Strangely, the latest word Kamala Harris has chosen to apply to Donald Trump is ‘unserious’. (Or perhaps it was her scriptwriters, managers and handlers who told her to say ‘unserious’? That seems more likely, doesn’t it?) It’s an odd word to fling at Trump as a term of abuse. The dictionaries I consulted suggest that being ‘unserious’ means being ‘blithe or carefree’. But isn’t that the whole tenor of the Harris campaign? Isn’t she inviting Americans to get on board her ‘joyful, happy’ campaign wagon? With a broad grin and loud laughter isn’t Kamala Harris the very embodiment of ‘blithe and carefree’? She seems to encapsulate Bobby McFerrin’s 1988 song ‘Don’t Worry, Be Happy’. Have a laugh! Be of good cheer! Kamala’s here to make you smile again! Isn’t that the campaign? In fact, Kamala has pulled off the amazing trick of making Trump look like a serious statesman. How did she do it? By being ‘unserious’! (Are her scriptwriters now regretting their choice of word?)

On a campaigning stop in North Philadelphia J.D. Vance got into a (friendly) debate with locals about the famous Philly ‘cheese-steak’. This strikes me as a word (and a product) not widely known in Australia (and perhaps our waistlines and arteries are all the better for it!) In America a ‘cheesesteak’ consists of thinly sliced pieces of rib-eye or round steak mixed with processed cheese sauce and served on a long bread roll. For an Aussie the question is: why would you squirt Cheese Whiz (another distinctively American product) all over a good steak? Vance, it seems, got into a debate over whether Swiss cheese could be used on a cheesesteak. Which the local cheese-steak enthusiasts found very funny. We’re probably better off sticking to our familiar ‘democracy sausage’ (Australia’s great contribution to global political science).

‘Bluey’ is a little Aussie word that has now conquered the world! The great American dictionary, the Merriam-Webster, recently listed ‘bluey’ as one of its ‘words worth knowing’.And all because of the brilliant, animated TV series of that name, created by Joe Brumm, featuring a family of blue cattle dogs living in Brisbane (in a classic old ‘Queenslander’ style house) and the imaginative games Mum and Dad play with their small children (one of whom is named ‘Bluey’).

And ‘bluey’ is one of those Aussie words with lots of meanings. As well as ‘blue cattle dog’ it can mean anyone with red hair (that’s the Aussie sense of humour –a short bloke is called ‘lofty’, and a red-head is called ‘bluey’); or a parking ticket (once issued on blue paper); or a swagman’s swag (rolled in a blue blanket); or even one of those stinging bluebottles that wash up on the beach. And there was a time when ‘bluey’ meant a durable woollen waterproof jacket. It was designed by Robert Marriott and marketed with the words: ‘Put your bluey on if you’re going out in this weather.’

Even the Septic Tanks are starting to get the idea – with the great Merriam-Webster lexicographers writing, ‘As a noun, according to our unabridged dictionary, bluey has been used…  to refer to: a blue crab; any of several Australian lizards; and a bundle carried by a swagman (or drifter), due to the blue blanket commonly used to wrap the bundle’. And don’t you just love their definition of a ‘swaggie’ as a ‘drifter’? Well, I suppose they’re getting close.

But back to the brilliant cartoon series. Brumm says he wanted to give his kids’ show ‘Brisbane values’ showing the influence of a supportive family. We have watched the show with our two little grandsons (aged four and six) and they love it. So much so, that after an episode they want to play the games that Bluey’s family plays –‘torch mouse’ or ‘feather wand’ or whatever. (If you don’t know those games –see what you’re missing!) It has been praised by critics (and anyone with half a brain, to be honest) for depicting modern everyday family life, constructive parenting messages and the role of Bandit as a positive father figure. In other words, the family life shown in Bluey is normal (a word that terrifies the woke). And ‘bluey’ is a great Aussie word to share with the world!