A Word in Your Ear

If it's mouse and mice, why isn't it house and hice? And what about tooth and teeth or foot and feet? Who makes the rules and why aren't they consistent? Professor Roly Sussex explains.

De-escalation, incursions and invasions: the dogs of war are barking but, if truth is the first casualty in war, then what happens to language?

Ink wells and blotting paper, milk monitors and chalk: the classrooms have reopened this week, but the language of school has changed and many words that were almost synonymous with the classroom have disappeared from everyday use.

Credenza, console, cabinet and cupboards: do we really keep cups in our cupboards? Professor Roly Sussex explains.

Professor Roly Sussex is chatting about why certain words or expressions disappear or are removed from the English language.

Australian English seems to be adopting more and more expressions from the US, but how many Aussie words and expressions do you think the North Americans are borrowing from us?

What's the origin of our Christmas expressions and how is the festive season talked about in languages other than English?

From which other language did most English words originate? That's just one of the questions from students at Junction Park State School and Professor Roly Sussex is doing his very best to answer.

'The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog' is an English-language pangram: it's a sentence which contains all of the letters of the English alphabet. But is that the only pangram? Professor Roly Sussex is on a mission to find out.

If you can't say what you mean then how can you mean what you say?

How big is your vocabulary? Former British prime minister and Nobel Prize for Literature winner Winston Churchill is supposed to have had a 60.000 word vocabulary. It's a question about vocabulary that's on the mind of Wesley, a Year 6 student at Durack State School and Professor Roly Sussex is only too happy to help out.

What's the G doing in benign or consign or even gnome? Allow Professor Sussex to explain.

Who was the very first person to speak and where was it? These are questions that have been troubling Eva. She's in Year 6 at St Sebastian's Primary School in Yeronga and Professor Roly Sussex is only too happy to answer.

What language do we use or hear which doesn't mean very much but has an important social function? Professor Roly Sussex is talking about phatic communion.

Prepare for a tongue-lashing from the ABC's word wizard because Professor Roly Sussex is giving the thumbs up to metaphors from body parts.

K-Pop and the Squid Game are just two examples of the popularity of Korean culture, and the new edition of the Oxford English Dictionary has just added more than 20 words of Korean origin.

Actress, manageress, waitress: are those descriptions somewhat antiquated these days or are gendered nouns important so we know who's being talked about? Professor Roly Sussex is chatting about gendered language.

What are the rules when it comes to asking questions in English? Allow Professor Roly Sussex to offer a few answers.

New words are being invented every day, many from social media, but which ones are entering into mainstream dictionaries?

Allegro and mezzaforte, presto and fortissimo. Why is the Italian language so predominant when it comes to musical terms and expressions?

Apolitical and atheist but unlawful and disbelief so why can't we say 'alawful' or 'abelief'?

Why would a glass be called a schooner? Professor Roly Sussex is talking about the origins of words we use to describe beer glasses.

Play with a straight bat if you don't want to be caught off-side because Professor Roly Sussex is chatting about sporting metaphors.

When was the last time you heard someone say ‘cobber’ or ‘ fair dinkum’? Has Aussie slang carked it? Professor Roly Sussex, a man who's never been a few stubbies short of a six-pack, has been doing the hard yakka researching the past, present and future of our everyday lingo.

With much of south east Queensland in lockdown, many parents are assuming the role of teacher. Professor Roly Sussex is helping out his younger listeners with their school-related questions.