In January 2022, Prime Minister Scott Morrison was a guest commentator on the coverage of the Ashes Series, and caused some controversy with his comments.
When asked about everyday Australians' response to the Covid-19 pandemic, he used a cricketing metaphor to summarise his views:
'Australians [are] taking wickets in the virus.'
This is a great example of how situational context can influence lexical choice; Morrison used a cricketing metaphor to appeal to sports fans. We can assume his intended meaning was that Australians were beating the virus, although not everybody shared this view. His use of informal language was an attempt to build rapport with the voting public and present himself as an 'everyday Aussie' through sporting jargon.
However, Morrison did receive criticism on social media for his choice of expression, with many people feeling that his use of informal language represented either his ignorance or indifference towards the damage the virus was doing.
Right: One Twitter user received over 5000 likes on a tweet referring to the PM's comments, calling his choice of words 'flippant.'
Right: Journalist Tracey Spicer commented on Morrison's use of the metaphor.
She quotes a previous tweet from Australian writer and actor Marieke Hardy, whose response was 'oh you have got to be fucking kidding me.'
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