The English language is changing constantly. We invent new words and phrases, we mash up idioms, we mispronounce, misuse, misappropriate. Sue Butler has heard it all and is ready to defend and disagree with common usage. Veering from tolerance to outrage, she examines how the word sheila took a nose-dive after World War II, considers whether we should hunker or bunker down, and bemoans the emptiness of rhetoric. She shouts 'down with closure' as it leaps from the psychoanalyst's couch, explains why we've lost the plot on deceptively, untangles the manuka honey stoush, fathoms why the treatment of famous is infamous, and ponders whether you would, could or should ...
Rebel without a Clause is a fascinatingly idiosyncratic romp through the world of words by lexicographer and former Macquarie Dictionary Editor, Sue Butler.
Susan Butler was the Editor of the Macquarie Dictionary, Australia's national dictionary and, as Editor, was largely responsible for the selection and writing of new words. In 2017 the Seventh Edition of the dictionary was published, with a revised and updated range of dictionaries in print, online and in digital and app forms. Susan retired as Editor at the end of 2017.
She is the author of the Dinkum Dictionary, published in its third edition in 2009, The Aitch Factor (2014), a commentary on usage matters in Australian English, and an e-book called New Words: Changes in Australian English (2020). She is also a regular commentator on Australian English on radio, television and the internet and was a TEDxSydney speaker in 2015.
In June 2018, she was made an Officer of the Order of Australia. She is also, as of June 2018, an Honorary Lecturer at the ANU in the College of Asia and the Pacific.
Sue now has her own website (www.suebutler.com.au) where she blogs on aspects of Australian English. A fascinatingly idiosyncratic romp through the world of words by lexicographer and former Macquarie Dictionary publisher, Sue Butler.
