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 BEC stands for Business Email Compromise. This scam started in businesses where an employee would get an email, ostensibly from the CEO, asking them to transfer money to an account given in the email.
ZG: 5
Sadly some people have had their lives turned upside down by this scam.
Read MoreThis is the name given to metal spherical objects from space, the latest of which have washed up on a beach in Queensland.
ZG: 4
The rubbish that we are generating in space is coming closer to home.
Read MoreWe all understand the value of physical fitness. Now we have to consider that we should attend to our cognitive fitness.
ZG: 4
This is an item of professional jargon that is filtering through to the mainstream.
Read MoreThis is not just weariness caused by constant scrolling but the depression, ennui and anxiety that the scroller is left with as a result of what has become a kind of addiction.
ZG: 4
Recognition of this as a form of addiction has brought more serious attention to treatment for it.
Read MoreThe bush doof has been with us for some time and is well covered in the dictionary. It is ‘an outdoor dance party, usually held in a remote location, and featuring electronic music. The bush doof is new.
ZG: 7
The bush doof is amazingly popular. I like the progression from bush doof to book doof.
Read MoreAs we know, social media platforms are extremely reluctant to ban users, partly from ideological, partly from commercial reasons. If they find a post with content that is so bad that they have to do something, then they would prefer to shadow ban the account rather than outright ban it.
ZG: 8
With the focus on the social media platforms at the moment, jargon like this is becoming well known and understood.
Read MoreThere has been a surge in the creation of pump tracks over the last couple of years so it follows that there is a growing familiarity with them.
ZG: 4
Incredibly familiar to those who engage in the sport and not at all familiar to those who don’t.
Read MoreWe used to discuss the economy, but a check of the dictionary reveals that that single economy has split into a number of identified economies, such as the gig economy, the blue economy, the attention economy. The latest of these is the creative economy.
ZG: 5
Perhaps putting a label on this group will help the least commercial among them to make a living.
Read MoreThis word was coined by the Australian author and communications consultant,Ed Coper, as the title for his book which has the subtitle How social media outrage ruined everything. His argument is that people who wish to manipulate us have found that the way to get our attention on social media is to make us angry.
ZG: 8
Current discussions on how social media is affecting society at large make this relevant.
ZG: 7
Discussions about our increasingly divided community and the role that social media plays in this has made this word resonate with the general public.
Read MoreThe Marrickville pause is the break in conversation that happens as a plane goes overhead. Locals are accustomed to stopping in mid-sentence and resuming what they were saying once the plane has gone over.
ZG: 5
Limited to the inner west in Sydney but well accepted there.
Read MoreThe number of different parenting styles listed in the dictionary has grown significantly. There is attachment parenting, concierge parenting, drone parenting, lawnmower parenting (smoothing the path ahead), passenger parenting, snowplough parenting (like lawnmower parenting) and tiger parenting.
ZG: 7
Parenting is an aspect of our lives to which we endlessly apply labels.
Read MoreAlthough I was unfamiliar with the term, I realised that I was quite familiar with the activity. One early example of a prediction market was the popular pursuit of betting on who would emerge from a papal conclave as the next Pope. That was banned in 1591.
ZG: 8
The surging popularity of this form of gambling has brought it to our attention.
Read MoreIt seems that young people all go through a stage where they no longer have the family to sustain them but on the other hand they have neither the time nor the skills to cook for themselves. This results in a poor diet.
ZG: 4
The age group for whom this is relevant is certainly quite familiar with it.
Read MoreIt’s been a while since we had a new fashionable diet. This one is a reworking of the Mediterranean diet — lots of veggies and nuts, a bit of fish and poultry all slathered in olive oil.
ZG: 5
I think that this diet is getting some air time at the moment.
Read MoreThe Walama list is the final step in the procedures involved in a Walama List court. This is a sentencing court for adult Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander people who have pleaded guilty, agreed to a statement of facts about the case, and consented to having their matter dealt with in the Walama List.
ZG: 2
Hardly known at the moment but we hope that it has a big future.
Read MoreThe formal name for this is gluteal amnesia — which I quite like. The idea of the glutes losing all memory of what they are supposed to do appeals to me.
ZG: 4
In an ageing population, simply standing upright is a matter for concern.
Read MoreWe have come to accept that Australia is not the place for English flora, in particular, the English meadow of herbs and grasses and soft flowers. Buttercups, for instance. Our climate is too harsh and our open spaces tend to fill up with scraggy weeds and parched remnants of plants.
ZG: 3
A word for urban planners and landscapers but interesting that we are still finding new names for new kinds of gardens.
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