The Aussie accent has been lambasted as “lazy”, but this view doesn’t come from the facts.
- Professor of Linguistics, Monash University
Ever wonder where the words ‘sport’, ‘umpire’ and ‘drubbing’ come from? Here’s a short primer of sporting lingo ahead of the AFL and NRL Grand Finals.
It was a rocky beginning for English spelling. Then things got worse.
An unspoken class war has long been waged around the pronounciation of the letter “h” - is it haitch or aitch? Despite a snobbish leaning to the latter, haitch makes more sense.
Irish influence on Australian English is much like the influence of the Irish on Australians themselves — less than you’d expect on the surface, but everywhere once you start looking.
Every few years there’s a furphy that our beloved ‘Strine’ slang is doing a Harold Holt – but in fact Aussies are still slinging true-blue slang.
We need to enter 2018 with a fresh set of expressions for the workplace.
Here is a handful of extremely useful expressions with political application which have fallen by the wayside, but remain apt and adept today.
From cussing McDonald’s Minions to wrongful conviction, mishearing what is said can be funny but also very serious.
When they start life, clichés are fetching and memorable phrases. But overuse has sucked them of vitality – and now they walk among the living dead.
While a lot of slang words come and go (‘good riddance’, ‘amazeballs’), others endure. And exactly why that happens is something of a mystery.
Our communications revolution is changing the way we write and speak, and ‘Slanglish’ has never had it so good.
Our mixed feelings about ageing are clearly revealed in the language we use to talk about it.
Co-authored with Howard Manns We started our election pieces by introducing some ordinary political expressions — those with not so ordinary histories. We felt it was time to revisit political expressions…
Co-authored with Howard Manns Lengthy elections grow tedious for everyone and, in the 24/7 media cycle, nerves and performances fray. Yet how many of us would really stand up to such intense and prolonged…
The word tax (and words derived from it like taxable, taxpayer etc) loomed large in Scott Morrison’s budget speech – 79 mentions in fact. Tax figured less prominently in Labor’s reply (27 mentions) – but…
Many of the most commonly used election terms have a long linguistic history, stretching from ancient Rome to modern-day America and Australia.
We all know about the ‘jobs and growth’, but there was also ‘tax’ and various forms of ‘new’ – read innovation – in this year’s federal budget.
The word “cunt” has made its way into popular discourse, and while some are still offended by it, it’s nowhere near as outrageous as it once was.
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