Word: idioms
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...they speak. Forget the Crocodile Hunter (never seen it), Outback Steakhouse (never been there) and especially forget everything to do with Russell Crowe (he’s actually from New Zealand). Tired of the looks of terror from unsuspecting FM compers when I attempt to insert apparently nonsensical Aussie idioms into their stories, weary of the mirth which greets my distinctive idiom during editors’ meetings, and most of all, utterly fatigued from people asking me if Fosters really is Australian for beer (um, no), the time has come for a comprehensive guide to genuine Australian slang with...
Good onya: A tough idiom for the novice to master. Can be used as a genuine congratulatory expression, but is also occasionally used in a snide or sarcastic way in response to someone or something particularly foolish or irritating, abbreviated with a “yeah” (You spilled red wine all over my white shirt? Yeah, good onya, mate...
...year-old rapper and winner of this year’s Mercury, is tough to understand at the best of times. But for someone unacquainted with his East London wide-boy accent, his rapid, voice-cracking delivery is incomprehensible—let alone the fact that the garage idiom he has borrowed to underwrite his flow sounds almost entirely foreign to anyone raised on American...
...prospective converts to "Jesus mosques," publicly reciting the Muslim creed, "There is no God but God, and Muhammad is his prophet"; or allowing themselves to be regarded as Muslim mystics, or Sufis. Such techniques are rationalized as part of "contextualization," the necessary presentation of new ideas in a familiar idiom. But Ibrahim Hooper, of the Washington advocacy group Council on American-Islamic Relations, claims, "They know it won't work to just say, 'We want you to become Christian, and here's why.' So they have to pretend to be Muslims." Some Evangelicals are also wary. Jesus mosque "blurs...
Humankind has not yet invented the right punctuation for Beyonce Knowles. No comma or period can contain her exuberant idiom; no semicolon can keep her from her meandering linguistic path. In the middle of her runaway sentences, Beyonce usually interrupts herself with deep, rolling spasms of laughter. Whether the subject is her tendency to forget lyrics while performing, her lack of time to devote to a boyfriend or her profound inability to play guitar, every utterance arrives with its own disruptive laugh track. Then there are the pauses--earnest, eyes-drifting-into-future-space jobs that can stretch...