A Word in Your Ear

Jeepers creepers, aren't echo phrases just the bees' knees?  The Lord of Language, Professor Roly Sussex explains how they work. 

Did you get a strong foundation in "morphology" when you were at school? Has that helped you understand other words in your adult years?

There is debate over whether we need phonetic spelling, but that could be a catastrophe. Professor Roly Sussex explains why. 

The games we play with language - and we do love language games - and not just the scrabble, wordle, crossword kind. 

The Lord of Language, Professor Roly Sussex, and 612 presenter Sally Rope, rabbit and pork about this colourful play of language. 

New words  in our dictionaries a-plenty - let's find out how many you're familiar with and how many draw a blank. 

Historically, what are the main influences on English fashion vocabulary? And how does clothing linguistics differ abroad?  Kelly Higgins-Devine reveals all with the Lord of Language Professor Roly Sussex, and Senior Lecturer in Fashion at QUT, Dr Tim Lindgren. 

Australians love a good simile, but how did we invent them? 

Why did French become the universal language of high gastronomy across international royal courts and professional kitchens?

AWIYE: The work of voice and dialect coaches 

Neologisms, and how they are formed. 

The art of addressing someone formally over email. 

Language Professor Roly Sussex and Education Specialist Sue-Belinda Meehan discuss the language of how we teach primary school children, language. 

Pipe the hands and stand by, because Admiral of the English Language,  Professor Roly Sussex is making way through the language of the Royal Australian Navy and translating the salty expressions that have sailed from life at sea into everyday Australian English.

Language Professor Roly Sussex discusses the seventeen Australian words the Oxford English Dictionary has added in 2026, including "yeah nah", "checkout chick" and "dishlickers".

Language Professor Roly Sussex and 612-ABC Brisbane gardening expert Clare Bickle discuss the love language that is plants and gardening.  

Language Professor Roly Sussex and 612-ABC presenter Sally Rope discuss how television has shaped language via words they created and the catchphrases we love.   

The FIFA World Cup 2026 is underway - what words have come to us from the "Beautiful Game" and how many have crossed into other sports??

If you've ever "gawn to the bottlo, grabbed some goon and picked up some Maccas", that's a creative use of Australian English.  Why is it so much fun? 

Professor Roly Sussex explores which language changes are allowed, which ones are a grey area, and which ones are still just plain wrong. 

Professor Roly Sussex answers all of your language questions.

Professor Roly Sussex raises a glass to the language of alcohol and being drunk - why have we always needed different ways to describe the same thing?

Language expert, Professor Roly Sussex discusses the language of clothing, material and fashion with special guest Nathalie Ryner, Costume Supervisor at Queensland Theatre . 

Language expert, Professor Roly Sussex discusses King Charles III's address to the American Congress, and why the King's accent was so effective in making criticism seem charming.

Professor Roly Sussex discusses the ways Acronyms and Initialisations are becoming an increasingly important part of written language.