A Word in Your Ear

What's the difference between Qantas and the ATO? Roly Sussex will take you into the strange world of acronyms and initialisms.

Americanisms have had such an impact on our language that ABC's Roly Sussex has recorded over 10,000 of them.

Boo! From witches to wicca, Roly Sussex peeks behind the curtain of words like ghosts, spectres, Halloween and haunts.

With US elections on the horizon, Roly Sussex investigates the language of democracy.

It's the delicious language of Italy on the menu tonight.

Are you feeling tip-top, hoity-toity or namby-pamby today? Roly investigates the curiosities of echo phrases.

Do dogs go "whoof, whoof", "ruff, ruff" or "wan, wan"? Roly Sussex explores the origins of onomatopoeia.

What's the Aussie origins of the slang, jargon and banter of our nation's greatest footy code?

A "blessing in disguise" or a "blessing in the skies"? Roly Sussex dives into the elusive mondegreen.

"Wut a way you" might sound like pirate speak, but it’s a common greeting on this Australian island.

Who knows what sous vide is? What does being out of breath have to do with your soufflé?

Two teenagers explain the nuances of "rizz", "no cap" and "sigma" to Professor Roly Sussex.

How has news language changed over the years? And why do news reporters say words in that fancy way?

Do you ever "soften" your language to sound more polite? Roly Sussex explains "hedges", where English soften statements for pleasantry's sake.

From mispronunciation to grammatical errors, Roly Sussex explores some of the common mistakes in English.

The Cambridge Dictionary added 3200 new wods to their books last year. So what are they? Roly Sussex is your guide.

Bonjour! This week, Roly Sussex discusses the significance and evolution of the French language.

We've hit the nail on the head! This week, Roly Sussex discusses the significance of metaphors in everyday language.

Please & Thank You! This week, Roly Sussex discusses how manners and gratitude are expressed differently around the world.

Marmee? Gram? Gramps? Papa? This week, Roly Sussex discusses the words we use for our older relatives.

Are all written languages spoken? And are all spoken languages written?

From The Churchill Arms to Ye Old Fighting Cocks, there's a whole "alien" language associated with pub talk.

Music has the uncanny ability to be understood by anyone, anywhere. But why? And how did music develop its own kind of "language"?

From ships and professions to family structures and pronouns, Roly Sussex navigates the complex web of gendered language.

Wind, clouds and rain... ABC's Roly Sussex discusses weather words alongside ABC TV Weather Presenter Jenny Woodward.

Flat out like a lizard drinking! ABC's Roly Sussex discusses catchy phrases.

Lips, tongue, teeth and cheeks... ABC's Roly Sussex discusses the sounds of language.

Tell me a furphy... What is a brass razoo? ABC's Roly Sussex discusses language used during wartime.

Omnishambles? Yoghurt? ABC's Roly Sussex discusses new words and how to pronounce yoghurt.

A frog and toad for the road? ABC's Roly Sussex discusses avoidance language and rhyming slang.

Catchy slogans. Memorable jingles. ABC's Roly Sussex discusses advertising language and memorable catchphrases.

The Easter Bunny? It's raining cats and dogs? ABC's Roly Sussex discusses weather phrases and the origins of Easter.

Hang in there. Get over it. Put up with it. How did these peculiar and 'improper' phrases come to pervade the English language?

Football or soccer? From kicking goals to putting the ball in their court, Roly Sussex discusses his favourite sports idioms.

White house? Mardi Gras? Roly Sussex discusses the muddling of syllables, and the changing face of the full stop.

Catfishing? Dogfishing? And what about breadcrumbing? Roly unveils the surprising origins of animal-based words, and the unexpected impact those words have had on the language of dating.

Feb-RAR-y? Feb-RY? Feb-YOR-ary? How do you say February?

I love you. I adore you. I'm smitten. You drive me crazy. I need you. But why?

Should you stress about stress in words? Roly Sussex explains the surprising origins for why we emphasise the things we do.

Kilometre or KILO-metre? Addicting or addictive? And should you drop the 't' in comfortable?

From utes to the quirks of the English language, Roly Sussex is here to answer all your linguistic questions.

From "authentic" to "Matildas", Roly Sussex returns with some of his favourite words of the past annum.

What are the cultural origins of our names? What makes them more feminine or masculine? And when did middle names become a thing?

From jingles about sun safety to songs about vegemite, Australia's advertising history is full of iconic earworms. But why were they so successful?

Insults are hardly features of polite conversation, but some might say we've gotten a bit soft.

How did we decide what should be capitalised, and what should be lowercase? And why do we capitalise 'I' but not 'me'?

Is it exclamation points, or exclamation marks? What's the deal with the full stop, apostophe and comma?

The ABC's Lord of Language, the Emeritus Professor Roly Sussex,  discusses American influences on the English language.

The ABC's Lord of Language, the Emeritus Professor Roly Sussex, discusses where to put the emphasis on words.

The word 'old' has come to have some rather peculiar connotations.

Break down, luck out! Emeritus Professor Roly Sussex discusses phrasal verbs.

The ABC's Lord of Language, the Emeritus Professor Roly Sussex,  discusses the language of football.

The ABC's Lord of Language, the Emeritus Professor Roly Sussex,  discusses the language of being polite.

The ABC's Lord of Language, the Emeritus Professor Roly Sussex, discusses terms related to your garden.

The ABC's Lord of Language, the Emeritus Professor Roly Sussex,  discusses the effectiveness of signals, symbols and signs.

The ABC's Lord of Language, the Emeritus Professor Roly Sussex,  discusses the evolution of the English language.

The ABC's Lord of Language, the Emeritus Professor Roly Sussex,  discusses the nicknames we give our favourite sports players.

The ABC's Lord of Language, the Emeritus Professor Roly Sussex,  discusses Americanisms.

The ABC's Lord of Language, the Emeritus Professor Roly Sussex,  discusses eponyms.

The ABC's Lord of Language, the Emeritus Professor Roly Sussex,  discusses echo phrases.

Are we succumbing to American-isms?

The ABC's Lord of Language, the Emeritus Professor Roly Sussex,  discusses spelling and pronunciation.

Depending on whether you're speaking the King's English, the POTUS English, or good old 'Strayan English, the one language can sound entirely different.

Fresh off the back of his European tour, Professor Roly Sussex is finally back in Queensland to share a word in your ear.

Professor Roly Sussex is away on a European tour, but he hasn't stopped sharing his linguistic lessons.

Professor Roly Sussex is away on a European tour, but he hasn't stopped sharing his linguistic learnings. Roly joins Kat Feeney all the way from Estonia in northern Europe.

It's officially 100 days until Queensland can celebrate its Royal Show - the beloved Ekka! But why do we call it the Ekka? And where did the term "sideshow alley" come from? Professor Roly Sussex is digging into the Ekka terminology.

In school, you were probably taught they were the 'doing words'. But are English verbs a bit more complicated than that?  Professor Roly Sussex investigates verbs and how they've evolved over time.

Have you ever, erm, noticed, like, how many times people totally say words they actually don't even need in a sentence?  Turns out, it's a lot. This week, Professor Roly Sussex is culling the redundant words we use to fill the silence.

Are you an 'er', an 'ese', an 'an', an 'ee', an 'ian' or an 'ish'? There are so many different suffixes to describe the place you come from. Professor Roly Sussex breaks down the complexities of demonyms.

Mate? Guys? Confrère?  What's the best way to address a friend, a group of colleagues, or someone you've never even met? Professor Roly Sussex tackles terms of address.

To celebrate the World Science Festival returning to Brisbane, Professor Roly Sussex is breaking down the linguistic science of the Periodic Table.

How did our clothes get the names that they have? From shirts to skirts and everything in between, Professor Roly Sussex is chatting about the origins of our wardrobes.

As a nation are we naturally more reticent about using terms of endearment in public?

Why are some people under the weather and others ill? A fully sick Professor Roly Sussex is talking about words, expressions and idioms for poor health.

What's the origin of family names? Do they come from the profession of an ancestor, a location or are they simply patronymic?  Professor Roly Sussex is chatting about the origin of the surname.

What does the Queen Consort mean? Where does the word throne come from? Professor Roly Sussex chats about the history and meanings of language used when referring to someone royal.

Why do you call a highway... a highway? Professor Roly Sussex is talking about the language of transport in this edition of A Word in Your Ear.

Professor Roly Sussex is chatting about unusual words to add to your vocabulary.

How vulnerable are we to mispronouncing certain words? Professor Roly Sussex is chatting about why some words are more commonly mispronounced than others.

Knives that cut and knights as in shining armour, psychology and psychologists, gnats in the air and gnomes in the garden. Professor Roly Sussex explains why we bother with silent letters.

There's a severe weather warning for dangerous winds at the moment so who better to talk about wind words and idioms than the word wizard himself, Professor Roly Sussex?

Dutch courage, a Dutch auction, and a Dutch oven are expressions that, like ABC Radio's Mike van Acker, have their origins in the Netherlands, but how many words that we use in everyday language come from Dutch? Professor Roly Sussex is chatting about loanwords.

They form the basis of every word we read and every sentence we speak, but where do letters come from? That's just one of the questions for Professor Roly Sussex from students at Ferny Grove State School.

Do women interrupt less and generally use more polite language than blokes? Professor Roly Sussex is chatting about the linguistic war of the sexes.

State of Origin on Sunday so who will you barrack for? In Britain, barracking is about shouting loudly to interrupt someone so why does barracking mean something different in Australia?

Bludgers and bogans, drongos and dunnies or do you buy sangers at the servo? Professor Roly Sussex is chatting about Aussie slang.

Roly Sussex is talking about the cold weather, how we describe and what we wear? A pullover? A sweater, a jumper or a cardigan?

Professor Roly Sussex is chatting about the words you hear most often in politics but which mean the least.

It's that whatchamacallit when Professor Roly Sussex talks about words, language, linguistics and other thingamajigs.

Professor Roly Sussex is chatting about those words, the buzzwords, that come up time and time again. What are they, why do politicians keep using them, and what are they really trying to say?

A bellweather seat, a dark horse, swing states, and dog whistling: common enough expressions in election time, but what are their origins? Professor Roly Sussex is talking politics.

Why do so many languages have a gender for the words but, in the main, English doesn't? Professor Roly Sussex is on hand with an answer.

Sometimes the same word can be pronounced in different ways so does it all depend where the speaker's from? Professor Roly Sussex has an answer to the controversy - but how does he pronounce controversy?

New words in the English language pop all the time. Words like meme and paywall are connected with the digital age in which we now live. But how do new words become formally accepted for use though?

If it's mouse and mice, why isn't it house and hice? And what about tooth and teeth or foot and feet? Who makes the rules and why aren't they consistent? Professor Roly Sussex explains.

De-escalation, incursions and invasions: the dogs of war are barking but, if truth is the first casualty in war, then what happens to language?

Ink wells and blotting paper, milk monitors and chalk: the classrooms have reopened this week, but the language of school has changed and many words that were almost synonymous with the classroom have disappeared from everyday use.