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 classic example of bothsidesism has become the response of Trump in 2017 to the violent Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Trump commented that ‘there were very fine people on both sides’.
ZG: 7
This is a political strategy that is being widely adopted at the moment, so the term is here to stay.
Read MoreIt is now possible, not to remove an offending post on the internet, but to remove the link to it from Google searches. This gives the individual the right to suppress the offending material.
ZG: 8
How to change our minds about what we want made public and what we decide later should not be made public has been the subject of much debate. This is a partial solution.
Read MoreA card clash occurs when the reading device picks up one contactless credit or debit card as you tap on, and then a different card as you tap off.
ZG: 6
This caused a bit of a stir when the system was new but will probably fade from sight as we become more proficient in tapping on and tapping off.
Read MoreFor a company to be on brand means that they are giving a clear and consistent message in all their products, their advertising, their sponsorships, all the activities they engage in, that is in line with how they wish to be perceived by the public.
ZG: 4
A bit of marketing jargon but interesting because it shows the on song pattern is still productive.
Read MoreThis is a sport loosely based on badminton but taking elements from tennis and ping-pong, such as using paddles rather than racquets.
ZG: 5
Yet another of the odd sports that have flourished over the last few decades.
Read More. Screen time is the time we spend in front of a device with a screen, such as a television, a computer, an ipad, a smartphone, or a video game console.
ZG: 9
This is coming up as an anxiety of the moment. We are increasingly polarised by our screen habits with one group becoming increasingly worried about it, and the other just doing what they do.
Read MoreThe term anchor baby was coined in the U.S in the early 1990s and refers to a child born to an immigrant mother who is illegally in the U.S. without citizenship.
ZG: 5
So far Peter Dutton is on his own in adopting this term from American English. Let’s hope it stays that way.
Read MoreThere are a growing number of solo dwellers who maintain that they can have a large number of friends and an active social life, and yet, when they choose, have the luxury of being on their own and doing whatever they want to do whenever they feel like doing it.
ZG: 7
This one is of interest in social terms. The bold statement that living alone is a lifestyle choice and a good thing is something new.
Read MoreOver the past decade we have become much more knowledgeable about Japanese wines. Now it is the Korean rice wine, soju, that is becoming popular.
ZG: 5
The endless search for novelty in food and drink, and perhaps increased contact with Korea, has brought soju to our attention.
Read MoreThe idea of the passive house is that it is airtight and very well insulated with no breaks or gaps where heat can escape.
ZG: 7
Not a household word yet, not even a passive household word, but one that we could hear more frequently in the future as we find any way we can to cope with the new environment.
Read MoreLooping is process for automatically regulating insulin delivery from a pump, using an app which reads a glucose level monitor and then adjusts the supply of insulin in accordance with the changing readings.
ZG: 4
This is a term which is known to a relatively small group of people. It has surfaced because of the particular difficulty they are in.
Read MoreThe idea of the double tap is that the shooter takes aim and fires the gun, and then immediately takes aim again, and fires again.
ZG: 4
Sadly we are picking up more and more of this kind of military jargon.
Read MoreThe term big business has led to a related set of big words such as big tobacco, big pharma, and big sugar. These are now joined by big tech.
ZG: 9
Big tech are big in size and big in influence. They affect our lives hugely. We will be discussing big tech for some time to come.
Read MoreWe are in economic circumstances now where the ten-year bond offers less than the one-year bond. Thus the graph shows an inverted yield curve, high at one year and dropping to a low at ten.
ZG: 5
Probably more people now know this obscure piece of finance jargon because it is being trumpeted as an indicator of a recession to come.
Read MoreAttention hacking is the development of innovative ways to grab the attention of people as they go online.
ZG: 4
Yet another marketing term which may be limited in use. Nevertheless we are all conscious of how the strategies for grabbing our attention have shifted,
Read MoreThere is now something of a track record for deliberate lighting of fires in wheelie bins, either for warmth or to breath in the fumes and get a very dangerous high.
ZG: 8
If something is common enough to give rise to a metaphorical use, then it has won recognition in the community.
Read MoreThe Pioppi diet has apparently been popular since 2017, and is supposed to be based on the traditional diet of the people of Pioppi, a small town in southern Italy.
ZG: 8
Diets are endlessly fascinating. Some of them may even last more than two seconds but while they have that brief moment of fame they are very popular.
Read MoreThis is software which enables a business to falsify the details of a transaction maintained by the point-of-sale software in order to cheat on tax payments.
ZG: 4
The ATO also comments that Australians regard cheating on their tax as a national sport so this is technology jargon and the subject matter is of little interest.
Read MoreThe bin cocky or sulphur-crested cockatoo has learnt how to lift the lid on the wheeliebin to access the food inside.
ZG: 7
This is not yet a common phenomenon but if the smart bin-lifting cockatoos teach more and more of their comrades, as apparently they do, then we will find another reason to be cross with them.
Read MoreThis is a genre of electronic music made using the programmable sound chips of vintage video games, found in the machinery of game arcades, in computers and in video game consoles.
ZG: 3
This is very much a niche genre although its followers are rapt in it. When the next James Bond movie is done to chip music, it may take off.
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