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.
Thank goodness for acronyms. The long name is forensic investigative genetic genealogy, a huge mouthful. This is a comparatively new tool (developed in 2018) for solving crimes such as homicide or sexual assault, or for finding missing persons.
Read MoreMacquarie Dictionary needs to act now since the General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) met at Versailles on 18 November 2022 and introduced four new prefixes to the International System of Units. These are ronna- (10 to the power of 27) and ronto- (10 to the power of minus 27) and quetta- (10 to the power of 30) and quecto- (10 to the power of minus 30).
ZG: 2
One for the experts in the field.
Read MoreThe sceptics as a group have always opposed people attempting to promote a belief or practice with scientific basis. When they found an egregious case of unscientific mumbo-jumbo they would exclaim Wooooo!
ZG: 9
Apart from the appeal of this word, there is the likelihood that we will encounter more woomeisters peddling vast quantities of woo in the anti-science future.
Read MoreWe are by now used to seeing people practising with drones in the park and think of them as the latest toy. But imagine a whole lot drones, laden with explosives, swarming on a target.
ZG: 6
The uses for drones seem to have proliferated. Some of them are good, some are very bad.
Read MoreThe social robot robot of the future will have a pleasant smile and an urbane manner, and be sensitive to our moods and needs.
ZG: 5
Developments in robotics are happening at speed but, even if I do end up with a robot that smiles at me, I suspect that I won’t rate it highly.
Read MoreBlazar is derived from quasar. Could this be the beginning of a new set of words for types of quasars?
ZG: 2
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