is two words, as is all right

all words beginning with H now take ‘a’, not ‘an’: a hotel, a historian, a hero, and so on ... except, of course, for silent H words like ‘an heir’.

degrading (as in abject poverty), or humble (as in abject apology), not 'total'

and Aborigine (noun) always capitalised to describe Australia’s original inhabitants

prison

the pollsters

department of history, department of economics (no caps)

PhD (Doctor of Philosophy), DipEd (Diploma of Education), MA (Master of Arts), MSc (Master of Science)

French words in common use like résumé and paté probably do need their accents to indicate the pronunciation of the final E. Deja vu, chateau and cafe can be written without accents.

does not mean 'acquire'. It means to come as a natural increase, usually financial.

(cliché) the success or failure of something

capitalised in 'Native Title Act 1993', lower case in 'the act was passed in 1993', or 'we don't need an act of parliament to do it.'

but 300BC

someone who adapts something (but electrical double adaptor)

Bush administration, Clinton administration, etc.

opposed, unfavourable, as in weather conditions (sometimes confused with averse to, which means disinclined or reluctant.)

American spelling is advisor, but we're holding out for adviser in Australia—at least for the moment.

but aircraft, aircraft carrier, airline, airport

(it affected me badly, to affect indifference, but: it had a bad effect on me.)

not reafforestation

language, Afrikaner person

not aging

A noun phrase such as 'a boatload of refugees' takes a plural verb even though the word 'boatload' is singular. You can test it out: if you said 'a boatload of wheat' the verb would be singular because you wouldn't say *'the wheat are being unloaded'. But you would say 'the refugees are being unloaded', hence the plural agreement.

assistant

Aquired immune deficiency syndrome. HIV is the human immunodeficiency virus which may lead to AIDS.

but aerodrome, aeroplane, aeronautics

(al- means 'the' in Arabic) so 'the al-Qaeda' is wrong

New Mexico

not alright

no caps

refer to indirectly (sometimes confused with elude which means to escape or avoid.)

film-maker

my mood alternates between rage and indifference

If you don't like potatoes, rice might be a good alternative ... or alternatively you can go without.

8.30am Thursday, 7pm Friday ... not 8.30am Thursday morning

are a giveaway if you're copying (rather than quoting) from a US-based website. Center, meter, theater, and so on, in Australian spelling have 're' endings. Other common American spellings are defense, skeptic, traveler, advisor, color, humor; which in Australia are spelled defence, sceptic, traveller, adviser, colour, humour.

not amidst

run amok (not amuck)

not amongst

please avoid unless part of company name or trademark

person being analysed

Anangu is the term that Yankunytjatjara and Pitjantjatjara Aboriginal people from the Western Desert region of Australia use to refer to themselves.

acid jazz is anathema to me

anyone you're descended from (your descendants are your offspring)

please spell out in full ... don't use the ampersand symbol (&) unless it's part of a trade mark or title.

means to prepare in advance for something, not the same as to expect.

but anyhow, anyone, anything, anyway, anywhere

not ANZAC

no apostrophe

Dickens's, Burns's ... add apostrophe s to any name ending in s, or in ce as in Beatrice's. Exceptions are biblical or classical names such as Jesus' or Herodotus'

to assess (apprise is to inform)

Australasian Performing Right Association

Central Australian Aboriginal tribe (formerly Arunta or Aranda)

not artifact

in journals, chapters in books: titles appear in single quotes

generic term, so no caps

a hole-boring tool

it augurs well for the future

Burmese democratic leader

not authoritive

Catwoman does not avenge her killers, she avenges herself on her killers. To avenge someone means to seek vengeance on their behalf.

disinclined, reluctant (adverse means opposed, unfavourable, as in adverse weather conditions). The Cambridge Australian English Style Guide says: With such adverse results from the election, he was not averse to a little whisky...

Uluru