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 word, a blend of trash and fashion, was coined in New Zealand in 2004 for high-art objects made from trash which were part of a fashion show called Trash to Fashion. Trashion fits into the found-object genre of art where junk and debris is turned into something with artistic value.
ZG: 6
The term is part of fashion jargon and relatively new, but now that it is entering the mainstream we will become more familiar with it.
Read MoreThe Victorian health minister has announced that his state has a COVID baby boom happening. There was some speculation that this would be one of the outcomes of lockdown restrictions.
ZG: 5
This is another marker of our progress through the pandemic.
Read MoreThis is a new strain of the COVID-19 virus appearing in the UK. It is thought to be twice as contagious as the delta variant. And if you are wondering what happened to the other letters of the Greek alphabet, they were allocated to various variants of interest which did not turn out to be variants of concern.
ZG: 7
We are still focused on the delta variant but we have lambda and beyond to consider.
Read MoreOnce we extended literacy to mean the reading of the jargon and underlying assumptions of a particular field of study the way was open for a number of different kinds of literacy. Computer literacy was among the first but it was followed by critical literacy, emotional literacy, and then health literacy. Death literacy is most closely modelled on health literacy.
ZG: 5
While there is an increasing interest in ways of approaching death and dying, this is not a term that has general currency.
Read MoreIt is common enough in summer to see a cumulonimbus cloud with a top flattened like an anvil. This is because the cloud has reached the ceiling of the troposphere where it is usually held, but some energetic storms can punch through the troposphere ceiling and enter the stratosphere where the cloud cools to below freezing.
ZG: 5
This is a weather phenomenon that may await us.
This is one for the people who are fascinated by clouds, although we should all perhaps register it as another indicator of climate change.
Read MoreNot a vaccine rollout but a vaccine strollout. This is the scathing name that has been given to the government’s sluggish efforts to vaccinate the populace. Again it is an example of a kind of grim humour that helps us to get through.
ZG: 9
There are some who would say that strollout is not sufficiently harsh but I find the combination of gentle and dark humour quite compelling.
Read MoreThe latest tightening of the regulations governing the distribution of AstraZeneca vaccine following its association with a rare thrombosis has prompted the thought that perhaps the people who had the first dose of AZ might be able to get Pfizer as their second dose.
ZG: 6
This may come up for discussion again when we have more Pfizer vaccines available to be able to mix and match.
Read MoreThis is rewilding that is done in secret, usually because official permission has been asked for and denied. Rewilding is the reintroduction of a native species to an area where it used to exist but from which it had to be saved and transported elsewhere because extinction was looming.
ZG: 4
Not an activity that most of us engage in, although we may become aware of the consequences.
Read MoreThis is a divorce between a couple who are over 50. As the divorce rate declines in the under 50s, it has increased in the over 50s.
ZG: 5
Although on the increase, and an addition to the other grey compounds such as grey nomad and grey tsunami, it is more a term for the social commentators than the community at large.
Read MoreTwo astronomers at ANU, David Young and Gary de Costa, have discovered that there are heavy metals in the universe which must have predated the existence of neutron stars.
ZG: 4
Even though it is two of our own who have made this discovery, the term will not gain wide currency.
Read MoreThis is not something that is necessarily related to a full-blown alcoholism. Anyone can look thoughtfully at their reasons for drinking, even in moderation, and consider whether alcohol actually gives them what they are seeking. The sober curious may well abstain for a period just to experiment with other ways of dealing with the challenges of life.
ZG: 7
This does seem to be a social change that is filtering through the younger generation in particular. Being sober is trending.
Read MoreThe Australotitan, our newest dinosaur, has been described as being the equivalent to 1,400 red kangaroos. I’m not sure that my mind can stretch to encompass 1,400 red kangaroos.
ZG: 5
Not a creature we will meet every day, even as a bunch of bones, but interesting.
Read MoreApparently the Dutch observed that standing around in a paddock with a cow slowed your heart rate enormously. On top of that the cow would agreeably sit down to chew the cud which meant that you could get even more comfortable. This new therapy called cow hugging or cow cuddling is travelling around the world and has arrived in Australia.
ZG: 5
A great activity for regional Australia but not quite so accessible in the cities, except perhaps at the Agricultural Shows.
Read MoreIt was another outbreak in Melbourne in late May that introduced us to the new names for the COVID-19 variants of concern. Apparently India had complained to the WHO about the way in which the world was talking about the Indian variant and so the WHO responded by renaming the lot.
ZG: 8
The people of Melbourne will have delta and kappa engraved on their hearts at the moment. I imagine we have yet to make a few more moves through the Greek alphabet before this is done.
Read MoreThis is the name for the practice adopted by a man who removes his condom at some point during sex without the knowledge or consent of his partner. While this is regarded as criminal behaviour in other parts of the world, in Australia stealthing is not legally identified as behaviour which overthrows the notion of consent and therefore becomes sexual assault. Not yet, anyway.
Read MoreAustralians and New Zealanders seem to have invented the notion of the Mum-and-Dad business ventures or financial dealings, so it is with some pride that we should acknowledge that we now have our own Bank of Mum and Dad (BOMAD or BoMaD).
Read MoreCheugy is a word that has gained ground in Los Angeles with a couple of young women claiming responsibility for it, but it was Hallie Cain who introduced it to TikTok on March 30, 2021, and sent it around the world. She listed the things that she regarded as good examples of cheuginess: graphic tees, girlboss energy, and Herbal Essence shampoo. Others have added to that list.
Read MoreThe violence inflicted on a woman by a man who has been rejected by her in some way, particularly as a dating or marriage partner, is called rejection violence. Dating apps, which allow women to appraise and reject or accept possible partners relatively easily and quickly, have highlighted this reaction on the part of the men involved.
ZG: 10
Violence against women is at the forefront of everyone’s minds at the moment.
Read MoreThe pandemic left international students in Australia with no jobs, no income and no support. One of the results of this is the increase in the practice of hot-bedding, that is, sharing not just a room but a bed, with each person allocated a certain amount of time at a certain time of the day or night to sleep.
ZG: 4
The pandemic has produced winners and losers. Often very little is known about the losers.
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