Author: Oxford Australia
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Word of the Month – November: goanna
goanna noun: (in Tasmanian use) the blue-tongue lizard Tiliqua nigrolutea. Most of us are familiar with goannas, a group of reptiles of the genus Varanus that includes the largest lizards in Australia—some more than two metres long. The term goanna is an Australian alteration of iguana, a large tropical lizard. Recently we were alerted to…
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Do you say Brisbane, Brissy, Brisso, Brisvegas, Brisbantinople, or Brisganistan?
by Mark GwynnSenior Researcher at the Australian National Dictionary Centre In August, the ANDC launched the first annual appeal for contributions to our archive of Australian English. As well as supplementing our database, these appeals will help us identify possible new entries for the Australian National Dictionary (AND). Each annual appeal will focus on a…
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Dictionaries remain a critical resource in separating fact from fiction
In 2007, the Wall Street Journal proclaimed that the day of the dictionary was over, claiming Google was our new ‘database of meaning’. Over a decade later, it seems that reports of the dictionary’s death were greatly exaggerated. In fact, the need for a reliable, authoritative source of truth and accuracy has never been more…
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Word of the Month – October: dog shot
noun: a sudden blow; a king-hit. verb: to hit (a person) suddenly and without warning; to king hit (a person). In an apology sent via text message, a rugby league player defended the actions of his group when they became involved in a fight outside a night club: ‘“… we never dog shotted any of…
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Q & A: Maths teacher Christine Utber
Christine Utber reflects on the difference a maths teacher made to her career, dispels the myth of the ‘maths person’, and discusses why she hates when students say “I don’t get it!” Where do you work and what is your role? I am a mathematics teacher at an all girls independent school on the Mornington…
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Celebrating Australian Reading Hour with a short history of forbidden reading
An extract from Reading: A Very Short Introduction by Belinda Jack Censorship, book burnings, and secret reading highlight the relationship between reading and power, and hence the relationship between limiting access to reading and political control. But from the very beginning there have been dissidents who refused to give up the intellectual freedom provided by…
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How I write school readers that help children fall in love with books: Cameron Macintosh
Cameron is the author of Reading for Comprehension texts: Look at Us, Oscar and Milly, A Day with Reb and Bub, A Toy for Reb and Bub, Oscar’s New Bed, In the Rainforest, Slow-bot and No-bot, Playtime for Lucy, A Job for Jump-bot, Birthday Messages, Kakadu, Basketball is the Best!, Ready, Set, Click!, Our Robot…
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OMG! Zettabyte, bitcoin and hashtag are some of the tech terms in the updated Oxford Mini Dictionary
It might be small, but the fifth edition of the Australian Mini Oxford Dictionary offers an insight into the ever-changing nature of Australian English. Many words have newly entered the dictionary, and technological words were particularly prominent additions in the latest update, released today. These include: augmented reality bitcoin blockchain broadband content provider crowdfunding cryptocurrency…