Fred Ludowyk

Frederick Ludowyk reviews ‘The Uncyclopedia’ by Gideon Haigh and ‘Names From Here And Far: The New Holland Dictionary of Names’ by William T.S. Noble

December 2003–January 2004, no. 257 • 01 December 2003

In Through the Looking Glass, Humpty Dumpty, among his various pronouncements to Alice, pontificates on the meanings of names. After describing the name Alice’ as ‘a stupid name enough’, Humpty Dumpty asks her what the name Alice means. Alice is doubtful: ‘Must a name mean something?’ And Humpty Dumpty retorts: ‘Of course it must ... My name means the shape I am – and a good handsome ... (read more)

Fred Ludowyk reviews ‘Words, Words, Words’ by David Crystal

June-July 2006, no. 282 • 01 June 2006

David Crystal has written numerous books on language – ‘over 100’ proclaims the cover blurb. In the chapter titled ‘Wordbirths’, Crystal muses on how rare it is to know who created a new word. In this regard, at the Australian National Dictionary Centre we have been tracing the term barbecue stopper, which is first recorded in the Sydney Morning Herald, 27 October 2001: ‘That’s one r ... (read more)

Frederick Ludowyk reviews 'The Cambridge Guide to English Usage' by Pam Peters

August 2004, no. 263 • 01 August 2004

The Cambridge Guide to English Usage is written by the Australian academic Pam Peters, and is an interesting extension of the work she published in The Cambridge Australian English Style Guide (1995). This time Peters examines more than 4000 issues of word meaning, spelling, grammar, punctuation and style as exemplified in the Englishes of the UK, the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The boo ... (read more)

Fred Ludowyk reviews 'A Conga Line of Suckholes: Mark Latham’s book of quotations' by Mark Latham

December 2006–January 2007, no. 287 • 01 December 2006

This is a selection of the quotations Mark Latham collected during his time in local and federal politics. The quotations are arranged alphabetically by subject, from ‘Aboriginal People’ to ‘Working Class’. Given Latham’s career, it is not surprising that the emphasis is on political quotations and quotations from politicians. Some quotations are quite familiar, as with Winston Churchil ... (read more)

Fred Ludowyk reviews 3 books about language

October 2005, no. 275 • 01 October 2005

Books on language have been immensely popular in recent years. Simon Winchester’s The Surgeon of Crowthorne (1999) was a study of the relationship between James Murray, the editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, and the insane citation collector Dr Minor. Winchester followed this with The Meaning of Everything (2003), a history of the Oxford English Dictionary project. In Australia, the recept ... (read more)

Fred Ludowyk reviews 'Cheerio Tom, Dick and Harry: Despatches from the hospice of fading words' by Ruth Wajnryb

September 2007, no. 294 • 08 November 2022

This is a book about words that are on their way to the dictionary cemetery where they will be stamped with the labels ‘archaic’ or ‘obsolete’. Of course, unlike us, these dying words will achieve a kind of eternity through being permanently displayed in dictionaries, but the time will come when no living person possesses them as part of their actual speech. Ruth Wajnryb proposes that a ho ... (read more)