Today's word: after-roll (n.) a late roll of thunder or swell of the sea after a storm; a later event or consequence.

Further explanation for non-Australian readers:

Budgie smugglers: Speedo swimwear.

The man in budgie smugglers: ex Prime-Minister, Tony Abbott.

Potato Head: Peter Dutton, Home Affairs Minister (formerly Immigration). Dutton was the chief puppet of Tony Abbott in the successful bid to oust Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull last week. Also currently in hot water, because it has been discovered that although as Immigration Minister, he couldn't see fit to allow refugees to enter the country illegally, he considered it perfectly acceptable to personally intervene on at least two occasions to grant visas to French au pairs to enter the country in violation of work restrictions. Coincidentally, they were going to be working for wealthy benefactors of his own party.

Great Scott: (Or, probably not-so-great, too early to call). Scott Morrison, who upset Peter Dutton's plans of becoming PM to take the top job. Likes to be known as ScoMo (what a hip, rad, with it fellow he is).

Australia: A place which, in spite of the fact that it has circus performers as elected representatives, still remains a great place to be. And, as we know, things could be worse when it comes to elected representatives.

My much-treasured Christmas present for 2017 is a book by Paul Anthony Jones: "The cabinet of linguistic curiosities". Each page contains a descriptive story about some obscure or archaic word. It occurred to me it would be a fun exercise to try and write, each day, a poem featuring the "word of the day" from the book.

Thanks for reading.

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