by Julia Robinson
'A curly moment as Gary Ablett lines up with a more hirsute colleague at Gold Coast Suns training.' Image source: The Australian/Glenn Hampson
Here at ozwords.org we love this hairstyle on AFL player Gary Ablett. The picture was sent to us by Ozworder and long-time contributor Gilbert, not just for its intrinsic interest but because of the name of the style – the skullet.
Procession of the 41st Battalion through Brisbane on Anzac Day, 1916. Image source: State Library of Queensland.
by Mark Gwynn
Not forgotten nor forsaken
Are the lads no longer here, I shall call — and you will waken
On this one day of the year. Argus (Melbourne) 29 April 1916
The one day of the year in Australia is Anzac Day, April 25, a national public holiday commemorating all those who have served and died in war. April 25 is the anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) troops in 1915. It was the start of a gruelling eight-month long campaign by allied forces during the First World War to capture the Turkish peninsula.
by Mark Gwynn
My daughter was recently helping me set up our new WiFi computing system at home by reading the instruction manual – something, to my detriment, I rarely do. As she was reading she mentioned something about a rooter which immediately made me smile, because I knew she was talking about the router we were trying to connect to the computer. The funny thing was that my daughter was neither aware of the Australian connotation of rooter nor the pronunciation of ‘router’.
Image source: Brendan Hennessy
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Patrick White (1912–1990), the first Australian* to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. He was also the first Australian writer to have a significant international reputation; during his lifetime his novels often received greater critical acclaim overseas than in his own country. Continue reading
Image source: Australian Bilby Appreciation Society
One of my fears as a young kid was the prospect of a large anthropomorphic bunny entering my room at night to deliver Easter eggs. On one particularly harrowing night waiting for a 10-foot rabbit I saw instead my mum delivering the Easter chocolates—she said the Easter Bunny was busy. It took me a few years longer to figure out the truth about Santa.