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.
The expression You really slay me! dates back to American English of the 1920s so it is fairly traditional slang these days. You might even seem a bit quaint if you used it. But there is a new way in which slay is being used adjectivally, as in He is so slay! That movie was slay! Or as an interjection. What do you think of the movie? Slay!
ZG: 5
As with all such slang it has huge currency in a particular group.
Read MoreThere is another lit to add to the collection, a genre of novels featuring menopausal women. A variant on this is the crime sub-genre, hot-flush noir.
ZG: 6
The community of book readers is shrinking as the hot-flush lit is catching on, which means it has a small but enthusiastic group of supporters.
Read MoreOn the golf course spectators are asked to be as quiet as possible. No sudden loud noises, no loud voices or energetic movements. This is all set out in the Aberdeen Code of 1783.
ZG: 5
A fashionable way of expressing disdain that may take off.
Read MoreThe no-wash movement is hardline about not washing clothes, both for the sake of the fabric and for environmental reasons. Alongside them are the low-wash people who agree that we are obsessive about washing our clothes and that the environment would benefit if we stopped doing this, but they also feel that our clothes can reach a point where throwing them in the washing machine is the correct thing to do.
Read MoreThis is slightly misleading as a name because it gives the impression that the flu virus is somehow targeting young children which it isn’t. But more young children are getting the flu because the vaccination rate is so low this year.
ZG: 5
This one is picking up in frequency as winter progresses and there is a push for more vaccinations.
Read MoreThis is the sector of the economy of the country that comprises people, both paid and unpaid, who take care of children, the elderly, the sick and the disabled. The reason why it has been given a label is because it is the most rapidly expanding sector of the economy in many countries.
ZG: 4
A word for the bureaucrats and economists but an important one for all concerned with it.
Read MoreThe first of these was the laser gun but, now that we have other kinds of weapons that rely on directed energy, we need an all-encompassing term for all weapons that damage or destroy a target using highly focused energy alone.
ZG: 2
A bit of military jargon.
Read MoreI had thought that we had written all there was to say at the entry for fuck in the Macquarie Dictionary after many rewrites and revisions, but no — there is more.
ZG: 7
A popular bit of slang at the moment, probably one that will incur disapproval from the older generation.
Read MorePeople who use dating sites have acquired a certain amount of wisdom in how to navigate them. They recognise red flags, and green flags. But in 2022 a new flag appeared — the beige flag, one which indicated terminal boredom.
ZG: 7
I like this one so I am tempted to push it up the rankings but it is limited by its online use.
Read MoreNitro coffee is a cold coffee with a thick creamy head and a silky texture. As with beer you serve it in a glass so that the drinker can admire the head and the drifting bubbles.
ZG: 4
I haven’t had nitro coffee. I will have to do some research so that I can drink the words I define.
Read MoreThis is an acronym for Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist, that is, a feminist who opposes the inclusion of transgender women in the ranks of the feminist movement. In effect they do not accept transgender women as women at all. They therefore wish to exclude transgender women from women’s spaces and they are opposed to legislation giving transgender rights.
ZG: 5
In this climate of establishing rights for minority groups TERF is gaining currency.
Read MoreMore correctly this is the sodium-ion battery contrasted with the lithium-ion battery. We all know we want better batteries and sodium may provide at least one answer.
ZG: 6
The currency of this item will increase if it does become the solution to the battery problem.
Read MoreThis is leather which is made from plastic or plant products, not from animal products. Vegan is not usually applied to leather made from PVC which ultimately comes from fossil fuels. This sort of leather is described as vinyl.
ZG: 7
Quite fashionable and environmentally sound.
Read MoreInitially this was a term used in economics to describe the situation in which the failure of one aspect of the economy leads to other failures which collectively bring about an economic catastrophe.
ZG: 3
Our current economic state has brought this bit of economic jargon to the surface.
Read MoreYou can find online support groups for people suffering from various illnesses. This has been of great benefit to the sufferers, but they now have to watch out for cuckoos in the nest, people who are perfectly well but fake their symptoms so as to garner support for themselves. If they are good online performers they can attract quite a following and that brings with it certain benefits.
ZG: 4
This one may gain in frequency as people become more wary.
Read MoreThis is the use of AI to create interactive digital versions of a person who has departed this life. A chatbot can bring the dead person to a virtual life as an avatar which can communicate with family and friends, using the dead person’s voice.
Read MoreThis is also called sobriety memoir. I can see no real difference between the two although the recovery memoir perhaps focuses on the the experience of the writer who has personally travelled the road from addiction to recovery, whereas the sobriety memoir gives more weight to the joys and discoveries that come from being sober.
ZG: 4
This is perhaps a subgenre of quit lit.
Read MoreFirst we had the influencers, the people who become leaders on social media and who amass followers who take on board recommendations to buy particular products. De-influencing is giving recommendations on what NOT to buy.
ZG: 6
This is a term that is strong in the social media world that influencers and de-influencers inhabit.
Read More
