Colloquialisms such as barbie and smoko are like accents – part of the glue that sticks Australian English speakers together.
Academic rigor, journalistic flair
Articles on Slang
Displaying all articles
There’s a long history of communities speaking Romany in the UK, so it’s hardly surprising that some of its words have found their way into everyday English.
An American university has banned the expression ‘no worries’. Here are some other words and phrases that confuse speakers of different versions of English.
National Cliche Day is Nov. 3. So what makes a cliche a cliche? And why do we find ourselves rolling our eyes when we hear certain ones?
Times of crisis have always changed our slang, with the help of a little black humour. Coronavirus is no exception.
As the year winds down, we’ll get you up to speed. Plus, there’s no better way to kill a trend than to bring it up at the dinner table in front of your kids.
The relationship between street slang used by young people and secret codes deployed by gang members is not always straightforward.
Ever wondered why curry is named after a pop singer from post-war Belfast? So have we.
Every few years there’s a furphy that our beloved ‘Strine’ slang is doing a Harold Holt – but in fact Aussies are still slinging true-blue slang.
A recent study uncovered the words that people find the funniest. But humour differs between men and women in surprising ways.
While a lot of slang words come and go (‘good riddance’, ‘amazeballs’), others endure. And exactly why that happens is something of a mystery.
Skepta’s Mercury Prize win has put grime – and youth culture – in the spotlight.
We should be well jel of geezers who speak slang, says a language expert
When Australians went to the Western Front, language failed them. So they invented slanguage: a mix of slang, French words and creative swearing that, among other things, gave us the word “Aussie”.
The young have a rich, linguistic vein – just don’t try and copy them.
I recently read an article bemoaning the “decline” of Australian slang, pointing out that the latest edition of Tony Thorne’s Dictionary of Contemporary Slang has but a handful of new Australian entries…
Top contributors
-
Professor of Linguistics, Monash University
-
Senior Lecturer in Linguistics, Monash University
-
Director of Slang and New Language Archive, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, King's College London
-
Reader in Linguistics, Manchester Metropolitan University
-
Senior Lecturer, School of English, Media Studies and Art History, The University of Queensland
-
Professor of English Language and Literature, University of Oxford
-
Languages and Linguistics, The University of Melbourne
-
Professor of Linguistics, West Virginia University
-
Emeritus Professor of Applied Linguistics, Aston University
-
Lecturer in Linguistics and English Language, Lancaster University
-
Postdoctoral Scholar of Linguistics, University of Oregon
-
Associate Professor of Linguistics, University of Oregon
-
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Minnesota
-
Lecturer in Language and linguistics, Nottingham Trent University
