A Word in Your Ear

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.

Which words are most frequently mispronounced and why are those words so difficult in the first place? Professor Roly Sussex says simplifications like vulnerable have a good phonetic explanation, but that's not always the case.

According to the official Wimbledon website, Queensland's Ash Barty won the ladies singles final and Novak Djokovic won the gentlemen's final, so why not women and men's? Allow Professor Roly Sussex to explain.

How do we know where to put the word stress in English and are there any rules about which words have a stress in specific parts?

Is it atypical or untypical of Roly to return to a topic? Once again, Professor Roly Sussex is talking about prefixes.

The humble prefix: IMpossible to understand how they work or UNpossible to learn them all one by one? Allow Professor Roly Sussex to explain.

The sense of smell as in a dog with a keen nose or a special kind of smell as in a wine with a good nose. In this case, 'nose' is a polysemy. Professor Roly Sussex explains.

Is there a geographical variation in language in Australia or do we even have regional accents? Professor Roly Sussex is talking about front yards and back gardens.

One tooth, two teeth. One goose, two geese. One foot, two feet ... so one mouse, two meese? And why don't we have two foots or two tooths? Professor Roly Sussex is chatting about the problem with plurals.

How do you ask for something? It's a simple question but there are lots of answers. Professor Roly Sussex is talking about how we make requests - and offers - in English.

How long is a chaise longue and would you really strip and polish a duchess? Professor Roly Sussex is talking about furniture.

Politicians and the health experts talk about the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine, but what's the difference between efficacy and efficiency or effectiveness?

Tennis has a distinctly French origin and this is reflected in the language of the sport itself. Professor Roly Sussex explains.

Professor Roly Sussex says 'have' is one of the most important verbs in the English language, but how difficult is it using 'have' in the present perfect tense for someone learning English or speaking English as a second language?

"Let's eat, kids" is so much more palatable than "let's eat kids", but grammatical and syntax errors are easy to make. Professor Roly Sussex is chatting about some of the common mistakes we make in the English language.

Merry Christmas or Happy Christmas? Why and how do we greet people on festive occasions? Professor Roly Sussex explains.

Should English be written as it sounds and sound as it's written? Professor Roly Sussex joins the debate.

Clothing words and changing fashions, Professor Roly Sussex is chatting about the passing pageant of apparel.

Many surnames are patronymics, but there are a few matrilineal societies and the origins of the surname may differ in non-English speaking societies. Professor Roly Sussex is chatting to listeners about the origins and meanings of surnames all over the world.

We often use Latin expressions or words without knowing their origin or precise meaning. Professor Roly Sussex explains.

Professor Roly Sussex is chatting about which Americanisms are in everyday use, which he thinks are likely to catch on, and which American words or expressions never will.

Why do we have a left and right in politics, and what do pebbles and scalps have to do with elections? Professor Roly Sussex is talking about the language of politics.

Some dogs go woof, others might go bow wow, but what if you or your dog don't speak English as your first language: what sound does your dog make then?

It's sometimes said that we should reform English spelling so that there should be one letter for one sound and one sound for one letter. Professor Roly Sussex explains why he thinks this wouldn't work.

How do you guard against being impolite and what do you do if someone is impolite to you? Professor Roly Sussex is talking with the utmost respect about words and language.

How do we know who talks when and when can other people join in a conversation or interject and interrupt? Allow Professor Roly Sussex to explain.

An Oxford comma walks into a bar where it spends the evening watching the television, getting drunk, and smoking cigars! Professor Roly Sussex is having some fun with various figures of speech and grammatical issues.

Bud, mate, guys, ladies and gentlemen, colleagues: Professor Roly Sussex is talking about terms of address and who can use which words to say hello to whom and under what circumstances.

There are many ways to express affection for loved ones, some are more traditional and others originate in languages other than English. Professor Roly Sussex is having some fun with terms of endearment.