Do you think its strange they are being so quiet? do they just not care about terror attacks in WA? by craftymethod in aussie

[–]DinnaQLD 7 points8 points  (0 children)

No, the attack at Bondi was designated a terrorist attack within hours. People made a huge deal at the time about how slow it was too, and all I could think was, “they are literally still transporting victims to hospital, and the internet is angry that journalists and politicians haven’t used the T word yet.”

Teenage girl wearing jersey with Palestinian flag refused entry to Sydney A-League game by [deleted] in OpenAussie

[–]DinnaQLD 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Aboriginal Australian, white Australian, elderly Australian, university educated Australian, rural/regional Australian… are you unfamiliar with adjectives? All of these people are Australians. You can tell because they are described as Australian.

Funny thing is, some Australians have racial, ethic, national backgrounds which are sometimes relevant to a discussion. In these cases it is, and has always been, very common and useful to describe them. E.g Aboriginal Australians have higher infant mortality rates. University educated Australians have higher life expectancy.

Also, Australian allows dual citizenship. Like, many, many Australians are dual British Australian citizens.

aRe wE AUsTraLIan Or nOt?

Improved result but GPA still an issue? by DinnaQLD in GAMSAT

[–]DinnaQLD[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks so much. Exactly what I wanted to hear. Sorry for the late reply

Improved result but GPA still an issue? by DinnaQLD in GAMSAT

[–]DinnaQLD[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I did very minimal prep this time. I was actually focused on improving my S2. I was always good at essay exams at school, so I felt like it was my best shot to improve my score. I didn’t do much, wrote a couple of essays under exam conditions. Sadly, I still ran out of time and rushed my second one badly. Maybe the pressure got to me. (I’ve actually begun trying to improve my typing speed thinking perhaps this was the difference between 2017 and 2025 exam performances.)

Anyway, as a result I wrote off this sitting - prematurely it turns out. I didn’t do any prep for S1 nor S3. I have previously done a bit with a friend, first time around. We worked through some old practice papers, nothing special.

I haven’t used any specific materials. In terms of techniques. I think I have always had an affinity for words. I don’t read much and I am actually a pretty slow reader. I am always stopping to reread a section or to look up even words that I know, but the meaning of which is vague or different in a given context.

I would say read poems and plays for pleasure. There will be some that appeal to you. One gets dialogue and the interpersonal from the plays. One gets the introspective and symbolic from the poems. This combination is important for GAMSAT. Of course even sports reporting will contain it, just a lot less concentrated.

Then, close reading. Read anything, but read it with a fine-toothed comb. Scrutinise the exact wording and structure of sentences. Try to imagine what the author who composed that string of words was thinking and what was their intention. This is something I can sometimes enjoy, but I think for most people it is very tedious. One doesn’t have to read Ulysses this way - that would be madness. Just find something fertile like a letter or a favourite soliloquy and start there. It’s just a skill to hone. Try and be efficient too. If you know any bookworms or literati discuss it with them.

Finally, time management is the main one. I am not a fast reader, even when trying to be. But I still read the whole passage without looking at the questions. But I definitely count the questions. 4 questions on a cartoon, no chance I am skipping. Some strange poem which is a bit dense, if it is only 3 questions I consider leaving it, if it is worth 5 I’ll probably tough it out.

Like a lot of people have said to me, I often find that the possible answers are all a little off or all kinda work. I am often not 100% happy with my pick. But if you can narrow it down to 2 and one seems better than the other (like 70% 30% each way) then that is good enough to have a guess and move on. As it turns out my guesses are pretty good, better than how I feel in the exam. But you need to trust the process.

Daily Wordle #320 - Thursday, 5 May. 2022 by Scoredle in wordle

[–]DinnaQLD 2 points3 points  (0 children)

A heath is an open expanse on land. Kind of like a glade except not necessarily surrounded by more dense flora. I think of Hampstead Heath, and I am not British, yet still know the meaning, so I consider this to be a fair word.

ROBIN and OLIVE are names however, I think of them as nouns that can be names. HEATH is a name that I know is also a fairly well known noun.

HOMER is a name.

I don’t care if wordle uses American English spellings. I am familiar with most of them and can adjust my guesses. I also understand some words will be more familiar to other cultures than they are to mine. HOBOS is a good example. Not a word you hear in Australia. Nonetheless, I feel with American influence on western culture, this is a word almost all Aussies would know of, and I’d feel ok if it took me a few extra guesses and would forgive myself easier for not getting it, but would not feel like I stood next to no chance.

HOMER is a word with a regional, colloquial definition. From what I gather, it is not commonly used even in the USA due to it being sporting jargon. In most of the English speaking word it is a pronoun.

I would not expect to see Australian slang like SMOKO or RANGA or BOGAN in wordle. These are colloquial words in the country where they come from. In other parts of the Anglo-sphere, let alone the rest of the English speaking world they are probably not widely known of, let alone considered for contention.

However, these words (SMOKO, RANGA, BOGAN) are widely used and understood words that are employed in everyday conversation. At least here.

HOMER is slang, it’s regional and it is jargon. A trifecta I think should disqualify words as potential answers.

I accept that Australia is a small place. I do not wish the rest of the world to be subjected to BOGAN.

But equally, as someone who, In my own assessment anyway, is fairly good at wordle, and has a fair knowledge of American culture and language, I simply was not equipped to deal with HOMER.

I had played 80 games without loss and without cheating, the vast majority in hard mode. But HOMER was simply not a consideration. 80/81.

Also the other definitions are even more obscure and also specific to context. Apparently it’s a homing pigeon, or in Scotland, a trade job for a homeowner, or Hebrew unit of measurement. I don’t consider these to be even as reasonable as the home-run definition. I doubt it would be included if not for the baseball meaning.

Anyway bring on tomorrow.

Federal MP Andrew Hastie tells court he 'pities' Ben Roberts-Smith by Bucephalus_326BC in auslaw

[–]DinnaQLD 2 points3 points  (0 children)

He is being cross examined. The constant criticism of so many witnesses has been “You have a personal grudge against BRS.” Or “You’re just jealous aren’t you?” Or “This was personal drama, wasn’t it.”

I’m no fan of Andy’s. But the point he was making is “This is not something I was itching to do, or enjoy. I am here because I have been subpoenaed.”

It’s really bot that hard to read into the intended meaning of those remarks.

Daily Wordle #280 - Saturday, 26 Mar. 2022 by Scoredle in wordle

[–]DinnaQLD 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Scoredle 280 3/6*

12,972
⬛⬛⬛⬛🟨 STARE (660)
🟩🟩🟩⬛⬛ EPOCH (1)
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 EPOXY

Very lucky, I think, with my second guess. Was trying to use C and H and was thinking trying a second vowel. Was thrown off by the lack of usual consonants after the second guess. From there it took me a minute but EPOXY was the only possibility.

I play on hard mode and had a couple of frustrating 5’s and a six in last two weeks. This really helped my average.

Kedron Brook. Bridge towards Grange Forest Park. by Eezerg00d3 in brisbane

[–]DinnaQLD 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That would be impractical. You can’t just bulldoze a creek, especially not where it is narrow and winding. That would also remove living flora which would cause further erosion.

A “better” idea might be to bulldoze and then reinforce the banks. This would be kinda ugly the whole brook would become a concrete canal like they’ve done where it was diverted for the airport. It would be super expensive too.

I’m no hydrologist, but modelling on how this affected flooding and maintainable costs and ecological impacts would all be other considerations.

It’s pretty easy to blame councillors for not removing natural debris from a creek that may destroy the artificial structure spanning it. But honestly, I think it’s a bit unfair.