Oxford Australia Blog

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Category: General interes

  • Word of the Month—March: sausage sizzle

    sausage sizzle – noun: 1. a fund-raising or social event for a club, school, etc. at which barbecued sausages are sold or provided. 2. a barbecued sausage in a slice of bread sold or provided at such an event. The sausage sizzle has long been a feature of community events and fundraising in Australia. The…

  • Word of the Month—February: green nomad

    green nomad noun: a person whose travels within Australia are motivated by a concern for the environment. In the Bournda Environmental Education Centre’s 42nd World Environment Day Dinner, held in Tathra, New South Wales, a suggestion was made to the key speaker: … a re-branding of grey nomads to ‘green nomads’, [thereby] encouraging older travellers…

  • Word of the Month—January: Nutbush

    Nutbush noun: a line dance performed to the song ‘Nutbush City Limits’. At what is promoted as the world’s most remote music festival—the Birdsville Big Red Bash—a peculiar record was broken in July of this year: ‘The Birdsville event broke its own world record for most number of people (2330) doing the Nutbush dance.’ (Brisbane…

  • Word of the Month —December: gold coin donation

    gold coin donation noun: a one- or two-dollar coin given as an entry fee or donation when attending a charitable, community, or not-for-profit event. In the mid-1980s, a short newspaper advertisement appeared on a page promoting various forthcoming events: ‘Performism. Special Experimental Music Event. Plus Film Performance… Gold Coin Donation.’ (Canberra Times, 15 September 1984)…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • We need to rethink the definition of a ‘healthy diet’

    We need to rethink the definition of a ‘healthy diet’

    By Professor Karen Charlton, Adv APD, RPHNutr, School of Medicine, University of Wollongong, Australia Forecasts suggest that by 2050, 10 billion people will inhabit the earth, requiring the production of 70 to 100 per cent more food. This population growth and the global climate tipping point have challenged nutritionists to rethink the concept of what…

  • Helping your child prepare for their first day over the Christmas break

    Helping your child prepare for their first day over the Christmas break

    There’s plenty you can do to help your child get ready for their first day at primary school. Here are some top tips for things you can do in the run-up to their first day at school, so all they’ll have to concentrate on is learning something new and enjoying themselves with their new friends….