Writers @ Stanton: Amanda Laugesen

Bludger. Larrikin. Dinkum. Sickie. Pash. Illywhacker.

What words would you select to tell the story of Australia? Perhaps you’d choose some from iconic Australianisms like mateship, fair dinkum, and bogan or maybe you might reach for words you hear in the street like no worries, yeah nah, bin chicken and budgie smugglers.

In Australia in 100 Words, historian, lexicographer and author Amanda Laugesen reveals some of the ideas, events and values that have shaped Australia’s history by providing fascinating insight into the evolution of Australian English.

The Australian English vocabulary ranges across everything from this country’s unique flora and fauna to the many colloquial terms used every day, to the words of sports and politics, to the words ‘borrowed’ from between 300 and 700 languages and dialects spoken by the First Nations Peoples prior to and after colonisation.

Laugesen considers what these words can tell us about ourselves, our history and our culture. She explores both the reality of Australia’s past as well as the myths that Australians have created to reflect how we like to see ourselves. Words underpin the myths and stereotypes of Australian identity; they have also obscured harsh realities and inequalities.

About the author

Amanda Laugesen is a historian, writer and lexicographer. She is Director of the Australian National Dictionary Centre at the Australian National University, and Chief Editor of the Australian National Dictionary. She has written a number of books on Australian and US history, including several books on aspects of the history of the Australian lexicon. Her most recent book is Rooted: An Australian history of bad language (2022).

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