The Australian citizenship test has been with us since 2007, but is it doing more than just quizzing future Aussies on their knowledge of our form of government, our sporting legends and our public holidays? Linguistics student Ben Purser asks some questions of his own.
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PM Gillard’s Linguistic Exemplar
It seems that Julia Gillard has been listening to the advice of the Language and Culture Network of Australian Universities (LCNAU) and Fully(sic) and has started leading by example when it comes to languages. William Steed ponders her motivation… It was only recently that I commented on LCNAU’s call for Australia’s leaders to lead by [...]
READ MORE¡Si! Prime Minister: Leading by example on foreign languages
Teachers love enthusiastic students who want to learn, and Australia’s language teachers are no different. A group of language advocates has called for Australian politicians to set a good example and learn Asian languages. Will Steed explains.
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Fully (Sic) 2013 Eurovision wrap-up
Denmark may have won the coveted Eurovision Song Contest for 2013, but as Lauren Gawne explains, Eurovision is also a great chance for language nuts to observe some of the lesser-known European languages in their (un)natural environment.
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Magic pudding economics
The Magic Pudding metaphor has become a mainstay of economic discourse in Australia. The idea of an ever-replenishing resource is too tempting a motif to pass up. But how recent is it? Piers Kelly looks back through the annals of Australian political discourse to find its earliest use, and finds some surprising sub-plots.
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Not-so-conservative science on ‘ultraconservative’ words
A team of scientists claim they have demonstrated a super-family of languages the spans most of Europe, northern Asia and some of the Arctic. But are other linguists convinced by their evidence? Lauren Gawne and the Fully (sic) team look at their findings.
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Chook lit
Chook lit is an alteration of the term chick lit ‘literature that appeals to women; literature that is by, for, or about women’. Chick lit as a term is first recorded in the 1990s, and is associated especially with books about young professional urban women, such as Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones’s Diary (1996). It is often derogatory. The chick in chick lit means ‘a woman or girl’, and was originally 1920s slang. Chook has two meanings in Australian English: it is first recorded in the 1850s as a colloquial word for a domestic fowl (still in common use), and from the early 1900s evidence appears in the written record for a transferred sense of chook meaning ‘a woman’, especially ‘an old woman’. It usually has derogatory connotations. Both senses of chook are connected with chook lit, as we shall see.
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Finding the right words: The NDIS and apology for forced adoptions
The passing of the NDIS and the apology for forced adoptions both happened last week (believe it or not), and both highlighted the importance of choosing one’s words carefully when talking to or about marginalised groups such as disabled people or those affected by forced adoption. Lauren Gawne explains why we should give marginalised people the right to choose the best way to talk about these issues.
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Creative Australia lends extra support to Indigenous languages, but is it enough?
The Federal Government’s new Creative Australia policy includes an announcement of nearly $14 million in new funding for Indigenous languages support, over four years. While it’s a welcome announcement, Greg Dickson isn’t quite jumping up and down about it.
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