Lexicographer at large
Lexicographer at large

Sue Butler AO

 
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correct meanings

It is astonishing how old some ideas are and how they linger on as an undercurrent of contemporary thought.  There are undoubtedly people who still believe the world is flat despite all evidence to the contrary.  In language there are assumptions that, though scorned by linguists, nevertheless survive in popular thinking.

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New words

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two-shifting

One of the major obstacles to the smooth integration of coal-fired power stations  and renewable energy supplies has been the inability to turn off the power station as there is a surge in the supply of renewables in the middle of the day.

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This is part of the jargon of the transition from coal to renewables but a process that will become more familiar we hope.

cleanfluencer

The latest of the various influencers to hold sway on TikTok is the cleanfluencer.  You can watch one in action in their own home, demonstrating the best way to declutter, to organise, to clean.  They can achieve a level of cleanliness that most of us cannot aspire to.

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While cleanfluencers can have big and enthusiastic followings, it still only amounts to a small group of mostly women obsessed with cleanliness.

desert reggae

While reggae has been popular in Australia since the early1980s, it has taken a new direction in more recent times to produce the genre desert reggae. Indigenous singers of Central Australia have found that this is an appropriate vehicle for their voices, their culture.

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For the reggae lovers this is something different.

Usage matters

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disappearing words

Spare a thought for the words that disappear from use because the thing they represent becomes outmoded — the roneo, the gestetner, the Beta format cassette recorder tape, the curling iron.

install and instil

We should not confuse words and use to install where we meant to instil, or vice-versa.  The word install comes from the medieval Latin installarer to fix in place or put in position.   Instil also comes from Latin from the verb instillare to put in by drops.

the proof is in the pudding

Sue at TEDxSydney

"There are those who want the dictionary to censor aspects of language that they deem to be unsavoury or undesirable. But language moves on."

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Sue on the ABC's The Link

"I think with blasphemy you are actually going back to the 1600s where if you took the name of God in vain, that would produce the kind of strong reaction that we have to taboo words today.

Those sorts of taboos are losing their force and the F word, I think, would be regarded as still an emphatic colloquialism, but a colloquialism, not a taboo word."