The weird wild west

Years of moral indignation has failed to lay a glove on Trump, given his shameless disdain for traditional ethics, but characterising him as ‘weird’ is helping the Democrats get under his skin.

No worries

Described in Jonathan King’s Waltzing Materialism as the “national motto” of Australia, this complex little phrase “no worries” even has its own Wiki entry.

Kris Kringles and yuletide jingles

Christmas is a time for giving new gifts, but also reminds us of the importance of dusting down old favourites – from decorations stowed in closets to understanding the archaic words and phrases repeated at this time of year.

Who gives a mandarin?

People disagree about what is or isn’t slang, whether or not something is Aussie, whether slang is dying, and what any of this means to us Aussies. Now you can have your say in a new survey.

Turning English up to 11

Superlatives come and go in the English language, often coined by each new young generation in turn.

Let’s learn to love our Aussie accents

Our views of accents are arbitrary social evaluations rather than intrinsic facts, and we base them on our knowledge and experience of the people who lie behind them. We should embrace our accents as part of who we are.