“Professor Rob Pensalfini said that many of the old words and phrases that were dying out, such as cobber, cooee and stone the crows, conjured up the image of a white colonial man. “The fact is that the faces of Australia have changed ... And the slang that is coming in from second-generation migrants, like habib and bro, are the linguistic equivalent of saying this is what it is now to be Australian.
Like Dr Amanda Laugesen, he admired Australians humour and creativity with the language. His favourite - a phrase under consideration for the dictionary - is: “We are not here to f--- spiders.”
(courtesy of my Wickenby hero )
Social trends created expressions like fauxgan (a fake bogan), latte belt/line/landand smashed avo. Recent political contributions include democracy sausage and Canberra bubble.
At the same time, many old phrases, like cobber and cooee, stone the crows andstrike me pink, were used less frequently. And like the phrase, “how good is”, they were increasingly used ironically or self-consciously, said Dr Laugesen.
Indigenous words and phrases were also entering the lexicon rapidly, particularly those relating to First Nations culture as well as Aboriginal names for flora and fauna, and the seasons. During the Olympics, non-Indigenous commentators have been using the Aboriginal Australasian expression for excellent, “deadly”.
Australian English isn’t being taken over by Americanisms or Bohemianism. But it is changing
“I know this seems counter-intuitive but don’t worry about the numbers. They are an ok metric for how you are doing overall and maybe from time to time but they are not what really matters. What matters is the impact that you are making and the lives you are able to touch. Even if that is ONE person on any given day, that is a blessing.”
–Nitika Chopra, Founder of Chronicon
“Never, ever get into a fight on social media. The world is too complex to be argued via 280 characters.” –Kathryn Finney, Founder & CEO of Genius Guild
FRANCE WARNED THE US IN 2015 ABOUT THE WUHAN LAB IT HELPED BUILD, FORMER COVID-19 INVESTIGATOR CLAIMS.
Blogher: Learn From The Mistakes (And Lessons) Of These Top Creators & Entrepreneur
What a gift the human self is. It enables you to sense and reflect upon your own existence; examine the past and plan for the future; check certain impulses in order to reach for other aims; and conceptualize how others see you, allowing you to better connect with them.
But, my guest says, the blessing of the self also comes with a curse, one we need to get a handle on if we’re to live flourishing lives. His name is Mark Leary, and he’s a professor emeritus of psychology and neuroscience and the author ofThe Curse of the Self: Self-Awareness, Egotism, and the Quality of Human Life. Today on the show, Mark unpacks exactly what the self is and its vital benefits, before delving into the downsides that also come with having a self. Mark then shares how people can make the most of the advantages of the self, while mitigating its disadvantages, including the practice he most recommends for quieting the kinds of self-related thoughts and ego-driven behaviors that can make us miserable.
Resources/People/Articles Mentioned in the Podcast
- Self-Serving Bias
- Illusory Superiority
- AoM podcast #661 on insomnia and how we can stress ourselves out of better sleep
- AoM podcast #644 on how to develop greater self-awareness and the potential downsides of introspection
- AoM article on meditation
- Escaping the Self: Alcoholism, Spirituality, Masochism, and Other Flights From the Burden of Selfhood by Roy Baumeister
Connect With Mark Leary
The Curse of the Self: Podcast and
