Category: Word lovers

Our famous Q&As!
Dean Koorey

Q&A: A matter of principle

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 a matter of principle…

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Word lovers
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Word of the week: Soporific

Soporific (adjective) “I love this word. According to the Macquarie Dictionary, it means ‘causing or tending to cause sleep’. So you might say that someone’s voice is soporific. Or a particularly boring television show is soporific. Or, for me, listening to my cat purr late at night while he’s cuddling

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Our famous Q&As!
Dean Koorey

Q&A: What does MOOT actually mean?

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, our moot is on point…

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Word lovers
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Word of the week: Nicotine

Before this week’s word, a special mention to the Build Your Author Platform graduate Facebook group, who each week have been trying their best to incorporate Valerie’s word of the week (mentioned on podcast and here) into something they write that week. Some very creative uses so far! Nicotine (noun)

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Our famous Q&As!
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Pronunciation vs Enunciation vs Elocution

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

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Grammar and Punctuation
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Understanding bullet lists

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 time to bite the

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Word lovers
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Word of the week: Milquetoast

Milquetoast (noun) “I first heard this word when my friend referred to someone by saying: “She’s milquetoast”. At first, I thought she was saying milk (as in the white stuff you drink) and “toast” and was thinking it was some kind of breakfast thing! But it’s milquetoast and it means

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Our famous Q&As!
Dean Koorey

Q&A: It’s all gone pear-shaped

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

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Word lovers
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Word of the week: Bucolic

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

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Our famous Q&As!
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Biannual, bimonthly and biweekly

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”…

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Word lovers
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Word of the week: Avuncular

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

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Word lovers
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Word of the week: Stultify

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

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Word lovers
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Word of the week: Peripatetic

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

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Our famous Q&As!
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Uninterested or Disinterested?

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

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Our famous Q&As!
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Jail or Gaol – which is it?

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

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Our famous Q&As!
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Bear vs Bare

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

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Our famous Q&As!
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Sure vs Surely

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…

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Our famous Q&As!
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Imminent vs Eminent

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

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Our famous Q&As!
Dean Koorey

Q&A: I better vs I’d better – which is correct?

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

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Our famous Q&As!
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Show me the money! Or monies? Or moneys?

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

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