does anyone have any recent examples in the media of formal forms of exclusion or inclusion, in regards to slang, jargon, sexist or racist discourse
These are just some off the top of my head, dunno how recent you want
INCLUSIVE SLANGIf you understand our lingo, you’re in
Tim Barlass
What does it mean to bandicoot? Would you be insulted to be called a bush foal? Or perhaps you know the meaning of a cock-eyed bob, a methodist gate or rat-and-fowl? Are there perhaps portholes in your coffin?
If you are struggling, it might be reasonable to think that our rich vocabulary, from a wide diversity of sources over more than two centuries, could be under threat.
Author Hugh Lunn, writing in Lost for Words in 2006, suggested the language was in its final death throes and beyond resuscitation.
But now it seems there is new hope. Our language is in a permanent state of transformation, with slang the fastest-changing element of all, he suggests. Aussie kids are displaying the same verbal inventiveness as their grandparents.
‘‘We may no longer be using cobber as part of our everyday speech, but we are constantly coining new and distinctively Australian expressions that display an unending verbal inventiveness,’’ he writes.
Journalist and Sydney radio presenter Kel Richards is on a quest to uncover Australia’s rich linguistic traditions. He believes that the majority of people simply don’t know the origins of most words.
‘‘Most of the language we use most of the time we don’t know where it comes from. We have absorbed (words and sayings) by a process of osmosis and we just use them.’’
Richards also rejects the idea that ‘‘our distinctive lingo is being drowned under a tsunami of Yankeespeak’’ – instead he says we pick and choose the Americanisms we want and reject others. Americans say drug stores. We say chemists. We fill up with petrol while Americans say gas.
That selectivity is an argument for the resilience of Aussie English, according to his book The Story of Australian English, to be published next week.
Also flowing quietly beneath the surface of even the most urban and streetwise Aussies is a deep reservoir of what he calls OBV – old bush vernacular.
‘‘Few Aussies speak OBV all the time. Those who do tend to wear blue singlets, drive utes and listen to John Williamson and Slim Dusty. But for all of us that reservoir is there to draw upon.’’
There are plenty of examples of our selectivity in what we choose to adopt he tells Fairfax Media.
‘‘Most people over 40 pronounce schedule as I do with a ‘sh’. But most people under 40 pronounce it with an ‘sk’. That’s not Americanisation, that’s just a living language that changes and it’s the conversational group that you are in that does the changing.
‘‘On the 26 January 1788 you had people from Dorset and Norfolk, Scotland and Wales and Devonshire all thrust together trying to understand each other. That was an immensely powerful influence. Part of what it did was to produce a levelling which helped to produce the Australian accent, but also made people very aware of language. If you are trying to understand the bloke next to you and he is speaking in an odd way you become extremely conscious of language.’’
But what of the shortening of words such as ambulance, service station and garbage? Should that be allowed?
‘‘I am fascinated by the way the language works and I am not approving or disapproving of it,’’ he said. ‘‘When you come to the abbreviation of the language, which is a very powerful Australian characteristic, maybe it is laziness but I think it is more community signalling. It has a lot to do with saying: ‘You are part of our club’, that we recognise you as belonging to our language community.
‘‘I had a schoolteacher talk about why Australians shorten words and his theory was it’s because in the outback there’s dust in the wind and you have got to keep your mouth closed as much as possible. I think that’s a fascinating theory but it’s probably absolute rubbish.
‘‘It’s a living language and bits of it go away and new bits come in. When I was a kid my mother or aunts would have referred to a handbag or a purse as a billy bag. I think that’s gone. I don’t know of any kids when they double someone else on their push bike saying ‘I’ll give you a dink’ any more.’’
The infant Aussie language was born from four different elements – regional English dialects; the flash language or slang developed by crooks, so honest folk couldn’t understand them; Aboriginal words and convict terms. To that, with time, were added words from the bush, the gold fields, larrikin lingo, digger dialects and others.
‘‘I was a bit surprised at how linguistically inventive Queensland was, although it may be just that I am from NSW . . .’’ Mr Richards said. ‘‘Queensland, I think, was the origin of YMCA. ‘What’s for dinner ... YMCA’. Yesterday’s muck cooked again. It was a Queensland country town that came up with the expression ‘a methodist’s gate’.
‘‘You know what farm gates are like, they can be really hard to open and close because they are falling off the hinges. A methodist gate is a farm gate that is so hard to open or close that only a methodist can do it without swearing.’’
The Story of Australian English
(NewSouth) by Kel Richards costs $29.99 and is out this week.
EXCLUSIVE JARGONPlain talk for high-risk ovarian disorder
• From: AAP
• March 25, 20134:44PM
WHEN Terori Hareko-Samios was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), she struggled to make sense of the disorder.
Contradictory advice, medical jargon and the heartbreak of infertility made understanding the hormonal condition harder than it needed to be.
"I'd go to hospitals and saw women with big pregnant bellies. I wasn't pregnant, so I was quite sad for a very long time," Ms Hareko-Samios said.
"It can really play on your psyche."
The Aboriginal women's support worker at Melbourne's Royal Women's Hospital said her experience inspired her to work with the Jean Hailes Foundation, a national non-profit organisation, on a booklet explaining the disorder.
Launched in Melbourne on Monday, the booklet relies on everyday language to raise awareness of PCOS in indigenous communities.
The hormonal disorder causes increased insulin levels leading to irregular periods, infertility, facial hair, diabetes and, potentially, heart disease.
Ms Hareko-Samios said one in three Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander women suffered from the disorder, many without knowing it, and lacked access to relevant information.
She remembers her frustration at getting six pages of detailed medical jargon and throwing it in the bin.
"It was again that frustration of not being to access that information I could relate to and pass on," she said.
Exercise, diet and weight loss can help manage the disorder.
RACIST LANGUAGE USED TO EXCLUDEWestern Bulldogs cheersquad member evicted from MCG for alleged homophobic remarks
Date
April 12, 2015 - 5:53PM
Daniel Cherny
Sports reporter
A Western Bulldogs cheersquad member was evicted from the MCG on Saturday for allegedly making homophobic remarks. The incident occurred during the Bulldogs' victory over Richmond, and was brought to the attention of authorities after a Tigers player raised the matter with security.
An MCC spokesman confirmed what had taken place.
"We received a complaint during the Richmond v Western Bulldogs match on Saturday regarding homophobic remarks made by a patron," he said.
"After an investigation, the patron was removed from the stadium and the individual's details have been passed on to the AFL."
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The Bulldogs are awaiting further information from the AFL, but are dealing with the incident extremely seriously.
"The club has a code of conduct established for its members, which prohibits such behaviour and it expects all Western Bulldogs members and fans abide by the principles stated in that code, as a condition of membership," the club said in a statement.
In a separate incident on Saturday, a fan alerted stadium security about an alleged racial comment directed at Western Bulldogs player Lin Jong. However once the authorities arrived, there was insufficient evidence to substantiate the claims and no further action was taken.
Tigers CEO Brendon Gale said his club condemned racial abuse.
"As a Club, we take any suggestion of racist behaviour very seriously, and we followed it up accordingly," he said.
"While no action was taken in this case, it is a reminder that any such behaviour is totally unacceptable and as a club we will not tolerate it.
"Lin Jong is a fine young player and we should be celebrating the diversity he brings to our game."
This is the third time in the last 12 months that the Bulldogs have been embroiled in a case of abuse directed from the crowd. In round seven last year, the Dogs apologised after Melbourne's indigenous defender Neville Jetta was subjected to racial abuse. Later in the season, a 70-year old Dogs fan was fined and had his club membership cancelled after racially taunting Sydney's indigenous stars Adam Goodes and Lance Franklin.
Hope these are alright, just the first articles that came from memory. Some more recent than others, but it gives the kind of general gist of what you need to look for
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