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 bought vs brought…bring it
Lacustrine (adjective) [luh’kustruyn] Thanks for Matthew Morrison @acutemattiosis for pinging us this word which he, in turn, read in a tweet by Rob Macfarlane. “Lacustrine” usually refers to things like plants or animals that live or occur on or in lakes. So you must say “That’s a lacustrine plant” if it’s
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 making quite an impression…
Abstruse (adjective) [uhb’stroohs] If you think this word is hard to understand then you would be right! It actually means “difficult to understand or esoteric”. So you might say that “He had an abstruse approach to solving the problem.” Listen to Valerie and Allison chat more about this and more on 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 all about fear and
Callipygian (adjective) [kal-uh-pij-ee-uh n] Believe it or not, this means “a well rounded bum”! So you would say “Kim Kardashian has made a business out of trading off her callipygian figure.” Listen to Valerie and Allison chat more about this and more on the world of writing, blogging and publishing.
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 catching up on game
Ignoble (adjective) [ig-noh-buhl] When the letters ig are in front of an n, that usually mean “not” so this simply means “not noble”. The Macquarie Dictionary goes on to say that it’s of “low character” or “low grade”. So you might say “He had ignoble motives.” To hear Valerie and Allison chat more
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 kicking it to the kerb…
Lubricious (adjective) [loo-brish-uh s] According to the book 500 Words Your Should Know: “Another word for lewd, lascivious or indeed libidinous, though this is more formal than any of them. It’s from the same Latin root as lubricate and lubricant, with their implications of slipperiness and reducing friction. Enough said, don’t you think?”
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 breaking the mouldy mold… Q:
Pulchritude (noun) [pul-chri-tude] It seems like such an ugly looking word but it means the opposite. The Macquarie Dictionary defines it as “beauty” or “comeliness”. So you might say: “The actress Robin Wright is a woman of great pulchritude.” Listen to Valerie and Allison chat more about this and more on the world of
Anomia (noun) [uh-noh-mee-uh] This is the loss of the ability to name objects or recall names. So you might say “As he got older he began experiencing anomia.” We occasionally experience it in day-to-day situations too – when a word or name is “on the tip of our tongue” but 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 it’s something like a phenomenon… Q:
Sophistry (noun) [soff-uh-stree] This generally means “a false argument or reasoning”. So you might say: “John tried to use sophistry to hide his illegal actions from the tax agency.” (From wordsinasentence.com) Listen to Valerie and Allison chat more about this and more on the world of writing, blogging and publishing.
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 bingeing on our binging Q&A…
Nomenclature (noun) [noh-MEN-kla-cher] I love this word and actually use it all the time. According to the Macquarie Dictionary it is: “a set or system of names or terms, as those used in a particular science or art by an individual or community”. So you might say something like “Make
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 like learning about “any time”
Farrago (noun) [fuh-rah-goh] This comes from the Latin meaning “cattle feed” and, according to the Macquarie Dictionary means “a confused mixture; a hotchpotch”. So you might say “The police were fed with a farrago of lies from the mafia family members.” To hear Valerie and Allison chat more about this
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 boom boom, shake, shaking
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