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 coronavirus causing the outbreak of respiratory disease which originated in Wuhan in the province of Hubei in central China. The name is constructed from Co for corona, vi for virus and -19 for the year 2019 in which the virus was first identified.
ZG: 10
This is the second most significant thing to happen to us in the early stages of 2020. Its effect were felt throughout the world. The first was, of course, the bushfires which were watched nervously around the world.
Read MoreAs a carrier of an infectious disease a super spreader seems to be able to pass it on to a significantly larger than average number of people.
ZG: 7
A word that is on the margins of the media obsession with Covid-19. The fact that there don’t seem to have been any hasn’t given any impetus to the search.
Read MoreThe gesture of dropping the microphone to indicate that the speaker has had the last word originated with rappers and stand-up comedians in the 1980s.
ZG: 7
This is a meme that has yet to run its course as people experiment with dropping things other than mics.
Read MoreThis is a diet in which you eat for eight hours and fast for sixteen in the day, so it is one form of intermittent fasting.
ZG: 7
We seem to have an insatiable appetite for diets. This does seem to be a more effective one that all the other diets that have emerged during the year.
Read MoreClimate fires are fires brought about by climate change, being different from anything else previously experienced in their ferocity, extent and duration. The precursor is prolonged drought and the immediate cause is intense heat brought about by global warming.
ZG: 10
This has to be the most significant term that we acquired in 2019 along with the many other compounds with climate that were added to the lexicon in this period.
Read MoreJust as the rest of the world is talking about the need for a sustainable diet and worrying about the effect that meat-eating is having on the planet, the carnivore diet appears and it’s all about eating meat, meat and more meat.
ZG: 5
This is possibly a diet that will not be around for very long.
Read MoreCiimate exodus is the departure en masse of communities from regions made uninhabitable by climate change.
ZG: 9
Sadly we are probably going to witness an increase in the number of incidences of climate exodus.
Read MoreThe truth test is similar to fact checking but whereas facts are impersonal, telling the truth or not goes to the heart of someone’s character.
ZG: 8
In these days of fake news and all manner of falsifying of information, applying the truth test to what someone claims will be increasingly important.
Read MoreA megafire, also called a megablaze, is a fire which has grown to such huge proportions and covers such a vast area of land that to confine or contain it is no longer possible. Instead firefighters concentrate on saving lives and property.
ZG: 8
The mega fire has been a frightening new experience this summer. The gigafire would be truly terrifying.
Read MoreThis is a mixture of woody hemp fibre from inside the hemp stalk combined with lime and water. The resulting mix is packed into a wooden frame and tamped down to make a wall.
ZG: 4
I don’t think hempcrete has reached the popularity that mud bricks had in the 1980s but who knows? It may take off.
Read MoreThe human book is person that you can borrow from the human library who will tell you the story of their life.
ZG: 4
This is not a common experience yet but it is one that seems to be on the rise.
Read MoreThis is the continuing drain on the mental and physical resources of a mother after her child is born. Mothers blame lack of sleep, and, in general, the need to set their own needs aside to keep up with the demands of bringing up a child.
ZG: 4
Not a common term as yet but one that will strike a chord with mothers of small children.
Read MoreAncestry tourism involves travelling to the land of your ancestors and seeing what you can find out to add to information for your family history.
ZG: 7
The popularity of researching family histories aided by a sudden wealth of resources that can be made available to the general public means that ancestry tourism will be increasingly popular.
Read MoreA black ops brigade or black ops crew is a small group of volunteers, usually people who live in a distract threatened by bushfire, who band together with whatever resources they have to supplement the work of the official firefighting brigade.
ZG: 7
At the moment they are probably few in number but, as we experience more hot summers with bushfires, we are likely to hear more about them.
Read MoreThe Voice to Parliament is proposed as a new representative body that sits alongside the Federal Parliament which is then obliged to listen to what Indigenous people have to say about the laws under consideration in parliament that affect them.
ZG: 10
This is an extremely important topic of political conversation that will be ongoing until some resolution is achieved.
Read MoreThis is a word derived from catfishing. The idea is that most women can’t resist a man with a dog.
ZG: 6
A coinage that will amuse those who visit dating sites and are generally at home in the online world of romance.
Read MoreThis is the name given to the povety experienced by women and girls who are unable to access resources during their menstruation period, because of lack of finances or lack of facilities provided at schools and workplaces.
ZG: 4
There is a global movement to eliminate period poverty which has given the expression frequency in some political circles.
Read MoreThe quiet Australians are the people nominated by Scott Morrison as his support base, the people who agree with his policies but don’t make a huge fuss the way the noisy elite do about what THEY think is right for the country.
ZG: 9
This expression was immediately picked up as one of significance in Australian politics this year. It is likely to be around for some time to come.
Read MoreForest bathing is a kind of Japanese fusion bushwalking, Australian-style but with a Japanese aesthetic, so that we enter the bush in a mindful way to enhance our health and wellbeing.
ZG: 3
There has been a strong Japanese influence in Australian cuisine and design, but it is probably still a minority interest.
Read MoreThis is a put-down from a young person to an old person who is demonstrating that they are out of touch with the contemporary world. The older person doesn’t have to be an actual baby boomer, just someone over forty.
ZG: 8
This is one of those internet memes which has gone around the world. The divide between the older and younger generations is sharper than it has ever been before. This captures it neatly.
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