WordPlay
- Opinion
- Books
Jump, pivot, circle back: Is this an office meeting or a basketball game?
Our daily jargon has become more physically active than we are.
- David Astle
Latest
Kiwis can keep pavlova but if they come for democracy sausage, they’re in for a grilling
With tongs snapping, New Zealanders are now coming for the phrase “sausage sizzle”.
- David Astle
- Opinion
- Column 8
Local identity gets the last word
While Seven Hills comes alive with the sound of music.
OMG, most of today’s new slang goes unspoken
Where Romeo and Juliet once uttered pledges on the QT, serenading in shadows, the modern Romeo is as likely to slide into Juliet’s DMs.
- David Astle
- Opinion
- Opinion
Are chatbots making things more difficult than old-fashioned transactions?
These days as consumers, we are often locked into these false amities with chatbots, our to-and-fro reliant on what previous questions and responses have been digested by the software.
- David Astle
- Opinion
- Literature
Why do we find it so difficult to talk about dying?
Death is how mortals do things, yet how often do you broach the topic?
- David Astle
- Opinion
- Books
We lost a literary giant and I had nothing to do with it, I swear
The timing of my last email to David Malouf was a strange coincidence.
- David Astle
- Opinion
- Spectrum
Believe it or not, I’m lost for a word
What do you call it when a thing is not really a thing?
- David Astle
- Opinion
- Books
Sour grapes: Why your favourite ‘estate’ might not have a single vine
Call me prejudicial, but when I see “estate” in a rural setting, I think barrels and cellar doors.
- David Astle