Phew, I was afraid the story had bombed when it attracted so little interest (sometimes I get encouraging stats and no comments, sometimes lots of comments and poor stats, but yesterday there was neither esteem booster). But now that the prizewinner and a bona fide Australian have said nice things, I feel much better.

I came across the expression “dinkum” on my research, Jack’s mum, or else I wouldn’t have had a clue what you meant. And the first expression I jotted down, Alyson, was “a few roos loose in the top paddock”, but didn’t find a way to work it in.

There was also the intriguing noun “discombooberator”, meaning thingamajig. People in my linguistic circle use the past participle “discombobulated”, meaning confused or disoriented, but I’ve never heard of the noun. However, I found a thread in which a Canadian claims that “discombooberator” is commonly used in this country — maybe outside of central Canada? — so I didn’t use it.

And did you know that Virgos are purported to have an interest in language? Such bunk.