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 clachan finds a place in the Australian English lexicon because we have the remnants of the only one found outside Ireland. A clachan is a traditional Scottish or Irish village.
ZG: 4
Of historical interest, particularly to those who are interested in the Irish influence in Australia.
Read MoreFor those of us who find children too exhausting, and fur babies almost as bad, there is a solution. The house plant.
ZG: 4
Methinks the house parents protest too much. This one seems a trifle forced.
Read MoreThis is a formalised version of streetball, itself a form of basketball designed for an urban setting.
ZG: 4
The Olympics would have perhaps given this sport a higher profile but that won’t be until next year now.
Read MoreThe simplest definition I have found for this is ‘to stay 1.5 metres away from other people at all times’. This is from NSW Health.
ZG: 10
The golden rule of the pandemic which mostly people adhere to unless they are Covidiots.
Read MoreThe World Health Organisation has coined this word (info the shortened form of information + (pan)demic) to draw attention to the way in which hysterical rumours about COVID-19 are flooding the internet.
ZG: 8
A slightly artificial coinage deliberately created to draw attention to an important facet of the pandemic situation, so one which the WHO hopes everyone will learn.
Read MoreThis is a name for the Southern Cross as used in the Eureka flag, which in the last decade has been associated with right-wing jingoism and racism.
ZG: 6
The Aussie Swazi has attracted more attention as we become increasingly aware of the threat posed to society by right-wing extremism.
Read MoreIt seems that milk baths are particularly recommended for skin conditions, sunburn, and reactions to poison ivy, but even just for generally dry skin.
ZG: 4
New beauty treatments come and go almost as quickly as new diets. It remains to be seen if bathing in milk becomes something we all want to do.
Read MoreBackstabbing and frontstabbing appear to have a literal meaning in computer games, where you can stab the enemy from behind or from in front.
ZG: 4
It is a term that is secure in the jargon of computer games but is just beginning to venture into mainstream use. There is a use for it and it is supported by the existence of backstabbing.
Read MoreThe composting burial is a procedure that begins by placing the body of the person that has died in a casket along with wood chips, soil, straw and alfalfa. The heat created as the body decomposes speeds up the process and eliminates germs.
ZG: 4
Not for everyone yet, I think, but as our concern for the environment grows, who knows what might become the new appropriate way of dealing with the funeral process.
Read MoreApparently there is nothing like the anger experienced by a computer gamer who has just been outwitted by the game and killed. In such circumstances gamers simply abandon the game in a fury.
ZG: 5
A term that is high-frequency among gamers but limited in use in other contexts. That said, why would you say that you quit when you could say that you rage-quit. Much more powerful.
Read MoreWe played briefly with the German word hamsterkauf for the phenomenon of panic buying in the supermarkets, especially of toilet paper.
ZG: 4
I would have liked to give this word a higher score but sadly it shows no signs of staying the distance.
Read MoreWe now have the notion of street play, the kind of thing that used to happen in an unorganised way where children would take to the street to play various games. In a world where cars dominate our lives, this is something that needs to be organised.
ZG: 7
An excellent way of reclaiming the streets for children which seems to be generating some enthusiasm among parents and councils.
Read MoreOne of the preventive measures against CoVid-19 is self-isolation for anyone who has come into contact with someone who has the coronavirus but is not showing any signs of having contracted the disease.
ZG: 10
Self-isolation means not going out at all for anything. Most of us now are very close to that, making the occasional foray for food and toilet paper but hardly emerging otherwise.
Read MoreThe official name for this is respiratory clinic, sometimes pop-up respiratory clinic because of their pop-up nature. But the media and the general public have all gone for fever clinic.
ZG: 9
They are not everywhere yet but we are all aware of them and aware of the reasons for their existence.
Read MoreThe expression to throw shade at someone, meaning to be scornful or disrespectful towards someone, dates back to American college slang of the 1990s.
ZG: 6
The fact that the row within the Royal Family made news around the world has helped to spread this little bit of American slang.
Read MoreThis is a gesture in which the thumb and index finger make a circle and the other three fingers are stretched out straight. White supremacists took control of the sign by inventing a different significance for it.
ZG: 8
Given the rise of the white supremacy movement, we are , sadly, likely to continue to encounter this sign.
Read MoreThese are the volunteer firefighters who work alongside the Royal Fire Service. In some parts of the country they are called the Black Ops Brigade.
ZG: 5
Probably a passing phenomenon of the recent bushfires but who knows, next summer may bring them out again.
Read MoreA zoomer is a member of Generation Z, born in the early 2000s and characterised as having great facility with digital technology and great social skills.
ZG: 6
Probably OK boomer! produced the greatest media buzz. This retort, coming somewhat late in the day, doesn’t seem to have the same bite.
Read MoreThis is the justice that is sought for those affected by climate change, such as climate migrants. This is to be achieved by developing climate law, which currently does not deal with many of the situations arising from the changing environment.
ZG: 7
The efforts to bring the notion of climate justice to the attention of the world will undoubtedly increase the currency of the term.
Read MoreThis is sometimes referred to as the silent forest syndrome and is the result of unchecked animal poaching which has emptied the forest of all wildlife so that it becomes eerily silent.
ZG: 7
Silent forests must be one of the saddest manifestations of environmental vandalism.
Read More
