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March 9th, 2004 at 1:41 pm

homework

Posted in: General

It is very excellent that I can read two novels over the long weekend and reasonably legitimately call it homework ’cause at the moment we’re doing ‘grammar’ in my course and where else am I to find examples of grammar, good and bad, but in my current novels (or the Saturday and Sunday Ages, for that matter?)

Speaking of grammar-type things: heard on Radio National this morning was the word “embuggerance”. (Yes, I think everyone’s reaching for the dictionary.)

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6 Responses to “homework”

  1. Kathy Says:

    “Embuggerance” SHOULD be a word though … I love it. Can we start a Get Embuggerance Into the Concise Oxford Campaign? Maybe you could do it as your assignment for grammar class.

    March 9th, 2004 at 1:47 pm
  2. Daniel Says:

    Ah, but it *is* a word! It comes from military slang, and means “a natural or artificial hazard that complicates any proposed course of action”. Not that I knew this before today… I had to find it on Google. Refer to the URL below for information on it, and some other rather colourful terms.
    http://www.quinion.com/words/qa/qa-emb1.htm

    March 9th, 2004 at 9:42 pm
  3. Kathy Says:

    Well, I’ll be embuggered. Whoever would have thought the military would come up with such a great expression.

    March 10th, 2004 at 1:34 pm
  4. Ren Says:

    Embuggerance! AWESOME!

    March 10th, 2004 at 4:26 pm
  5. Daniel Says:

    Okay, I have found the original quote:

    http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2004/s1061904.htm
    MAL BROUGH: There is one embuggerance to this, or potential embuggerance, and that is the Labor Party’s attitude of saying that the full suite of conditions of employment should apply to people in casual and part-time work.

    … and a subsequent story of mention of it in parliament:

    http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2004/s1062600.htm

    ANTHONY ALBANESE: This morning on AM the Minister for Employment Services suggested that I was one embuggerance or one potential embuggerance to employment.

    Like the AM program I’m still unsure as to what an embuggerance or a potential embuggerance is, but I’m sure that (a) I’m offended by it; and (b) I deny it; and (c) I reserve my right to further comment once a definition is found.

    (Laughter)

    March 15th, 2004 at 8:42 am
  6. postmaster Says:

    yourname@embuggerance.com only AU$10 per year!

    http://www.embuggerance.com

    March 19th, 2004 at 2:09 pm