Opinion. Oxford's style guide would rather its staff didn't tell anyone to learn the ropes. Closer to home, Curtin University's inclusive language guide suggests swapping "smashed it" for "that was so impressive". Neither is a law, and both say they're advice. But when a university gives that advice to its own staff, it has a way of becoming the rule.

The Main Quadrangle, University of Sydney. Photo: Jason Tong / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0), resized.