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.
It seems that Bill Shorten might have come up with the title bus captain when he invited Kristina Keneally to be his spokesperson on the campaign bus. The last election was all about buses.
ZG: 6
Perhaps in the next election buses will be considered passé as will the bus captions that go with them. Surely we can’t have the bus competition again!
Read MoreCongestion busting is a theme of political discussion this year. Infrastructure is planned that will reduce the volumes of traffic on the road, sort out the traffic jams and remove the blockages from the road systems.
ZG: 8
Since the problem of congestion on the roads is getting worse, this is a term that will be bandied around for some time.
Read MoreThe step from sporting jargon to polliespeak is a small one these days, so it comes as now surprise to find that Hail Mary has been liberated from the finance pages and can be used more generally for any desperate strategy.
ZG: 7
This seems to be one of those buzz words that pops up with increasing regularity.
Read MoreQuantum supremacy is achieved when a problem can be solved efficiently on a quantum computer but would take a staggeringly long time to solve on a classical computer.
ZG: 4
Only a small community of specialists and enthusiasts would know this term but for them it is a big deal.
Read MoreThe aesthetic of hopepunk is resistance to the disastrous future, both environmental and political, that seems to be looming.
ZG: 5
Hopepunk is trending in popular culture at the moment but not a term that has widespread currency.
Read MoreThe idea of an adaptability quotient (AQ) is modelled on this but is meant to indicate readiness to be flexible in a fast-changing world.
ZG: 6
A piece of business jargon but one that will probably be increasingly popular.
Read MoreThe negatives are the asylum seekers left in PNG with nowhere to go. Australia won’t have them, the Americans won’t take them, and PNG doesn’t want them.
ZG: 6
It is not a term that we use but one that we have picked up from PNG. It is low frequency as is all stifled discussion of refugees in this position.
Read MoreThis is a term that has achieved recent popularity as a description for the practice of using legislation not for the good of the country but to try to increase a party’s chances of winning the next election.
ZG: 6
A popular insult in politics at the moment but will it survive to the next election.
Read MoreThis is a piece of actuarial jargon that describes the hypothetical situation in which the predicted longevity of a person outstrips the actual time that is passing.
ZG: 5
Still not an item on everyone’s lips but one that is thrown up by the awareness that in some countries people are living to a much older age than was thought likely even a few decades ago.
Read MoreWe are being encouraged to estimate our plastic footprint, that is, the amount of plastic that each one of us is personally responsible for in our daily life.
ZG: 9
The problem of plastic piling up in the environment is becoming greater with every day that passes so we can expect to hear more about our plastic footprint.
Read MoreThe chemical restraint is a psychotropic drug or a psychopharmacologic agent now commonly used in the care of the elderly, particularly, those suffering from dementia.
ZG: 8
There are no immediate solutions being offered to the problems occurring in the care of the aged in Australia so we can expect to hear more about the use fo chemical restraints in the future.
Read MoreThe 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.
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