Aussie Life
Aussie life
Picture this: it’s a stinking hot arvo in Sydney. The sun’s cooking everything like a snag on a BBQ, and…
Language
I have recently come across the worst case of language vandalism I’ve encountered for many years. Namely, the claim that…
Aussie life
Everyone has a Dan Andrews statue opinion. After two years of Covid lockdowns, rings of steel, #IluvDan hashtags and daily…
Language
Given the time of year we must once again be ready to pull sour faces and make rude noises when…
Aussie life
‘When I was 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have him around,’ wrote Mark Twain,…
Aussie life
At the same time you were hearing about the second attempt on Donald Trump’s life, you can be sure that…
Language
Speccie reader Peter has written asking me to write something about ‘begs the question’, which, he says, is ‘regularly misused…
Aussie life
The recent sci-fi movie Paradise Hills delivered one gem for this viewer; the choristers’ white ruffs setting off each young…
Language
Speccie reader Raymond has asked me to explain the meaning of the compound noun ‘common sense.’ It was Aristotle who…
Aussie life
Recently the ABC online, and the Weekend Australian, both published detailed articles about problems within the Northern Territory Aboriginal communities.…
Language
Can ‘difficult’ be used as a verb? Surely not, I hear you mutter. But on the web I encountered the…
Aussie life
Cynics will say it is just a coincidence that Qantas sacked its longest-serving board member a few days after I…
Language
Strangely, the latest word Kamala Harris has chosen to apply to Donald Trump is ‘unserious’. (Or perhaps it was her…
Ausslie life
To paraphrase Sarah Palin, once the convention cheer squad has disappeared and the Styrofoam columns have been removed all you…
Language
Speccie reader Alan has asked me to explain ‘toxic masculinity’ adding ‘why is there never any mention of toxic femininity?’.…
Language
Speccie reader John is puzzled by an American expression that we’ve heard only recently in Australia: when a politician is…
Aussie life
You can take the boy out of advertising, but you can’t take the copywriter out of the middle-aged man. I…
Language
Kamala Harris keeps telling us she wants ‘equity’ not ‘equality.’ What does she mean? She is using ‘equality’ to means…
Aussie life
O wad some pow’r the giftie gie us, To see oursels as ithers see us! said Robbie Burns. And nobody…
Language
There are times when I am tempted to think that English, in general terms, is richer and more colourful than…
Language
A Speccie reader has been in touch to complain about the use of the expressions ‘wind farm’ and ‘solar farm’.…
Aussie life
Off the beach of Ipanema where the tall and tanned girls go, they’ve found Brazilian sharks with cocaine in their…
Aussie life
Imagine if, instead of returning to the USA to become its third president, Thomas Jefferson had died in France on…
Language
A fellow Speccie writer asked me about what he called the ‘absurd equivalence’ being drawn between ‘anti-Semitism’ and ‘Islamophobia’. He…
Aussie life
According to Treasurer Jim Chalmers, increasing competition among supermarket giants will help deliver lower grocery prices. ‘If it is more…
