These are new words or phrases that have caught my eye. My definition of a new word is one which is not in the Macquarie Dictionary online.
Some words seem to have more significance than others in terms of reflecting changes in the Australian culture, so I will give each word a Zeitgeist rating (ZG) within a range of 1-10.
If you disagree with the rating that I give, please argue your case in the comment field provided.
I would love you to contact me if you have made any new word discoveries of your own.
This was the term coined in 2002 but it seems to have been joined by conspiritualism which allows for a conspiritualist. For some time now we have seen the rise of those who eschew mainstream and traditional religions in favour of a generalised belief in some power out there that looks over our lives.
ZG: 6
This is a disturbing trend.
Read MoreThis is a strategy in politics where people who object to a policy are first of all held to account for their bad behaviour and lack of courtesy.
ZG: 3
The behaviour and reaction may catch everyone’s attention although the term for it is not well known.
Read MoreTo eat something up is to do it easily and well. In the context of fashion that means pulling off a good look with amazing clothes and fabulous makeup.
ZG: 7
The older generation may not know it but the young ones do.
Read MoreThe term sanewashing was coined in 2007 by an American academic, Dale Carrico. But it was a word that was desperately needed this year in which Trump won the Presidency and so increased markedly in frequency.
ZG: 4
Not a common word — yet!
Read MoreWhen the Penrith Beach was first opened in 2023 there were many who were doubtful that it would be popular.
ZG: 7
Probably this has even greater currency out west but it has been accepted and added to the list of joke Australian placenames.
Read MoreA grainy low-resolution image implies that the content of the message — the joke in the meme is more important than the artwork. It is the visual equivalent of swift repartee in speech.
ZG: 7
This could be something we encounter more often in an election year.
Read MoreA friend sent me a Christmas present which I am passing on. Do you know what it means when you say ‘he went to Turkey’? It means that he had a hair transplant.
ZG: 7
Cosmetic and medical tourism have been flourishing for many years now but Turkey seems to have captured a niche market.
Read MoreThis is the shortened form of timesheet fraud which is the deliberate filling out of a timesheet with incorrect details of work breaks and arrival and departure times.
ZG: 6
With the tug-of-war between employers and employees over work practices we can expect more people to be charged with this.
Read MoreThis is a new police procedure. We have had for some time now the wand which is a handheld electronic device used to detect concealed illegal weapons. But in NSW the police procedure became legal in early December this year.
ZG: 7
This will become all too familiar now.
Read MoreOur ability to go on social media doing the silliest things has encouraged a wide variety of lunatic activities and rawdogging is one of them.
ZG: 6
Probably just a thing of the moment. At least you would hope so.
Read MoreThis is also referred to as digital Taylorism or new Taylorism. The American engineer Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856-1915) came up with a method of industrial management in which each task was broken down into its simplest elements and each worker was given one of those elements to learn and perform.
ZG: 4
While the protests have been noisy, the theory behind the practices considered objectionable has been more academic — but interesting.
Read MoreIf you find that your brain is constantly swerving away from the topic in hand to present thoughts to you about what you might eat next, what might be very, very yummy, what you simply have to eat NOW, then you are suffering from food noise.
ZG: 6
There are many who would welcome the silencing of food noise so this one has currency.
Read MoreThis use of Ohio to mean ‘daggy, weird’ comes from a meme called Only in Ohio. I find it surprising that Australian kids would respond to this but the universality of memes seems to be enough to make it fashionable even in Oz.
ZG: 4
It is in use but I doubt that it will last long.
Read MoreThis kind of metaphorical battery powers your social life. If you socialise too much it can be drained, leaving you without any energy to relate to other people. You will need to recharge it before you can go on.
ZG: 6
There is an increasing number of words relating to the pressure we feel to engage with or disengage from others.
Read MoreThe Oasis concerts in Australia will be free of dynamic pricing (or surge pricing) we are told. The Gallagher brothers have said that it presents ‘an unacceptable experience for fans’.
ZG: 8
The situation with these concerts has triggered an inquiry into dynamic pricing so it is high on everyone’s agenda at the moment.
Read MoreThis is what happens to your brain when you subject it to an endless diet of internet and social media rubbish. The stuff that you watch is then also referred to as brainrot (sometimes spelled as two words brain rot).
ZG: 7
We know that brain rot is mindless and time wasting but we cannot stop ourselves.
Read MoreWhoever can put a name to a different (and better) style of parenting is onto a winner. This one invokes the image of the lighthouse — guiding and leading the child to safety but not particularly hands-on, allowing the child to develop by experiencing their own initiatives and disasters.
ZG: 5
Those becoming parents are subjected to all sorts of trending advice.
Read MoreThis is a Rugby League joke. It is the game played to decide who gets the wooden spoon for the season.
ZG: 5
A popular joke but in a small community.
Read MoreThe word canon has travelled a long way. The starting point is the Ancient Greek word kanon which meant ‘a straight rod’, and then a rule or standard.
ZG: 6
The fact that this term has moved from niche online use to mainstream means that it has achieved currency.
Read MoreOne word — birthkeeper, or two — birth keeper. The term is new and has not settled down yet. The activity is birth keeping which is defined in the broadest possible way as giving support or assistance to a woman giving birth. (This implies a free birth).
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