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 selfie that you post online when you have been vaccinated. People indicate their vaccinated status in various creative ways ranging from showing a vaccination card to wearing a crown or a mask that says ‘I’m vaccinated’ or the like. It has become so common that it has been shortened to vaxxie.
ZG: 9
It’s all about the vaccination rate at the moment and this seems like a way in which people can encourage each other to get vexed.
Read MoreMask shaming results from not following the norm – wearing or not wearing masks. In America there are some comments about mask vigilantes as well.
ZG: 6
There is increased sensitivity in the community about the issue of mask wearing. Now that it is mandatory outside we can all take note of the people who still try to avoid it.
Read MoreApparently in Europe and Canada the vaccine has gone by the name of Vaxzevria and there is concern that, if we do get to the stage of vaccine certificates or passports, the name AstraZeneca will not be recognised overseas.
ZG: 5
This will become more meaningful to us when we can travel again.
Read MoreThis is the carbon which is sequestered by coastal ecosystems and sea grasses. Apparently a good stand of mangroves can sequester more carbon that a terrestrial forest of similar size.
ZG: 7
This is one of the many ideas being put forward now as a strategy to deal with climate change.
Read MoreThis is a form of anxiety which does not prevent you from functioning in your job, home life, etc. Indeed it drives you on to perform even better than others while at the same time masking your underlying anxiety and feelings of inadequacy.
ZG: 5
While the subject of much analysis on the internet, it does not have general currency.
Read MoreThis is the vaccination that you are required to have as part of your job. Employers have been saying that they cannot legally force their staff to get vaccinated. Only the federal government has the power to make it mandatory.
ZG: 8
This is likely to be a big issue in the months to come.
Read MoreJust as biohacking is the employment of various techniques to improve the functioning of the body, so neuorhacking is the employment of various techniques to improve the functioning of the mind. A hack in this context is a clever if not necessarily orthodox solution to a problem, a general meaning which derives from computer use.
ZG: 4
This is part of the jargon of a small but dedicated group of people.
Read MoreIn the official jargon of the NSW government this is singles social bubble. Victoria was ahead of NSW in the creation of bubbles, devising the intimate bubble for people in a romantic relationship and the single social bubble for the person who lives alone.
ZG: 8
There is a lot of discussion of the singles bubble at the moment in NSW as it becomes clear that lockdown is with us for a while and the rules governing this bubble need to be clear.
Read MoreThe 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 More
