Cancel Culture: Word of the Year?
The Macquarie Dictionary has picked ‘cancel culture’ as its word of 2019, beating out a number…
Linguistics
Pronounce ‘Shibboleths’, and You’re In
Tomato, tomatoe. Potato, potatoe. Aluminum, aluminium. We all pronounce things differently, but did you know it’s…
Um, Like… You Know… Verbal Crutches
There’s always, like, you know, some kind of words that we, um, basically use all the…
Facebook’s True Blue: Bruce the Aussie Slang Bot
Slang has always played a big role in Aussie culture and our global image. But with…
Origins of the Word Bogan
It’s one of the most significant words to come out of our native Australian English -…
Why Do We Swear?
Swearing is more and more becoming an accepted part of Australian society. Profanities are used in…
Does Sydney have a different accent to the rest of Australia?
The differences in accents between Adelaide and Sydney are subtle, but to a keen ear, easily…
Leading Lights: Bilingualism can help strengthen communities
Migration is a hot button political topic in Australia, particularly when used by those who say…
Why do we use like, like all the time?
It seems like everybody is like, always using like all the time. The term 'like' seems…
How communication can save lives
In Australia approximately 10 per cent of hospital patients will suffer an avoidable critical incident, and…
Is younger really better for learning languages?
It's generally accepted that younger is better when it comes to learning laguages, but just how…