Amid concerns about other people’s mental health, this four-letter initialism/acronym for “Are you OK?” came alive in 2021. It was coined some years before by an Australian non-profit suicide prevention organisation (in 2009) which holds an annual R U OK? ...
More »Bloody oath mate, I’m fair dinkum: speaking good Australian linked to trustworthiness
As a Londoner living in this strange land, I've spent a good decade navigating the Aussie accent and the peculiarities of Aussie 'English'. An English accent can often stop an Aussie in their tracks, and not fully grasping Aussie slang ...
More »Australian Manual of Style goes online
Can infinitives be split?a When do you use a pie graph?b Can ‘Earth’ be preceded by ‘the’?c What order should adjectives appear in?d All these questions of writing style and presentation – as well as up-to-date, research-based advice ...
More »Thanks but no thanks: niceties uncommon globally
The last time your partner or friend prepared a meal for you, did you thank them? If not, don't be alarmed. A new international study has shown this is the more common practice, and in fact, it's not necessarily bad. ...
More »We are what we speak
When only a handful of people speak a language, attracting attention can be difficult. The Endangered Languages Blog, run by Professor Jane Simpson, a linguistics lecturer at ANU, and several of her colleagues around the country attempts to address that. ...
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