The word mangrove comes to us through Spanish from the Taino language of the West Indies. The Editor, Susan Butler, discusses early citations that list mangroves as one of the obstacles that the settlers encountered in Australia. Read more about the OzPic project at: www.macquariedictionary.com.au/ozpic          

The Editor, Susan Butler, discusses the word paddock, a variant of the word parrock which exists only in English dialect and means a small enclosure, and how it expanded by 1849 in Australia to mean ‘many thousands of acres’. Read more about the OzPic project at: www.macquariedictionary.com.au/ozpic (Image by Tim Keegan, CC 2.0, altered)          

In British English, a plain refers to an area of relatively flat land. The Editor, Susan Butler, discusses the Australian use of plain, characterised by its openness rather than its flatness. Read more about the OzPic project at: www.macquariedictionary.com.au/ozpic              

In British English a gully is a narrow, deep passage through which water passes, whether this occurs naturally, as in a ravine or gorge, or is artificial. In this episode, The Editor, Susan Butler, discusses how in Australian English, gully is no longer the watercourse but the fold of land that has the watercourse at its heart. Read more about the OzPic project at: www.macquariedictionary.com.au/ozpic        

The first use of tank in Australia was perfectly in line with the original meaning of a word from the Gujarati language of western India, where it was the name for an artificial reservoir for water made by excavation or by damming. This Anglo-Indian usage became part of the military jargon applied in Australia. In this episode, The Editor, Susan Butler, explores the differences and similarities between tanks, dams and reservoirs in Australia. Read more about the OzPic project at: www.macquariedictionary.com.au/ozpic         

The word donga is borrowed from South African English, meaning ‘a gully or watercourse’. The Editor, Susan Butler, explores how this word was adapted to fit the Australian environment, and its association with the military. Read more about the OzPic project at: www.macquariedictionary.com.au/ozpic            

In this episode, The Editor, Susan Butler, talks about the different types of trees found in forests across Australia, and how the forest was perceived in comparison to the bush by early settlers. Read more about the OzPic project at: www.macquariedictionary.com.au/ozpic          

The word swamp appeared first in Virginia in the early 1600s and was used as if it was a synonym for a marsh.  The Editor, Susan Butler, explores the differences and similarities of the swamps and marshes of America, England and Australia -- including the many words used to describe this part of the environment. Read more about the OzPic project at: www.macquariedictionary.com.au/ozpic        

A soak is a damp patch of ground where the groundwater is close to the surface. A variant name for the soak is a sinkhole, a pothole or a swallow-hole. They can also be called gnamma holes or gilgai, which means waterhole.  The Editor, Susan Butler, explores the many names for soaks, and how they may differ across Australia. Read more about the OzPic project at: www.macquariedictionary.com.au/ozpic          

Many parts of the Australian landscape feature scrub -- low trees and shrub, often a bit stunted and sparse. The Editor, Susan Butler, talks about the different types of scrub, like brigalow, pindan, mulga, mallee and spinifex, and how many areas across the country have come to be known by the type of scrub growing there. Read more about the OzPic project at: www.macquariedictionary.com.au/ozpic            

Settlers in Australia moved from the British English notion of a creek being a bend or crook in a body of water, to the hierarchy of watercourses that we have today. The Editor, Susan Butler, discusses the range of words that can be used to refer to a creek, and how the meaning has changed over time. Read more about the OzPic project at: www.macquariedictionary.com.au/ozpic         

In colonial times, a billabong was a subsidiary course of a river, carved out as an anabranch or meander. But in the mid-1900s the primary idea of a billabong came to be synonymous with a waterhole. The Editor, Susan Butler, explores this change. Read more about the OzPic project at: www.macquariedictionary.com.au/ozpic