Stuff about the Balkans, Australia, languages and more...
since 2009.
November 19, 2024
3
min read
India and Australia have common bonds that go beyond a passion for cricket. Here are a few words that Indian and Australian English uniquely share...
Category:
Australian English
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July 30, 2024
4
min read
How the life and death of a popular chalga singer embodied the nature of post-Communist Bulgaria
Read more
July 28, 2024
3
min read
To get away from the sharks! Nah, it's more than that.
Read more
July 26, 2024
3
min read
At 4:17 am on 26 July 1963, Skopje, the capital of Macedonia, was almost fully destroyed in an earthquake measuring 6.1, killing thousands.
Read more
July 25, 2024
3
min read
Or perhaps not. It wouldn't be an Olympics if there wasn't impending doom. But how has it actually turned out?
Read more
July 17, 2024
3
min read
The story of one of the freakiest things to have happened to me, involving what a Russian dedushka told me in Estonia and what later happened soon after I arrived in Ukraine.
Read more
July 4, 2024
5
min read
Vote-count competitions between rival cities? How a mundane sausage in generic white bread is the epitome of mass democratic participation in Australia. And why a Bulgarian train is not a train. The weird world of election traditions.
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June 30, 2024
3
min read
One of the world's biggest ever rock bands has turned 50!
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June 30, 2024
3
min read
Australians adore pets... but not on public transport. How come?
Read more
June 21, 2024
4
min read
Many Australians are in "de facto relationships". What are these and how do they differ from marriage?
Read more
June 20, 2024
3
min read
World Refugee Day today. What would you if this happened to you?
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June 14, 2024
5
min read
The story of how I found out by chance that I no longer had cancer
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June 11, 2024
3
min read
Do you know your "shopper" from your "packet"? Let's find out more about Russian pseudo-anglicisms.
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May 23, 2024
10
min read
Is Burger King the drama? How come there's no Burger King in Australia but you can still get a Whopper? A story of how a technicality turned an alternative brand into a part of local Australian identity, and how that was almost usurped.
Read more
May 22, 2024
2
min read
The lady doth protest too much, methinks. Australia's richest woman, mining magnate Gina Rinehart got more than what she bargained for when she wanted a portrait of her taken down. And how does wine figure into this too?
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April 6, 2024
5
min read
50 years after ABBA won the Eurovision Song Content, it was Australia that set the tone for ABBA's fortunes over the decades. This is their Australian story.
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October 23, 2023
2
min read
We all know how some translations can be so bad that they’re unintentionally hilarious, like the viral examples from Engrish.com...
Read more
September 14, 2023
1
min read
Working in IT? 👩🏻💻 Would you call yourself an IT-ian, Hitechist or Startupist?
Read more
September 11, 2023
2
min read
Back from a week researching around Montenegro 🇲🇪, Bosnia and Herzegovina 🇧🇦 and Croatia 🇭🇷 with a writer friend of mine. An amazing time! 🚗
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August 31, 2023
2
min read
It’s all about being friendly when driving out in “woop woop” (the middle of nowhere) 🤗
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November 7, 2024
2
min read
One of Australia's most visited tourist sites has two official names, but Aussies almost exclusively use one of them. Do you know which one?
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November 4, 2024
3
min read
Australians like to see themselves as "easy-going" and "laid-back". But are they really?
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November 1, 2024
3
min read
Aussies love their cars, so here are a few car-related words for you...
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October 29, 2024
2
min read
If there's anything that can get some Aussies hot under the collar, it's this...
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September 11, 2024
2
min read
Welcome to confusion with "email" in Australia. It's generational...
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September 1, 2024
3
min read
Here's the latest round up of some uniquely Aussie words to add to your vocabulary...
Read more
August 3, 2024
2
min read
Because of, or despite, his very unconventional but trés Aussie approach to training, he won silver at the 2000 Olympics. You won't believe how...
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July 31, 2024
5
min read
How a comedy routine during the 2000 Sydney Olympics provided Australia with its own, very naughty, gymnastics lexicon!
Read more
July 28, 2024
3
min read
To get away from the sharks! Nah, it's more than that.
Read more
July 25, 2024
3
min read
Or perhaps not. It wouldn't be an Olympics if there wasn't impending doom. But how has it actually turned out?
Read more
July 4, 2024
5
min read
Vote-count competitions between rival cities? How a mundane sausage in generic white bread is the epitome of mass democratic participation in Australia. And why a Bulgarian train is not a train. The weird world of election traditions.
Read more
June 30, 2024
3
min read
One of the world's biggest ever rock bands has turned 50!
Read more
June 30, 2024
3
min read
Australians adore pets... but not on public transport. How come?
Read more
June 21, 2024
4
min read
Many Australians are in "de facto relationships". What are these and how do they differ from marriage?
Read more
May 23, 2024
10
min read
Is Burger King the drama? How come there's no Burger King in Australia but you can still get a Whopper? A story of how a technicality turned an alternative brand into a part of local Australian identity, and how that was almost usurped.
Read more
May 22, 2024
2
min read
The lady doth protest too much, methinks. Australia's richest woman, mining magnate Gina Rinehart got more than what she bargained for when she wanted a portrait of her taken down. And how does wine figure into this too?
Read more
April 6, 2024
5
min read
50 years after ABBA won the Eurovision Song Content, it was Australia that set the tone for ABBA's fortunes over the decades. This is their Australian story.
Read more
August 31, 2023
2
min read
It’s all about being friendly when driving out in “woop woop” (the middle of nowhere) 🤗
Read more
June 26, 2023
1
min read
How do you say in Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin or Serbian this: “Up there, the mountains burn worse”?👉 Gore gore gore gore.
Read more
June 1, 2023
1
min read
🎉 50 years ago today, the Adelaide Festival Centre, the premier performing and visual arts venue and precinct in Adelaide, Australia, opened. The centre to this day remains one of the symbols of Adelaide. 🇦🇺
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May 25, 2023
2
min read
Did you know that Tina Turner has been one of the biggest contributors to Australian culture? 🦘 Honestly, her impact has been huge! Here’s how…
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May 11, 2023
4
min read
Time to get out the sequins and huge props. The world’s most watched non-sports TV show is on, the Eurovision Song Contest 🎤. Tonight is the second semi-final, with 16 acts from Europe… and Australia.
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April 24, 2023
1
min read
Last Saturday Australian 🇦🇺 🎭 comedy legend Barry Humphries passed away aged 89.
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April 11, 2023
3
min read
Eshays and Adlays: the latest bunch of Pig-Latin-speaking, Nike-wearing young bogans (vilified poor working-class people) to cause massive moral panic in Australia 🇦🇺
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April 7, 2023
2
min read
Bunnies are considered cute and loveable… except in Australia 🇦🇺, where they’re a major scourge🤬.
Read more
March 28, 2023
1
min read
Have you unwittingly done a hand gesture that meant something completely different in another country? Here’s a true story…
Read more
March 8, 2023
1
min read
🪃 In Australia, IWD is a day of campaigning and awareness, elements that are much closer to the day’s original purpose of bringing mainstream attention to issues affecting women.
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November 19, 2024
3
min read
India and Australia have common bonds that go beyond a passion for cricket. Here are a few words that Indian and Australian English uniquely share...
Read more
November 7, 2024
2
min read
One of Australia's most visited tourist sites has two official names, but Aussies almost exclusively use one of them. Do you know which one?
Read more
November 1, 2024
3
min read
Aussies love their cars, so here are a few car-related words for you...
Read more
October 23, 2024
6
min read
Does DeepL live up to its claim of being "the world's most accurate translator" when it comes to Aussie English? Get ready for some zingers!
Read more
September 11, 2024
2
min read
Welcome to confusion with "email" in Australia. It's generational...
Read more
September 1, 2024
3
min read
Here's the latest round up of some uniquely Aussie words to add to your vocabulary...
Read more
August 5, 2024
3
min read
Do you get what is being said here? Unless you're Australian, it's not what you think...
Read more
July 31, 2024
5
min read
How a comedy routine during the 2000 Sydney Olympics provided Australia with its own, very naughty, gymnastics lexicon!
Read more
July 28, 2024
3
min read
To get away from the sharks! Nah, it's more than that.
Read more
June 21, 2024
4
min read
Many Australians are in "de facto relationships". What are these and how do they differ from marriage?
Read more
May 23, 2024
10
min read
Is Burger King the drama? How come there's no Burger King in Australia but you can still get a Whopper? A story of how a technicality turned an alternative brand into a part of local Australian identity, and how that was almost usurped.
Read more
May 22, 2024
2
min read
The lady doth protest too much, methinks. Australia's richest woman, mining magnate Gina Rinehart got more than what she bargained for when she wanted a portrait of her taken down. And how does wine figure into this too?
Read more
August 31, 2023
2
min read
It’s all about being friendly when driving out in “woop woop” (the middle of nowhere) 🤗
Read more
August 14, 2023
3
min read
Ask what’s most unique about Australian English 🪃, the answers usually are our accent and slang✔️. However, there are also a number of uniquely Australian English words in regular use, even in formal situations, that Australians are surprised to find are not used everywhere else in the English-speaking world (OK, sometimes also in New Zealand🥝, […]
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June 30, 2023
3
min read
Are you a fan of the cult TV comedy show The Office?🕺And which version: the UK one 🇬🇧? The US one 🇺🇸? The French one 🇫🇷? The Indian one 🇮🇳 or any of the other 13 variants made? 📣 News in is that an Australian 🇦🇺 version of The Office will be hitting our screens […]
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May 29, 2023
2
min read
Today (Monday), 29 May 2023 is a “bank holiday” in the United Kingdom, our third this month! 📆Now this term “bank holiday” often confuses many people not from the UK or Ireland. Does this mean that it’s a holiday for banks only? 🧐
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April 11, 2023
3
min read
Eshays and Adlays: the latest bunch of Pig-Latin-speaking, Nike-wearing young bogans (vilified poor working-class people) to cause massive moral panic in Australia 🇦🇺
Read more
April 7, 2023
2
min read
Bunnies are considered cute and loveable… except in Australia 🇦🇺, where they’re a major scourge🤬.
Read more
March 28, 2023
1
min read
Have you unwittingly done a hand gesture that meant something completely different in another country? Here’s a true story…
Read more
March 10, 2023
3
min read
💪🏼 Calisthenics (US English) or Callisthenics (UK English), one the biggest crazes in fitness worldwide, is a form of strength training using bodyweight exercises and minimal equipment…
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January 24, 2023
2
min read
Something Australian (but no way uniquely) today…Do you fancy an escape from the rat race and going for a seachange 🌊, treechange 🌳 or e-change 💻?
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October 23, 2024
6
min read
Does DeepL live up to its claim of being "the world's most accurate translator" when it comes to Aussie English? Get ready for some zingers!
Read more
October 20, 2024
5
min read
Let's see how Turkish has influenced the languages of the Balkans and further afield. Bujrum!
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October 17, 2024
3
min read
Where the translation gets undone because just because a word looks the same in another language, it doesn't necessarily means the same.
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August 25, 2023
3
min read
So who’s having a “crazy coupon” this weekend? 🎉 Wait!✋ A crazy coupon?🎟️😲 What’s that?
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August 22, 2023
2
min read
Did you hear about the man who collects “old-timers”? 👴🏽 Or that Frank Sinatra has many “evergreens”? 🌲
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June 26, 2023
1
min read
How do you say in Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin or Serbian this: “Up there, the mountains burn worse”?👉 Gore gore gore gore.
Read more
March 29, 2023
3
min read
I’m about to fly off to Australia transiting through Munich Airport 🇩🇪 … so I’m preparing myself to be ready to speak in “naš jezik” (“our language”).
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October 20, 2024
5
min read
Let's see how Turkish has influenced the languages of the Balkans and further afield. Bujrum!
Read more
October 6, 2024
1
min read
How thanks to the Albanians, a Latin American cake conquered the Balkans.
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September 6, 2024
2
min read
Did you know that people regularly contact me to identify text they can't decipher. That's what happens when I know a number of languages.
Read more
July 30, 2024
4
min read
How the life and death of a popular chalga singer embodied the nature of post-Communist Bulgaria
Read more
July 4, 2024
5
min read
Vote-count competitions between rival cities? How a mundane sausage in generic white bread is the epitome of mass democratic participation in Australia. And why a Bulgarian train is not a train. The weird world of election traditions.
Read more
August 25, 2023
3
min read
So who’s having a “crazy coupon” this weekend? 🎉 Wait!✋ A crazy coupon?🎟️😲 What’s that?
Read more
August 22, 2023
2
min read
Did you hear about the man who collects “old-timers”? 👴🏽 Or that Frank Sinatra has many “evergreens”? 🌲
Read more
March 8, 2023
1
min read
🪃 In Australia, IWD is a day of campaigning and awareness, elements that are much closer to the day’s original purpose of bringing mainstream attention to issues affecting women.
Read more
March 6, 2023
2
min read
Do you know what to do with hugging and cheek-kissing in southeast Europe? Do you know which countries kiss twice and others three times?
Read more
February 1, 2023
1
min read
The latest book that I played a part in its fruition (no, I’m not in it this time), by my dear friend, the award-winning writer Kapka Kassabova, is now available for purchase.
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September 6, 2024
2
min read
Did you know that people regularly contact me to identify text they can't decipher. That's what happens when I know a number of languages.
Read more
August 23, 2023
3
min read
Surprising as it may be, I was once a child, but one who happened to grow up in a multilingual environment but dominated by English.
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October 23, 2024
6
min read
Does DeepL live up to its claim of being "the world's most accurate translator" when it comes to Aussie English? Get ready for some zingers!
Read more
October 15, 2024
2
min read
A cautionary tale about how human behaviour overrides data
Read more
September 29, 2024
3
min read
How the Ottoman Empire granted its translators and interpreters, the Dragomans, with respect and status.
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August 21, 2024
1
min read
Why you shouldn't trust automated translation on LinkedIn or anywhere else. And are the Macedonians being targeted?
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June 26, 2023
2
min read
👍The best thing about being a freelance translator is being able to work at any place at any time. 👎The worst thing about being a freelancer translator is being able to work at any place at any time.
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April 26, 2023
3
min read
Republic of Serbia 🇷🇸, Republic of Croatia 🇭🇷, Kingdom of Norway 🇳🇴, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 🇬🇧, Oriental Republic of Uruguay 🇺🇾, Plurinational State of Bolivia 🇧🇴 …
Read more
November 19, 2024
3
min read
India and Australia have common bonds that go beyond a passion for cricket. Here are a few words that Indian and Australian English uniquely share...
Read more
October 15, 2024
2
min read
A cautionary tale about how human behaviour overrides data
Read more
October 14, 2024
1
min read
It may come as a surprise but it's not just in French...
Read more
September 6, 2024
2
min read
Did you know that people regularly contact me to identify text they can't decipher. That's what happens when I know a number of languages.
Read more
October 23, 2023
2
min read
We all know how some translations can be so bad that they’re unintentionally hilarious, like the viral examples from Engrish.com...
Read more
September 14, 2023
1
min read
Working in IT? 👩🏻💻 Would you call yourself an IT-ian, Hitechist or Startupist?
Read more
August 28, 2023
2
min read
Watch out for the killer squirrels! 🐿️ We’re very much in “silly season” right now in the UK 🤪
Read more
August 26, 2023
2
min read
Did you know that Tina Turner has been one of the biggest contributors to Australian culture? 🦘 Honestly, her impact has been huge! Here’s how…
Read more
August 24, 2023
2
min read
Two more language directions have been added to my Institute of Translation and Interpreting profile
Read more
August 23, 2023
2
min read
Would you believe that the names of all these famous products are the cause for the deadlock in the free-trade agreement negotiations between the EU 🇪🇺 and Australia 🇦🇺. How come?
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August 21, 2023
5
min read
🟰 Words that look the same or similar in two languages but have two, at times radically, different meanings are called “false friends”.
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June 22, 2023
2
min read
They are chocolate-covered chewy caramels 🍬 that were often so hard to bite into that they kept many dentists in business 🦷. Nothing particularly unique so far, you might think.
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May 30, 2023
1
min read
Translation can often be a very sedentary existence, plugging away in front of a laptop, with little or no face-to-face contact with clients👨🏻💻
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April 12, 2023
4
min read
Now this might sound a bit random 🤨 but this is something you’ll hear all the time, in all places… in department stores in Australia 🇦🇺. How come? 🧐
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September 15, 2024
2
min read
And I know because of an annual procedure a work colleague advised me to do...
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June 14, 2024
5
min read
The story of how I found out by chance that I no longer had cancer
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February 3, 2023
3
min read
WARNING: potentially triggering material. Very, very dark humour about cancer ahead. 4 February is World Cancer Day and… erm… conveniently, the day after is the anniversary (15 years now) of being given the oh so exciting news that I had testicular cancer…
Read more
July 26, 2024
3
min read
At 4:17 am on 26 July 1963, Skopje, the capital of Macedonia, was almost fully destroyed in an earthquake measuring 6.1, killing thousands.
Read more
July 17, 2024
3
min read
The story of one of the freakiest things to have happened to me, involving what a Russian dedushka told me in Estonia and what later happened soon after I arrived in Ukraine.
Read more
June 20, 2024
3
min read
World Refugee Day today. What would you if this happened to you?
Read more
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