Each week here at the Australian Writers’ Centre, we dissect and discuss, contort and retort, ask and gasp at the English language and all its rules, regulations and ridiculousness. It’s a celebration of language, masquerading as a passive-aggressive whinge about words and weirdness. This week, we pare back the pair vs
Bucolic (adjective) “As AWC team member Dean pointed out, this words sounds unpleasant – and almost sounds like bubonic (as in the plague) – but is actually an adjective describing a lovely scene, usually in a rustic or rural settings. So you might say ‘The country house had a bucolic
Each week here at the Australian Writers’ Centre, we dissect and discuss, contort and retort, ask and gasp at the English language and all its rules, regulations and ridiculousness. It’s a celebration of language, masquerading as a passive-aggressive whinge about words and weirdness. This week, we look twice at “bi”…
Avuncular (adjective) “When I first heard this word, my friend was describing an older gentleman that she worked with. It’s an adjective that means ‘like an uncle’ and when I met her colleague it made total sense. Because he was very kind towards her and looked out for her. Please
Stultify (verb) “One meaning is to make a person appear stupid or foolish. But mainly it means to lose all enthusiasm due to a boring routine. So you might say that being in prison was stultifying if you had nothing to do. Or that the stultifying job meant you were
Peripatetic (adjective) “This is a fancy word to mean ‘wandering’. It comes from the Greek word for ‘pacing to and fro’, but relates to someone who does that in a more organised way, rather than someone who bumbles about. So a peripatetic startup CEO might split his time between Sydney
Each week here at the Australian Writers’ Centre, we dissect and discuss, contort and retort, ask and gasp at the English language and all its rules, regulations and ridiculousness. It’s a celebration of language, masquerading as a passive-aggressive whinge about words and weirdness. This week, we’re interested in “uninterested” vs
Each week here at the Australian Writers’ Centre, we dissect and discuss, contort and retort, ask and gasp at the English language and all its rules, regulations and ridiculousness. It’s a celebration of language, masquerading as a passive-aggressive whinge about words and weirdness. This week, we’re sentencing you to one
Each week here at the Australian Writers’ Centre, we dissect and discuss, contort and retort, ask and gasp at the English language and all its rules, regulations and ridiculousness. It’s a celebration of language, masquerading as a passive-aggressive whinge about words and weirdness. This week, it’s the bare facts as
Each week here at the Australian Writers’ Centre, we dissect and discuss, contort and retort, ask and gasp at the English language and all its rules, regulations and ridiculousness. It’s a celebration of language, masquerading as a passive-aggressive whinge about words and weirdness. This week, it’s all about the Irish…
Each week here at the Australian Writers’ Centre, we dissect and discuss, contort and retort, ask and gasp at the English language and all its rules, regulations and ridiculousness. It’s a celebration of language, masquerading as a passive-aggressive whinge about words and weirdness. This week, we’re charged up as we
Each week here at the Australian Writers’ Centre, we dissect and discuss, contort and retort, ask and gasp at the English language and all its rules, regulations and ridiculousness. It’s a celebration of language, masquerading as a passive-aggressive whinge about words and weirdness. This week, what’s Bruce Springsteen got to
In celebration of St Patrick’s Day this week, we’ve searched the interwebs high and low (okay, maybe not too low) for “turty-tree” of the best Irish jokes around. Luckily for us, Irish folk are more than happy to have a chuckle at themselves – so feel free to enjoy in
Each week here at the Australian Writers’ Centre (AWC), we dissect and discuss, contort and retort, ask and gasp at the English language and all its rules, regulations and ridiculousness. It’s a celebration of language, masquerading as a passive-aggressive whinge about words and weirdness. This week, it’s all about the
Each week here at the Australian Writers’ Centre, we dissect and discuss, contort and retort, ask and gasp at the English language and all its rules, regulations and ridiculousness. It’s a celebration of language, masquerading as a passive-aggressive whinge about words and weirdness. This week, it’s the People versus Persons
Each week here at the Australian Writers’ Centre, we dissect and discuss, contort and retort, ask and gasp at the English language and all its rules, regulations and ridiculousness. It’s a celebration of language, masquerading as a passive-aggressive whinge about words and weirdness. This week, why we do things that
Each week here at the Australian Writers’ Centre, we dissect and discuss, contort and retort, ask and gasp at the English language and all its rules, regulations and ridiculousness. It’s a celebration of language, masquerading as a passive-aggressive whinge about words and weirdness. This week, it’s we’re making discreet enquiries
Here at the Australian Writers’ Centre, we love inspirational and motivational quotes – if you don’t believe us, check out our Instagram feed! Once the domain of framed glass pictures on corporate office walls, such quotes are now more accessible than ever – thanks mainly to the rise of the
Each week here at the Australian Writers’ Centre, we dissect and discuss, contort and retort, ask and gasp at the English language and all its rules, regulations and ridiculousness. It’s a celebration of language, masquerading as a passive-aggressive whinge about words and weirdness. This week, we really couldn’t care less…
Portmanteau words are a common occurrence in the English language. They’re formed when you take two words and smash them together to make a brand new one – typically losing a few letters off one or both. There are hundreds of a real life examples across a range of areas.
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