Top 10 Q&As for 2024

Q: Hi AWC, we’ve had some interesting conversations this year, haven’t we?

A: Is that a rhetorical question?

Q: No, a genuine one.

A: Oh, okay then. Then yes, we have. Fascinating at times.

Q: I know right? It’s always so tricky picking just 10 favourites to share with our readers.

A: It really is. Much like choosing a favourite child.

Q: Oh, not really. That’s easy. The trick is not TELLING them who it is.

A: Ahhhh. Good tip!

Q: So, are you ready for this?

A: Absolutely, let’s roll. The best of 2024. Please enjoy!

We started the year dining in style – as we wondered where the world’s fanciest foodie award started, and more importantly, why Australian restaurants have never won any! Read more here.

A lot of things would need debunking in 2024. We set about debunking any myths about this word’s origin and presenting the actual facts, which were almost stranger than fiction! Discover more here.

In March, it was time to play the generation game – as we untangled the various names for each period in history, when this name-calling began, and what a baby born today would be grouped as. It’s all here.

Some classic band name origins are legendary, while others are far more obscure. So we scooped them all up and put them under the micro– er, microphone? There are some surprising origin stories in there! Discover them here.

English gives us all sorts of arbitrary terms – one of them being a “country mile”. So we decided to go great lengths to discover the truth about these vague measurements for once and for all! Read more here.

This may just have been the article that broke the internet this year (or at very least, it blew Valerie’s mind). After all, who knew that doves simply had the better PR agents? Find out more here!

Who exactly decided that knocking on wood would save you from bad luck? Or is it all part of some elaborate knock-knock joke? Back in August, opportunity knocked and we answered the call! Read all about it here.

There are plenty of umbrella terms out there, but nothing keeps us drier than the actual word ‘umbrella’. And yet, for all its rain-shielding properties, it’s awash with questions about its lineage. So we went searching.

Back in October, it was all about the ladies – as we wondered aloud why half the English-speaking world calls them birds, while the rest call them bugs. And while we were at it, WHY “lady” in the first place? Discover more here.

And we round this collection off with two common terms that each have intriguing origin stories. In particular, the semantic journey that “off the cuff” has taken will give you whiplash! Learn more right here.

Do you have a question you’d like us to explore in 2025?
Email it to us today!