A Word in Your Ear

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Emeritus Professor Roly Sussex walks you through the linguistic mindfield, explaining the weird and wonderful aspects of English and many other languages.

ABC Radio


    • Apr 14, 2025 LATEST EPISODE
    • every other week NEW EPISODES
    • 25m AVG DURATION
    • 717 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from A Word in Your Ear

    A Word in Your Ear: Phrasal Verbs

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 14, 2025 19:00


    Phrasal verbs are verbs with more than one word like 'wake up' and 'look forward to'. There are thousands of them in English and they can be quite tricky but once you notice these phrasal verbs, you'll pick them up all the time. "Turn off the TV" is an example of a phrasal verb, which is a verb that has a base verb and one or two particles.

    A Word in Your Ear: Hip-hip-hooray

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 7, 2025 22:06


    What is the history of birthdays?These days, people celebrate with cake, candles, balloons and gifts! However, after years of celebrating with these items, they almost become afterthoughts. But how did these forms of celebrations arise?

    A Word in Your Ear: English Dialects

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 31, 2025 23:08


    English is Australia's de facto national language and like many nations, us Aussie's have put our own spin on it. Many Australians are even surprised to find out that different regions or states tend to have their own unique dialects.

    A Word in Your Ear: Footy Talk

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 24, 2025 24:10


    Nothing gets our gold and green nation going like a good game of sport and in particular footy! Where it's League, Rugby or AFL - our passion runs deep. In fact, Australia has one of the highest sports participation rates in the entire world.

    A Word in Your Ear: St Patrick's Day

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 17, 2025 27:34


    Australia is the most Irish country in the world outside Ireland.Irish-born immigrants and their descendants have been a feature of the Australian population since the arrival of the First Fleet in New South Wales in 1788.You may assume America would be in the running for that title - they have 30 million people claiming Irish heritage. 

    A Word in Your Ear: Wild Weather Words

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 3, 2025 18:23


    Have you ever heard weather phrases such as 'the wet', 'rain bomb' or 'mizzle' and wonder where they came from or what they actually mean? Roly Sussex takes us on a journey through weather event terminology. 

    A Word in Your Ear: Americanisms Part 2

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 24, 2025 22:12


    Often times Australians will initially adopt Americanisms ironically but after a while the irony disappears and those words and phrases become part of our everyday language. 

    A Word in Your Ear: Hello and Goodbye

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 17, 2025 22:01


    Whether you're meeting someone for the first time or you see them every day, the way we greet and farewell someone can say a lot about your culture, manners and familiarity to the other person.

    A Word in Your Ear: Articulation & Speech Patterns

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 20, 2025 22:50


    It's an age old question: 'Haitch' or 'Aitch'? What do the differences in how we pronounce words say about us?

    A Word in Your Ear: New Year & Christmas Alliteration

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 1, 2025 18:27


    Now that the festive season is done, its time to pack up the decorations, put away leftover wrapping paper and store this year's Christmas cards.

    A Word in Your Ear: Giving & Philanthropy

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 20, 2024 17:33


    Roly Sussex explores the origins of giving, and words like philanthropy, donations and charity.

    A Word in Your Ear: Acronyms & Initialisms

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 13, 2024 22:09


    What's the difference between Qantas and the ATO? Roly Sussex will take you into the strange world of acronyms and initialisms.

    A Word in Your Ear: Americanisms

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 6, 2024 23:36


    Americanisms have had such an impact on our language that ABC's Roly Sussex has recorded over 10,000 of them.

    A Word in Your Ear: Spooky Words

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 30, 2024 25:53


    Boo! From witches to wicca, Roly Sussex peeks behind the curtain of words like ghosts, spectres, Halloween and haunts.

    A Word in Your Ear: The Language of Democracy

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 23, 2024 23:25


    With US elections on the horizon, Roly Sussex investigates the language of democracy.

    A Word in Your Ear: Italian Cuisine

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 16, 2024 25:11


    It's the delicious language of Italy on the menu tonight.

    A Word in Your Ear: Echo Phrases

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 9, 2024 22:30


    Are you feeling tip-top, hoity-toity or namby-pamby today? Roly investigates the curiosities of echo phrases.

    A Word in Your Ear: Onomatopoeia

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 2, 2024 25:42


    Do dogs go "whoof, whoof", "ruff, ruff" or "wan, wan"? Roly Sussex explores the origins of onomatopoeia.

    A Word in Your Ear: The Language of AFL

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 25, 2024 22:35


    What's the Aussie origins of the slang, jargon and banter of our nation's greatest footy code?

    A Word in Your Ear: Mispronunciation & Mondegreens

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 18, 2024 16:45


    A "blessing in disguise" or a "blessing in the skies"? Roly Sussex dives into the elusive mondegreen.

    A Word in Your Ear: Pirate Speak

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 11, 2024 24:54


    "Wut a way you" might sound like pirate speak, but it's a common greeting on this Australian island. 

    A Word in Your Ear: French Influences on Cooking Words

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 4, 2024 23:59


    Who knows what sous vide is? What does being out of breath have to do with your soufflé? 

    A Word in Your Ear: The Language of Gen Alpha

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 28, 2024 24:57


    Two teenagers explain the nuances of "rizz", "no cap" and "sigma" to Professor Roly Sussex.

    A Word in Your Ear: The Language of The News

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 21, 2024 26:34


    How has news language changed over the years? And why do news reporters say words in that fancy way?

    A Word in Your Ear: Hedges and Politeness

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 14, 2024 22:50


    Do you ever "soften" your language to sound more polite? Roly Sussex explains "hedges", where English soften statements for pleasantry's sake.

    A Word in Your Ear: Mispronunciations and Common Mistakes

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 7, 2024 23:15


    From mispronunciation to grammatical errors, Roly Sussex explores some of the common mistakes in English.

    A Word in Your Ear: English's Newest Words

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 31, 2024 18:31


    The Cambridge Dictionary added 3200 new wods to their books last year. So what are they? Roly Sussex is your guide.

    A Word in Your Ear: The French Language

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 23, 2024 20:31


    Bonjour! This week, Roly Sussex discusses the significance and evolution of the French language.

    A Word in Your Ear: Metaphors

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 9, 2024 25:26


    We've hit the nail on the head! This week, Roly Sussex discusses the significance of metaphors in everyday language.

    A Word in Your Ear: Manners and Politeness

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 2, 2024 23:43


    Please & Thank You! This week, Roly Sussex discusses how manners and gratitude are expressed differently around the world.

    A Word in Your Ear: Grandparents and 'Cold Turkey'

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 26, 2024 18:34


    Marmee? Gram? Gramps? Papa? This week, Roly Sussex discusses the words we use for our older relatives.

    A Word in Your Ear: Written vs Spoken Languages

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 19, 2024 28:44


    Are all written languages spoken? And are all spoken languages written?

    A Word in Your Ear: Pub Names and Bar Chat

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 11, 2024 24:09


    From The Churchill Arms to Ye Old Fighting Cocks, there's a whole "alien" language associated with pub talk.

    A Word in Your Ear: The Language of Music

    Play Episode Listen Later May 28, 2024 34:53


    Music has the uncanny ability to be understood by anyone, anywhere. But why? And how did music develop its own kind of "language"?

    A Word in Your Ear: Feminine and Gendered Language

    Play Episode Listen Later May 21, 2024 24:34


    From ships and professions to family structures and pronouns, Roly Sussex navigates the complex web of gendered language.

    A Word in Your Ear: Weather Words with Jenny Woodward

    Play Episode Listen Later May 14, 2024 23:09


    Wind, clouds and rain... ABC's Roly Sussex discusses weather words alongside ABC TV Weather Presenter Jenny Woodward. 

    A Word in Your Ear: Catchy Phrases

    Play Episode Listen Later May 7, 2024 23:34


    Flat out like a lizard drinking! ABC's Roly Sussex discusses catchy phrases.

    A Word In Your Ear: Phonetics and The Sounds of Language

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 30, 2024 22:49


    Lips, tongue, teeth and cheeks... ABC's Roly Sussex discusses the sounds of language.

    A Word In Your Ear: The Anzac Legacy in Language

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 23, 2024 23:48


    Tell me a furphy... What is a brass razoo? ABC's Roly Sussex discusses language used during wartime.

    A Word In Your Ear: New Words and The Yoghurt Debate

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 16, 2024 27:20


    Omnishambles? Yoghurt? ABC's Roly Sussex discusses new words and how to pronounce yoghurt.

    A Word In Your Ear: Avoidance Language and Rhyming Slang

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 9, 2024 18:51


    A frog and toad for the road? ABC's Roly Sussex discusses avoidance language and rhyming slang.

    A Word in Your Ear: Advertising Language

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 2, 2024 20:54


    Catchy slogans. Memorable jingles. ABC's Roly Sussex discusses advertising language and memorable catchphrases. 

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