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Kate Burridge

Kate Burridge

Kate Burridge is Professor of Linguistics at Monash University. She is the author of many books, a regular guest on ABC radio and recently presented a TED talk in Sydney on Euphemisms in English.

Kate Burridge reviews 'Rooted: An Australian history of bad language' by Amanda Laugesen

January–February 2021, no. 428 17 December 2020
‘Bad language’ comes in many forms, but, as the title suggests, the focus of Amanda Laugesen’s new book is on slang and, in particular, swear words. She documents Australia’s long and often troubled love affair with this language, dividing the history into four parts: the earliest English-speaking settlements of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; the period of Federation and World Wa ... (read more)

Kate Burridge reviews 'The Australian National Dictionary, Second Edition' edited by Bruce Moore

October 2016, no. 385 23 September 2016
The appearance of a new dictionary is always exciting, and the publication of the second edition of the Australian National Dictionary is certainly cause for celebration. It is an impressive collection of some 16,000 Australian English expressions contained within two beautifully bound volumes of scholarly lexicography. It should certainly allay any fears about the continued place of 'tree-diction ... (read more)

Kate Burridge reviews 'The Utility of Meaning' by N.J. Enfield

January-February 2016, no. 378 18 December 2015
Words and their meanings, more than any other aspects of language, hold a special fascination for people. Perhaps it is because, unlike these other features (which are set down during childhood), they continue to be acquired throughout one's lifetime. Words and their meanings are also intimately tied to the life and culture of speakers, and all sorts of perspectives on the human psyche can be glea ... (read more)