Author | Lightnews

Nick Nasev @nicknasev.bsky.social · 6h

Vegeta has made it to Times Square!

Vegeta is a food condiment invented in a laboratory in Yugoslavia in 1958. Doubleplusgood!

Nick Nasev @nicknasev.bsky.social · 9h

The Jet2 holiday meme is still going strong worldwide.

I reminded my nephews and nieces in Australia that they went on a Jet2 flight from Leeds to Amsterdam in 2018, so that counts as a "Jet2 holiday"

They've told their friends at school about this and, get this, their friends are all envious 😆

A PR dream or disaster? Jet2’s holiday advert finds new life as joke meme

In a social media trend, the airline’s joyful advert jingle is being played over cheerless summer holiday footage

www.theguardian.com

Nick Nasev @nicknasev.bsky.social · 19h

People who say they’re experiencing AI psychosis beg the US Federal Trade Commission for help.

There have been complaints alleging AI caused people to experience incidents including severe delusions, paranoia and spiritual crises.

People Who Say They’re Experiencing AI Psychosis Beg the FTC for Help

The Federal Trade Commission received 200 complaints mentioning ChatGPT between November 2022 and August 2025. Several attributed delusions, paranoia, and spiritual crises to the chatbot.

www.wired.com

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Nick Nasev @nicknasev.bsky.social · 1d

As the weather is all over the place at the moment, you'll probably hear Aussies say that "the bomb's got it wrong".
So what's this "bomb"?

The answer to this here...

#AustralianEnglish #AussieEnglish

Australian English: BOM

Aussies often mention

www.nicknasev.com

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Nick Nasev @nicknasev.bsky.social · 1d

Has a war ever started over a stray dog?

Absolutely!

100 years ago, a brief border war occurred between Bulgaria and Greece in the Belasitsa mountains, and all because of a stray dog!

Incident at Petrich - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

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Nick Nasev @nicknasev.bsky.social · 1d

So when I say that my family lives in the Perth Hills in the land of Oz, some Wizard of Oz and Wicked fans might have the wrong idea...

Nick Nasev @nicknasev.bsky.social · 1d

On this day 49 years ago, a full solar eclipse covered Australia in darkness.

Fun fact: I know someone who was born during this eclipse. When I tell astrologists this, they're so excited to do this person's birth chart.

Archive footage of the 1976 eclipse

YouTube video by ABC News (Australia)

youtu.be

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Nick Nasev @nicknasev.bsky.social · 1d

I'm not much of a musical theatre person, but there are two musicals that I'll gladly see again and again – Chicago and Wicked. It's the latter tonight. And this time, Elphaba is someone I know!

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Nick Nasev @nicknasev.bsky.social · 2d

Potential clients these days feel more emboldened to demand lower rates from translators, on grounds that AI supposedly can do the "exact" same job instantly and for free. In my case, these demands have ranged from passive-aggressive jibes to outright gaslighting ("Why do you want to rob me?")

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Nick Nasev @nicknasev.bsky.social · 2d

Depends what you define as "English" but yes, Australian English is unique and not just in speech but also in writing

Is Australian English different from English?

This article explores how Aussie slang and idioms reflect national identity and challenge traditional ideas of what counts as “English”. From “larrikin” to “dinkum”, this is the tale of how Australian...

www.sbs.com.au

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Nick Nasev @nicknasev.bsky.social · 2d

Slavic false friends can get really crazy!

The latest I've discovered is "založnik"

In Slovenian, it means "publisher"

In Macedonian, Bulgarian and Russian, it means "hostage"

In Czech, it means "midfielder" or "reservist"

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Nick Nasev @nicknasev.bsky.social · 3d

How can you easily tell if someone in the #Balkans comes from the diaspora?

The diaspora person will be complaining about how messy it is in the Balkans.

SBS Macedonian investigated whether public hygiene is the most apparent difference between Macedonia and Australia (in Macedonian)

МЕЃУ ДВЕ КУЛТУРИ: Дали јавната хигиена е најочигледната разлика меѓу Македонија и Австралија?

Зошто кога живеат во странство, Македонците се грижат повеќе за јавниот простор, отколку кога се во својата држава. Во денешната епизода ги споредуваме австралиското и македонското општество во поглед...

www.sbs.com.au

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Nick Nasev @nicknasev.bsky.social · 3d

You've probably seen the optimistic claims that AI will save endangered languages. But will it really?

This report shows how AI, Wikipedia, woefully inadequate machine translation and a misguided sense of "helping" are actually sending these languages into a doom spiral.

How AI and Wikipedia have sent vulnerable languages into a doom spiral

Machine translators have made it easier than ever to create error-plagued Wikipedia articles in obscure languages. What happens when AI models get trained on junk pages?

www.technologyreview.com

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Nick Nasev @nicknasev.bsky.social · 3d

All is fine with the Louvre theft. It was all for a greater cause, and if you oppose this, then you're obviously against technology and progress, you Luddite! "Don't get left behind!"

Thank you @creative-xl8.bsky.social for this one!

waterfordwhispersnews.com/2025/10/20/l...

Louvre Thieves Given Immunity After Confirming Jewels Stolen For Purpose Of Training AI Software

FRENCH POLICE have immediately ended all efforts to recover priceless Napoleon-era jewellery from the Louvre taken in a daring heist after it emerged the jewels were merely stolen for the purposes of ...

waterfordwhispersnews.com

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Nick Nasev @nicknasev.bsky.social · 3d

But their customer service is very responsive

Nick Nasev @nicknasev.bsky.social · 3d

The Australian Macquarie Dictionary...

Love their dictionary!

Hate their website!

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Nick Nasev @nicknasev.bsky.social · 3d

People from Kochani took to social media to complain about the election results, with many calling the local electorate 'stupid' for voting in favour of the established parties and officials, whose negligence and corruption resulted in the nightclub fire.

Nick Nasev @nicknasev.bsky.social · 3d

Local elections in Macedonia yesterday. The ruling centre-right party VMRO-DPMNE wins record number of municipalities.

Kochani was expected to punish VMRO post-Puls nightclub fire but it didn't happen – VMRO mayor candidate Grozdanov leads over independent Krstevski almost two to one.

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Nick Nasev @nicknasev.bsky.social · 4d

I've always appreciated Nick Bryant's observations of Australia and Australians

Australia voted and put a dagger through the heart of its cultural cringe

How wonderful for Australian writers to receive this recognition from the very people who consume their work, as part of ABC Radio National's Top 100 Books countdown.

www.abc.net.au

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Nick Nasev @nicknasev.bsky.social · 4d

Back from Australia with the latest on Aussie English in action.

Highlights include the welcome return of "drongo" and there's one debate with Australian terminology that always ends up messy – and it's to do with a common food paste/spread...

#AustralianEnglish #AussieEnglish

So what's the latest with Australian English?

Back from my Aussie trip. Here are some things about Aussie English I discovered this time.

www.nicknasev.com

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Nick Nasev @nicknasev.bsky.social · 4d

Celebrate #Diwali just like these wonderful women I saw in Mauritius last week.

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Nick Nasev @nicknasev.bsky.social · 5d

7 years ago today the Macedonian parliament scandalously voted to change the country's name to "North Macedonia", against the will of the people it represents.

No one clapped after the vote – just an awkward silence.

This supposedly was the final step for EU negotiations to start. Not true!

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Nick Nasev @nicknasev.bsky.social · 6d

Back in London

Bravo to Kenya Airways. Apart from the first flight that involved a medical emergency (which was handled professionally), all flights left and arrived exactly on time. Check-in and cabin crew were all wonderful.

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Nick Nasev @nicknasev.bsky.social · 6d

It was surreal to see Nairobi so muted. The number of people about in the evening was much reduced than normal

Nick Nasev @nicknasev.bsky.social · 6d

I arrive into Nairobi just as they're burying former Kenyan PM Raila Odinga
www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10...

Kenya holds state funeral for revered Odinga, some injured in crowd crush

Odinga's body will next travel to his family's home region of western Kenya, where more huge crowds are expected.

www.aljazeera.com

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