An extraordinary story appeared yesterday morning concerning a minor dispute between the NSW Roads and Traffic Authority, and the owner of the personalised numberplate ‘Kiki’. Kirsten Perry, whose nickname is ‘Kiki’, was required to show ‘just cause’ for keeping her beloved plates on account of the fact that the word is apparently used to describe “part [...]
READ MOREApril, 2011
Who sent a whatnow?
ABC News posts this AFP news item with a headline ambiguity: Scottish football manager sent parcel bomb. I thought it was a much more interesting news item when I thought the the Scottish football manager had sent the bomb. When I heard it had been sent to him, I was a little disappointed. The ambiguity [...]
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Australia’s Indigenous languages “Top 10 moments in the sun”
Every popular blog has to have a Top 10 list, don’t they? … here are my “Top Ten Moments in the Sun” for Australia’s Indigenous languages. (#10 are the Bush Mechanics… who took out the other nine spots?)
READ MOREAngry phone conversations in 24 accents
The sociolinguist William Labov liked to elicit stories of extreme experiences. The theory was that his informants would get so swept up in the tale that they would lose their self-consciousness and speak in their ‘real’ voice. This impersonator seems to be applying a similar theory in order to inhabit the voices and accents of [...]
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