Tag: ozwords
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Where is Annie’s room?
In this article, reproduced from our latest issue of Ozwords, Mark Gwynn investigates the questionable etymology of the Australian phrase up in Annie’s room. In Australian English the term Annie’s room refers to an unknown, mythical, or unspecified place. It is chiefly used in the phrase up in Annie’s room, a facetious reply you may give to…
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The long and the short of it
In this article, reproduced from our latest issue of Ozwords, Julia Robinson investigates Aussie terms for Chinese wonton soup and Chinese noodle soup. Recently we received this query from a Victorian reader: ‘I am writing to ask about the term “short soup”, as in the Chinese wonton soup. Other non-Australian speakers of English are unaware…
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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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Oxford Word of the Month – March: Ned Kelly beard
Ned Kelly beard – noun: a full beard. Today many fashionable young men are sporting the latest trend in facial hair—the full beard, which has not had a fashion moment since the 1970s. In Australia, the association of Ned Kelly (arguably Australia’s most famous historical figure) with the style is an evocative way to describe…
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Oxford Word of the Month – February: Eggshell blonde
Eggshell blonde – noun: (also eggshell blond) a man with a bald head. Three Polished Gentlemen. Never before in the history of Sale have so many ‘egg-shell blonds’ graced the business side of a bar than when three perfect specimens dispensed good cheer at a Sale hostelry t’other afternoon. Two, up from Melbourne, were assisting…
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Do you know what a ‘Googery’ is?
In this article, reproduced from our latest issue of Ozwords, Bruce Moore explores an Australian English word from an aboriginal language, ‘googery’. In Lily on the Dustbin: Slang of Australian Women and Families (1982), Nancy Keesing includes a list of words supplied to her by the poet Les Murray. Included in the list is the…
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Oxford Word of the Month: Kingswood country
The Australian car manufacturer Holden recently announced the impending closure of its operations in 2016, after sixty years of producing some of Australia’s favourite cars, including the original Holden sedan, the utility, the FJ series, the Monaro, the Commodore, and the Torana. Our attachment to the Holden brand is illustrated by the way one model,…