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 is the colloquial name for a medication called melantonin which produces a darkened skin similar to the tan sported by Barbie doll in her beach mode. It does look oddly unnatural.
ZG: 4
Not many of us are keen to try the Barbie drug which is certainly getting publicity of a negative kind.
Read MoreAs is often the way these days, this expression began its life on Twitter almost a decade ago, moved through social media and finally became mainstream this year with a story about Julia Fox, the model, who split up with Kanye West.
ZG: 7
This expression has obviously been given a push along by the publicity surrounding Word of the Year, but it does seem to resonate with at least part of the community.
Read MoreThis is a derogatory term, the equivalent of nutter. It has been applied to the far-right extremists who believe in conspiracy theories and who are anti-vaxxers probably because they think it is a government plot to get at them.
ZG: 3
I get the feeling that this one does not have high frequency. Most of the examples on Twitter are from Victoria where they had greater experience of organised anti-vax protests.
Read MoreOver the years many of us have commented that the food products we used to like have become noticeably smaller. The shortbreads are smaller, the chocolate biscuits, the chocolate block, the soft drink, the Mars bar. The cereal inside the (big) packet is a much smaller quantity. Now we have a name for it — shrinkflation.
ZG: 7
We all feel the need for this word to describe our experiences in the supermarkets.
Read MoreThe bachelor’s handbag is occasionally the tradie’s handbag or the the bachelor’s briefcase, and it is the supermarket roast chook delivered in a plastic bag with handles (which strengthens the handbag concept).
Read MoreNow that we have access to medicinal cannabis, there are jobs in the cannabis market here. The budtender (blend of bud and bartender) is the person who deals with customers and advises them on what to buy for their particular treatment.
ZG: 4
This is a specialist market but one that is expanding rapidly in Australia so we are becoming more familiar with the jargon of the trade.
Read MoreThe other name for this person is COVID virgin. We have all wondered why it is that one person gets COVID but another, a partner or close relative, doesn’t, even though it is clear that the virus is highly contagious. These people who have never had COVID are also under scrutiny from health researchers because the hypothesis is that the resistance they have to the virus must come from something unusual in their genes.
ZG: 6
The idea that someone can actually make it through the pandemic without catching the virus is one that interests people.
Read MoreMacquarie Dictionary puts together on its website a list of new words that might possibly be included in the dictionary, and invites people to comment. Among the words for July was phone bone, a bony outgrowth at the base of the neck ‘caused by the posture associated with phone use’. The other word for it is text neck.
ZG: 8
Rhyme is obviously powerful in generating credibility.
Read MoreThis is a style of theatre-going that originated in the UK a decade ago. It was originally intended for children with a range of conditions that it made it difficult for them to sit still and quiet in darkness for the duration of the performance.
ZG: 4
This is a very special style of theatre but one that has great appeal for some in the community.
Read MoreDark advertising is the placing of ads through social media that are visible only the to publisher and the select group that has been identified as being possibly responsive to a particular line of advertising. It is also called micro-targeting.
Read MoreIn the 1980s the US army created exfiltration to mean the surreptitious removal of troops from an area into which they had been infiltrated. The verb to exfiltrate was a backformation from that.
ZG: 3
This is a piece of obscure jargon which has suddenly stumbled onto centre stage. It doesn’t belong there and will probably retire to the shadows again.
Read MoreThis is the immunity acquired from both having the vaccine and experiencing a bout of COVID-19. It is thought to be a stronger immunity than that produced by having only one of two immune-boosting events.
Read MoreThis new diet has been developed by Dr Valter Longo, PhD, and presented in a book published in 2018. It offers the reader ‘the New Science to Slow Ageing, Fight Disease and Manage Your Weight’. It features the 5-day fasting-mimicking diet which gives you all the health benefits of fasting without the hunger.
ZG: 5
All new diets attract a following in the media for a little while. I’m not sure there is much evidence of this one being taken up with enthusiasm.
Read MorePoliticians who are both blue (Conservative) and green (environmentalist) are now identified as teal which is a mix of blue and green. The first mention of a teal deal (an alliance between the greens and a conservative party) was in NZ in 2017.
ZG: 9
The Kiwis may have invented this use of teal in politics but it as certainly become a significant word in Australian politics as well.
Read MoreThis is the name that McDonalds gave to what they proudly boasted would be the Australian national coffee. This Aussie brew, launched in May 2022, was a blend of coffee, chai and wattleseed.
ZG: 3
Read MoreThe problem with the blue-sky flood is that everyone thinks the worst is over. It has probably been raining hard for some time. Now the clouds have gone away, the sun has come out, the skies are blue.
ZG: 5
Those involved will be getting a keen appreciation of this new term.
Read MoreDevelopmental language disorder is a disorder affecting language comprehension and expression. It is usually identified in early childhood when difficulties in learning to read or write become apparent. Often DLD is not recognised and the poor performance of the student is attributed to other factors, like bad behaviour or lack of interest in learning.
ZG: 4
This syndrome has not got the same attention as, for example, ADHD because the sufferers are not so noticeable.
Read MoreA gateway bet is the kind of bet offered to entice people to gamble or to return to gambling. That first euphoric moment of winning is what people remember and it is what drives them on to achieve another win. Of course the betting after that is stacked against them.
ZG: 6
With problem gambling very much under discussion at the moment, this word could gain frequency.
Read MoreYou may think that this is the study of the visitations of ghosts — but you’d be wrong. Hauntology is the study of significant ideas and memories that haunt us as individuals or as societies, in particular our dead futures. So why does a future die and become a ghost?
ZG: 4
Readers of Derrida will know it but the rest of us are very probably oblivious to the presence of the ghosts of our dead futures.
Read MoreThe Oxford English Dictionary defines tanky as ‘A nickname for a member of the British Communist Party supporting hardline Soviet policies, spec. that of military intervention’. But it did develop to mean the traditional left who wanted to pursue Marxist policies and engage in class warfare, and who chose to ignore the new identity politics entirely.
ZG: 4
A possible political smear word for the future.
Read More
