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 figurative use of gear change seems to have come in comparatively recently. It has been popular in horse racing reporting. Queen Elizabeth was reported to be accepting a gear change, from high to low, after her recent illness. And now it has been added to the ScoMo verbal display.
ZG: 7
Politicians use figurative terms to put spin on their message. The gear change conjures up power, control and forward movement.
Read MoreThe idea of shapeshifting is that in a world in which the old political divisions are dissolving into numerous smaller groups, and the media is increasingly narrowcasting, the way to get the votes you need to win power is to work out how to appeal to as many of these groups as possible.
ZG: 8
Already we can see the tactics for the next election emerging.
Read MoreReal money gambling (or RMG) allows you to pay unlimited amounts of money in and, if you win, extract your winnings from the app and get real money back again.
ZG: 6
Since this is still illegal in Australia not many of us know about it, but it will become a real problem if it is made legal and our real money disappears.
Read MoreTo vax or not to vax, that is the question is a rewrite of the line in Hamlet that is doing the rounds. Indeed, the debate has been raging for some months now and shows no sign of abating.
ZG: 10
Omicron has pushed vaccination into the spotlight again, just when we thought we were doing well on that front. But now we need to be triple-vaxxed so it’s back to getting the jab again.
Read MoreA colloquial shortened form of mental breakdown which has the effect of making it no more than a tantrum, really. Diminutives have that power to transform something that might be serious or threatening into something friendly, familiar and mildly humorous.
ZG: 5
This seems to be a common response to being introduced to menty b. It’s catchy and people can see a use for it.
Read MoreThe abbreviation stands for non-fungible token. This is a unique digital certificate which uses blockchain technology to certify ownership and authenticity of a digital asset.
ZG: 4
There are some of us who are putting a toe into the waters of this kind of digital marketplace but it is still not common.
Read MoreThis is the latest variant on whitewashing, greenwashing, etc. In this instance the washing is the process of giving a misleading impression in marketing that a product has been created without any ill-treatment of animals.
ZG: 4
This is a word that is being propelled into the word space by those who wish to defend animal rights, but whether it is actually taking or not is another matter.
Read MoreTo wokescold someone is to berate them for not being sufficiently ‘woke’, that is, sensitised to expressions of racial or social discrimination.
ZG: 7
This has become a fashionable word to use with those who feel that the world has become too politically correct.
Read MoreThis kind of pirate was named in the US where porches are common. Australia Post has generalised the term to cover theft from any place not regarded as a safe location such as the lobby of an apartment building or the row of letterboxes outside (the parcel being stacked on top).
ZG: 7
The term is catchy and there are enough of us suffering from this kind of theft to need a name for it.
Read MoreA new word that seems to have taken over where manglish left off is wronglish. Again this is specifically the kind of error that people make when English is not their first language, particularly in translating from their first language to English.
ZG: 5
There are people who collect instances of wronglish in the way that twitchers collect bird sightings so I think that wronglish is here to stay.
There are clusters of people on the internet who delight in spotting examples of wronglish but the enthusiasm is a niche one.
Read MoreDo we have a conventional roof or a cool roof? A standard roof is often made from materials that absorb heat. For this reason the NSW government is planning to ban dark-coloured roofing . What we want is roofing that reflects heat away from the house.
ZG: 4
Not a term that is widely known yet but it may well be in the future.
Read MoreThis is the latest in body sculpting procedures. The technical name is cryolipolysis – cryo meaning ‘cold’, lipomeaning ‘fat’, and lysis meaning ‘destruction’. It was discovered by paediatricians treating children who left an ice block resting against the inside of their cheek for longer than usual.
ZG: 4
This is not something that everyone will consider doing. It has come to notice because the supermodel, Linda Evangelista, had the bad reaction.
Read MoreToxic positivity at best trivialises our feelings, at worst negates them entirely. On top of everything else that we have to endure, it seems to be our own fault that we are not happy. This leads to anxiety, feelings of worthlessness, and depression.
ZG: 5
Pop psychology has taken very strongly to the idea of a positive mindset at all times. This seems to be an attempt by real psychologists to counter this misguided notion.
Read MoreThe acronym here stands for Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation. The ECMO does the work of the heart and lungs when the patient’s organs can no longer function and is the highest level of life support provided.
ZG: 4
This is still a piece of medical jargon but sadly more of us have heard about it as a result of COVID-19.
Read MoreThis new variant, emerging in South Africa, has caused alarm around the world. It will be some weeks before we know whether that alarm is justified but in the meantime we can address a different question. What happened to variants Mu and Nu and Xi?
ZG: 10
Omicron will be on all our lips for some weeks to come until we know more about it.
Read MoreStatistics show that a much greater number of people than you would normally expect have resigned from their jobs over this last year. This is most noticeable in the U.S. but it is not just limited to that country. The phenomenon has been named the Great Resignation or the Big Quit.
ZG: 6
We are at the moment observing this as something that is happening in other parts of the world, but it strikes a chord with us.
Read MoreIn a natural experiment it is possible to identify a life situation in which there is a particular factor at work, and compare that to another life situation in which that factor is not present. It is like setting up an experiment with randomly selected people in it. A comparison of one situation with another should determine the effect of the factor that interests you.
ZG: 5
It may be that now that the benefit of natural experiments has been demonstrated, they will be taught in schools along with the traditional scientific experiment.
Read MoreIt is clear that ick comes from icky but at this point the Oxford English Dictionary throws up its hands in helplessness and says ‘origin uncertain’. However, the example sentences show that icky is a word of the jazz scene in America in the 1930s and describes music that is over-sweet and sentimental, music that a true lover of swing jazz despises. The suggestion is that it was pretend baby talk meaning ‘little’.
ZG: 7
There is a lot of discussion about the ick among the younger generation, although their elders probably prefer to talk about a real turn-off.
Read MoreRemember the days when children had piggybanks and were encouraged to save the odd coins that kindly relatives gave them? It seems that today’s five-year olds have tossed their piggybanks aside in favour of investing money on the stock exchange.
ZG: 4
High finance is not for every child so this word has low frequency — at least for the time being.
Read MoreI suspect the distinction between hard pants and soft pants has been around for a little while but the fact that so many of us are now returning to the office has brought it to the forefront. It is clear that the comfortable trakkie daks that we lived in at home will not do. The world of soft pants has been lost and the antonym, hard pants, has been created.
ZG: 8
The things that we need to find a name for can be surprising, but there is no doubting the depth of feeling behind this one. It is possibly complicated by the fact that many of us have put on weight during lockdown.
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