Word For Word

In Indigenous cultures, traditional languages are bound up with family, history and place. In this episode, we meet three Noongar people - Miles Franklin-winning novelist Kim Scott; music historian Clint Bracknell; and performer and director Kylie Bracknell - to ask how an ancient, endangered language can live and thrive today. Read more about Word for Word at macquariedictionary.com.au/podcast

When it comes to bugging a suspect, re-interpreting a dusty statute, or presenting evidence in a criminal trial, the shifting tides of language draw the law with them. In this episode, forensic linguist Dr Helen Fraser tests our ear-witness fallibility with speech evidence from a real-life murder case. Plus, the Macquarie team remembers that time they had to investigate a ransom note. Read more about Word for Word at macquariedictionary.com.au/podcast

Surprise! We're back with another bonus episode, featuring some funny, fascinating, unaired tidbits from Season 2.   Also, you can vote for us in the Australian Podcast Awards! Voting closes 1st April, so head to this link posthaste: bit.ly/2pPuGI3

So ... we have news. It's officially the end of an era. Our long-time Editor Sue Butler is putting away her pencil and catalogue cards to retire, after 48 years at Macquarie Dictionary.   Join us as we look back with Sue at her incredible career in words.   Read more about Word for Word at macquariedictionary.com.au/podcast

It's that time! Take a peek behind the scenes with us as Macquarie Dictionary chooses its 2017 Word of the Year.    We sidle into the secret Word of the Year committee meeting, featuring guest judges Dr Karl and Tiger Webb of ABC Language. The editors lament the worst evergreen query - "But It's Two Words!" - and throw a tiny bit of shade at other dictionaries' picks (youthquake, anyone?). And finally, Adrik overcomes an obstacle.   Read more about Word for Word at macquariedictionary.com.au/podcast

It takes a special kind of person to be a dictionary editor. You need an instinctive understanding of language, a sharp, ever-listening ear, and the ability to laugh off death threats (really). In this very special episode, Merriam-Webster's Kory Stamper and Macquarie Dictionary's Alison Moore discuss both the drudgery and the delights of their work, as we journey into the secret heart of the dictionary editor.    Kory Stamper's book is Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries.   Read more about Word for Word at macquariedictionary.com.au/podcast

Buckle up for a wild ride down the Information Superhighway, and into Cyberspace, where language moves faster than we can catch it. While the dictionary team reflects on the technology words of the past, our resident internet linguist Gretchen McCulloch fights the good fight on hyphenated email; Adrik and Kate look for favourite words at Oz Comic-Con; and we discover a brand new language online, all for the love of dogs (it's h*ckin good).   This is the final episode of Season 2, but stay subscribed! There are more bonus episodes to come in the weeks ahead.   Read more about Word for Word at macquariedictionary.com.au/podcast

In Australia, we're working with a wild array of slang: classic phrases, new inventions, and slang so good that other countries want a piece of it. In this episode, lexicographer James Lambert explains the appeal of informal language; Kate tries to blend in at the skate park (gnarly, dude!); and Sue Butler decodes a song we all know, but perhaps have never entirely understood.   Read more about Word for Word at: macquariedictionary.com.au/podcast

Sometimes English spelling seems designed to bamboozle. How did we end up with all these inconsistencies, quirky flourishes, and spellings that bear no resemblance to pronunciation? In search of an answer, the editors dig into the history of English spelling - including attempts to reform it - and hint at the secret work they do for spelling bees today. Plus, we check in with the adorable contestants of the Great Australian Spelling Bee TV series, two years on; and Adrik Kemp collects favourite words from the Sydney Story Factory.    Read more about Word for Word at macquariedictionary.com.au/podcast

In politics, we can always point to the slipperiness of language. In this episode, the dictionary editors remember iconic Australian political slogans, and consider new words like "fake news" and "antifa"; we're on the hunt for favourite words at the Antidote Festival; and John di Domenico, the world's no. 1 Donald Trump impersonator, takes us inside the language of the 45th American president.   Read more about Word for Word at macquariedictionary.com.au/podcast

Every language plays by its own rules. So how do you faithfully represent the stories of one language in another? Novelist Hannah Kent remembers how it felt to see her bestselling book Burial Rites translated into 29 languages; literary translator Meredith McKinney inducts us in the secrets of her profession; and Sue Butler explains the allure of untranslatable words.   Read more about Word for Word at macquariedictionary.com.au/podcast

When it comes to the language we use around gender, change is happening fast. But some of that new language isn't so new after all. Internet linguist Gretchen McCulloch takes us deep into the history of pronouns in English, and the long and useful life of singular they; the editors look to Sweden, with an eye on The Watch List; and Norrie explains how one little word took them all the way to the High Court of Australia.    Read more about Word for Word at macquariedictionary.com.au/podcast

Winston Churchill called the Australian accent "the most brutal maltreatment that has ever been inflicted" on the English language. But when Strine first emerged, it was praised as an unusually pure variety. Linguist Felicity Cox traces the history of our accent from the Sydney colony to the present day - when it's still changing.   Plus: pronunciation can be a source of personal anxiety and public controversy. The dictionary editors muse on the Americanisation of Australian English, the rise of "haitch", and the oral gymnastics of "ophthalmologist".   Read more about Word for Word at macquariedictionary.com.au/podcast

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. Or would it? In this episode, we dive headfirst into the history of naming. Tiger Webb from ABC Language helps us get to grips with given name trends, surname extinction and Australian place naming; the Macquarie Dictionary editors peel back the secret stories behind everyday eponyms; and Kate is hard at work cuddling babies.   Read more about Word for Word at macquariedictionary.com.au/podcast

We're back! Season 2 launches 6th September with new weekly episodes, featuring more secret word histories, fascinating guests, and behind-the-scenes revelations from Macquarie Dictionary. Listen for a preview of what's in store this season. Read more about Word for Word at macquariedictionary.com.au/podcast

Before 1788, hundreds of Indigenous languages were spoken in Australia. Today, that picture looks very different, but language remains an essential part of the fabric of Indigenous identity. In this special episode of Word for Word, we explore a language with tens of thousands of speakers, as well as some languages spoken only by a handful of people; novelist Kate Grenville tells the story of an unusual First Fleet lieutenant and his attempts to learn the Gadigal language; and we meet a young Indigenous woman in the remote community of Ngukurr, who is determined to keep her grandmother's language alive. Macquarie Dictionary acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, culture and community. We pay our respects to elders past and present. We acknowledge the diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, their cultures, languages, communities and ways of life. We acknowledge there are differing usages of the terms “Aboriginal”, “Aborig

Join us as we go behind the scenes in the selection process for Macquarie's Word of the Year. We listen in on the Word of the Year committee meeting, featuring guest judges Dom Knight and Annabel Crabb; the dictionary team reflects on how the extraordinary politics of 2016 collided with our language last year; and Sue Butler is the guest of honour at a kebab house.   Read more about Word for Word at macquariedictionary.com.au/podcast

Yas queen, we're finally talking internet slang! In this episode, we marvel at the evolution of language online, exploring emoji, hashtags, and new words with writer Alex McKinnon. It's lit. Also: the dictionary team reminisce about the weird things you've sent them in the mail, and the players at The Games Den reveal their favourite words. This is the last episode in our very first series of Word for Word. But don't worry! We'll be back with brand new episodes early in the new year. Read more about Word for Word at macquariedictionary.com.au/podcast

It's the question that sparked debate around the country: what do you call a sausage in a piece of bread? Your answer will likely reveal your roots, as the Macquarie team goes beyond bathers vs. cossies to explore Australian regionalisms. Also: Sue Butler reveals the secret histories behind some uniquely Australian turns of phrase, and we get closer to nature in search of favourite words. Read more about Word for Word at macquariedictionary.com.au/podcast

Fancy yourself a dab hand at Scrabble? Meet Esther Perrins. She's a former British national champion and Guinness World Record holder, and her highest score for a single game of Scrabble is a staggering 683 points. Also: Sue Butler muses on the enduring appeal of folk etymologies and the Pan Macmillan book club deploys some very classy favourite words. Read more about Word for Word at macquariedictionary.com.au/podcast