A Word in Your Ear

Going forward, Professor Roly Sussex hopes you'll take some learnings from his chat about business jargon.

Using titles is one way of emphasising courtesy but, argues Professor Roly Sussex, it is declining fast in contemporary Australia.

Tackling the age-old debate about how to pronounce maroon.

Who owns the word 'football' and why? Professor Roly Sussex explains.

Politicians have been egged during the election campaign. With an egg. Clearly, argues Professor Roly Sussex, this is an ill-eggal act.

A lot of people don't agree with the use of the word 'get' but, as Professor Roly Sussex argues, 'get' is the third most common verb in English, and there are hundreds of uses and combinations.

Professor Roly Sussex is talking about nouns, verbs and adjectives as well as political expressions and taking calls from listeners.

A hedge is a word when you hedge on committing: a 'possibly' dangerous purchase. A booster is a word which intensifies something: a 'really' dangerous purchase. Professor Roly Sussex explains.

Ballot, poll, vote, candidate, constituent and constituency: Professor Roly Sussex is getting to grips with the upcoming election.

North American spellings, words and pronunciations are increasingly used in Australia. Professor Roly Sussex explains why.

In the early days of the ABC, people listened to the BBC and what was called Received Pronunciation; anything less was regarded as debased or undesirable. But, says Professor Roly Sussex, nowadays the norms of Australian English are multiple and often variable.

Professor Roly Sussex is chatting with listeners about common mispronunciations and grammatical errors.

Professor Roly Sussex is chatting about the way certain words are pronounced in Australian English.

A stitch in time saves nine is all Greek to me. Professor Roly Sussex is chatting about popular sayings, similes, proverbs and euphemisms.

What's the most polite way to greet a group of people? Professor Roly Sussex has a definite opinion on this one!

Is first responder an Americanism or is it coming from the services themselves? Professor Roly Sussex explains.

The Word Of The Year is proposed by various dictionaries and institutions in different countries. Professor Roly Sussex explains.