The Idiom SBS Audio

Well, this is it. The last episode of The Idiom. It feels like we should talk about the biggest topic of all, the one we put off until the end (the real end). Death! There are oodles of idioms about death. From pushing up daisies to hitting a deadline, it seems our language is peppered with them. Which makes sense, death is one of the few truly universal experiences across all cultures.

Here in Australia, we’ve been slowly getting better at talking about mental health. But it’s not the same story across all cultures. For many, discussion of mental fitness remains cloaked in idioms, or worse, silence.

We’re not comfortable talking about money in Australia. You don’t go to a dinner party and ask people their salary. But why not? Money is something we all need and want. We've all got money on our minds, so why not share? Rune goes in search of answers, and the idioms we use to skirt around money talk.

Do idioms and language get in the way when you’re trying to participate in a new culture? Idioms add spice to the meal of conversation and Australians use them a lot in daily conversation, but they depend on a shared cultural understanding. In a society as multicultural as Australia, is that a problem?

We know that language shapes how we see the world, and storytelling has the power to preserve cultural knowledge from one generation to the next. Storytelling and yarning is at the heart of First Nations cultures and communities in Australia. Stories have been passed down for thousands of years, connecting Indigenous peoples with their culture and land. So how does language - including stories, slang and idioms - preserve First Nations cultures? And what is the impact of colonisation on this tradition of handing down culture through language? This episode of The Idiom is all about deep listening, with guests Taryn Marks and Dr John Davis.

Ever noticed how many idioms there are about animals? They seem to breed like rabbits! And interestingly, different animals tend to have the same reputation across cultures. Lions are brave. Snakes are sneaky. And donkeys? Oh, poor donkeys.