. I am currently reading Melanie Phillips’ brilliant book The…
Aussie life
A sad legacy of Dark Emu, or rather of the embarrassing embrace of its ludicrous central thesis by our education…
