Month: April 2015
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Mother’s Day Gift Guide from Oxford
Need help spoiling Mum this Mother’s day? Check out our list of favourites for your Mum, we have something for the Mum who loves food, a good romance, or a thrilling tale – and the Mum who loves all three with a glass of wine. See the bottom of this post for the details of…
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Bogan—from obscurity to Australia’s most productive word?
In this article, reproduced from our latest issue of Ozwords, Mark Gwynn explores the evolution of the Australian English word ‘bogan’. In the mid 1980s, a new Australian term appeared in youth slang for a person regarded as uneducated and unsophisticated, especially such a person from a working-class background. This term was bogan. The earliest…
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World War One: links to explore
As Anzac Day approaches, we have collected some of our favourite pieces about the Great War from the Oxford Australia blog and around the Press online. You can read about the history of the iconic Anzac biscuit, rediscover soldier slang from First World War or listen to the remarkable story of John Simpson and his…
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World War One: a snapshot in quotes
Assassination has never changed the history of the world. – Benjamin Disraeli, Lord Beaconsfield, speech, House of Commons, 1 May 1865 On June 28th 1914, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated by a Serbian nationalist, Gavrilo Princip, while visiting Sarajevo. This one event, this assassination, was the catalyst for four years of…
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The story behind the cover: Furphies and Whizz-bangs
One hundred years on, the slang of soldiers of the First World War continues to fascinate. In Furphies and Whizz-bangs: Anzac Slang from the Great War Dr Amanda Laugesen draws on primary source material taken from soldiers’ letters, diaries and trench publications, along with contemporary newspapers and books, to bring the language of the Australian soldier…
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Charlotte Brontë was born on this day
Charlotte Brontë was born 199 years ago today at Thornton, West Riding of Yorkshire. The third child of a clergyman and elder sister of Emily and Ann Brontë, Charlotte was employed as a teacher and governess before achieving literary success with the publication of Jane Eyre. To celebrate her birthday, here are five interesting particulars…
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Commemorating 100 years
Between 2014 and 2018 Australia will remember the Anzac Centenary, marking 100 years since World War One. To commemorate, we continue to publish a range of essential history and literature books. Explore Australia’s role in the First World War with our Centenary History of Australia and the Great War series or examine the slang of…
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Rediscovering words from the Great War
In this article, reproduced from our latest issue of Ozwords, Amanda Laugesen takes a look at slang terms used by Aussie soldiers during the First World War. In my recent book, Furphies and Whizz-bangs: Anzac Slang from the Great War, I had the opportunity to revisit some of the classic collections of war slang, including…