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 an animal much prized in the third millennium B.C.E. in the ancient kingdom of Syria. It was a cross between a domestic donkey and a wild ass and had greater strength than the donkey making it useful as a draught animal in agriculture and in war. There are mosaic images of chariots being drawn by these equids (members of the horse family).
ZG: 3
Not something that you will find yourself discussing every day but interesting nonetheless.
Read MoreThis is a bit of politics jargon that we have picked up from the UK. The story goes that the Editor of the Sun, Kelvin McKenzie, regarded it as a duty of journalists to stick a ferret up the legs of politicians. All he meant by this was that they should make life uncomfortable for them.
ZG: 7
The back story on this one is a bit complicated but, nevertheless, we appear to be warming to it. Perhaps we are sick of backflip.
Read MoreThe world is constantly on the watch for new variants of COVID-19. This one was identified late last year by researchers at the IHU Mediterranee Infection Institute in Marseilles.
ZG: 4
Worth mentioning because we are so nervous about new variants but dismissed as being of no great interest as yet.
Read MorePrecision public health makes use of technology and big data to pinpoint a public health problem and make an intervention that is swift and targeted.
ZG: 3
This is a specialist term with low currency in the community at large.
Read MoreWe know it mostly, if we know it at all, as water cremation but this alternative name was brought to prominence by the funeral of Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He was an environmentalist so he asked for this style of cremation because it was friendly to the planet, used a lot less energy than a normal cremation, and reduced carbon emissions.
ZG: 4
The word achieved high frequency but for a short period of time.
Read MoreThe figurative use of gear change seems to have come in comparatively recently. It has been popular in horse racing reporting. Queen Elizabeth was reported to be accepting a gear change, from high to low, after her recent illness. And now it has been added to the ScoMo verbal display.
ZG: 7
Politicians use figurative terms to put spin on their message. The gear change conjures up power, control and forward movement.
Read MoreThe idea of shapeshifting is that in a world in which the old political divisions are dissolving into numerous smaller groups, and the media is increasingly narrowcasting, the way to get the votes you need to win power is to work out how to appeal to as many of these groups as possible.
ZG: 8
Already we can see the tactics for the next election emerging.
Read MoreReal money gambling (or RMG) allows you to pay unlimited amounts of money in and, if you win, extract your winnings from the app and get real money back again.
ZG: 6
Since this is still illegal in Australia not many of us know about it, but it will become a real problem if it is made legal and our real money disappears.
Read MoreTo vax or not to vax, that is the question is a rewrite of the line in Hamlet that is doing the rounds. Indeed, the debate has been raging for some months now and shows no sign of abating.
ZG: 10
Omicron has pushed vaccination into the spotlight again, just when we thought we were doing well on that front. But now we need to be triple-vaxxed so it’s back to getting the jab again.
Read MoreA colloquial shortened form of mental breakdown which has the effect of making it no more than a tantrum, really. Diminutives have that power to transform something that might be serious or threatening into something friendly, familiar and mildly humorous.
ZG: 5
This seems to be a common response to being introduced to menty b. It’s catchy and people can see a use for it.
Read MoreThe abbreviation stands for non-fungible token. This is a unique digital certificate which uses blockchain technology to certify ownership and authenticity of a digital asset.
ZG: 4
There are some of us who are putting a toe into the waters of this kind of digital marketplace but it is still not common.
Read MoreThis is the latest variant on whitewashing, greenwashing, etc. In this instance the washing is the process of giving a misleading impression in marketing that a product has been created without any ill-treatment of animals.
ZG: 4
This is a word that is being propelled into the word space by those who wish to defend animal rights, but whether it is actually taking or not is another matter.
Read MoreTo wokescold someone is to berate them for not being sufficiently ‘woke’, that is, sensitised to expressions of racial or social discrimination.
ZG: 7
This has become a fashionable word to use with those who feel that the world has become too politically correct.
Read MoreThis kind of pirate was named in the US where porches are common. Australia Post has generalised the term to cover theft from any place not regarded as a safe location such as the lobby of an apartment building or the row of letterboxes outside (the parcel being stacked on top).
ZG: 7
The term is catchy and there are enough of us suffering from this kind of theft to need a name for it.
Read MoreA new word that seems to have taken over where manglish left off is wronglish. Again this is specifically the kind of error that people make when English is not their first language, particularly in translating from their first language to English.
ZG: 5
There are people who collect instances of wronglish in the way that twitchers collect bird sightings so I think that wronglish is here to stay.
There are clusters of people on the internet who delight in spotting examples of wronglish but the enthusiasm is a niche one.
Read MoreDo we have a conventional roof or a cool roof? A standard roof is often made from materials that absorb heat. For this reason the NSW government is planning to ban dark-coloured roofing . What we want is roofing that reflects heat away from the house.
ZG: 4
Not a term that is widely known yet but it may well be in the future.
Read MoreThis is the latest in body sculpting procedures. The technical name is cryolipolysis – cryo meaning ‘cold’, lipomeaning ‘fat’, and lysis meaning ‘destruction’. It was discovered by paediatricians treating children who left an ice block resting against the inside of their cheek for longer than usual.
ZG: 4
This is not something that everyone will consider doing. It has come to notice because the supermodel, Linda Evangelista, had the bad reaction.
Read MoreToxic positivity at best trivialises our feelings, at worst negates them entirely. On top of everything else that we have to endure, it seems to be our own fault that we are not happy. This leads to anxiety, feelings of worthlessness, and depression.
ZG: 5
Pop psychology has taken very strongly to the idea of a positive mindset at all times. This seems to be an attempt by real psychologists to counter this misguided notion.
Read MoreThe acronym here stands for Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation. The ECMO does the work of the heart and lungs when the patient’s organs can no longer function and is the highest level of life support provided.
ZG: 4
This is still a piece of medical jargon but sadly more of us have heard about it as a result of COVID-19.
Read MoreThis new variant, emerging in South Africa, has caused alarm around the world. It will be some weeks before we know whether that alarm is justified but in the meantime we can address a different question. What happened to variants Mu and Nu and Xi?
ZG: 10
Omicron will be on all our lips for some weeks to come until we know more about it.
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