Wibble-wobble and boing

My attention has been drawn to the creation of the new verb, to wibble-wobble, meaning ‘to prevaricate’.  This is a contribution of Mathias Cormann who made reference to the nursery rhyme, Jelly on a Plate which has the verse… Read more…

Ever been phubbed?

A few years ago an executive from the McCann advertising agency approached me with an idea to document the process of the coining of a new word. He had a social phenomenon in mind for which he wished to find a word… Read more…

Reflecting Australia’s gerrys

A friend of mine in Singapore reported that the Singaporean government has taken up the term pioneer to refer to anyone old enough to have contributed to Singapore’s early nationhood from 1955 onwards. Pioneers… Read more…