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 phrase in one’s wheelhouse caught my attention. Believe it or not, it was used by a toponymist (an expert in placenames) considering the street name Nowhere Else Road. It’s on the Eyre Peninsula. Despite this being in his field of expertise, he remained none the wiser as to the origin of the name.
Read MoreFirst we had FOMO — the fear of missing out, which kept us in a constant state of anxiety in case there was something big going on and we weren’t part of it. Now there is JOMO — the joy of missing out.
ZG: 7
JOMO sounds highly desirable but old habits die hard so I think it will always be the lesser acronym.
Read MoreThe children sized up their teacher in her bright orange pants and sunflower-patterned top. ‘That looks weird’ said one. ‘Na, she’s drip!’ said another. A couple more nodded sagaciously in agreement. The teacher was nonplussed.
ZG: 6
I would imagine that this one is catching on quickly with the younger generation.
Read MoreThis is essentially advertising, usually digital advertising, which takes on the form and style of the platform that presents it so that it blends seamlessly with the basic content and is pretty well indistinguishable from it.
ZG: 3
A piece of industry jargon which even specialists in the field do not explain very well but something that could trip us all up.
Read MoreWe have come to talk about this latest period of the Holocene as the Anthropocene epcoh, that is, the period where the effects of human activity on the environment are marked. Now a fire historian, Stephen J Pyne, has suggested a new term, the Pyrocene.
ZG: 3
Doesn’t have huge frequency yet but it may become adopted as wildfires become more devastating.
Read MoreIt has become fashionable for companies and organisations to claim in their public documents that they are doing wonderful things for the environment. Climate disclosures and commitments are now being revised in a process that is described as green hushing.
ZG: 6
A term employed by those engaged in environmental watchdog activities.
Read MoreThis is the increase in the number of tourists visiting a tourist destination to the point where it is beyond the capacity of the people who live there to deal with the influx. In these post-pandemic times travel is once again an option and overtourism is becoming an acute problem.
ZG: 8
I expect a great deal more discussion of over tourism and how to manage it.
Read MoreThis is syndrome that has come into prominence because there is a similarity with the symptoms of long COVID. The acronym stands for postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome.
ZG: 4
A term of the medical world which has surfaced because of the interest in long COVID.
Read MoreIn Australia this expression surfaced in the reality TV show, The Challenge. Late 2022 there was a ride-or-die series in which contestants were invited to bring their choice of partner along with them as support, their own particular ride-or-die rather than a partner chosen for them by the producers of the show.
ZG: 4
Read MoreThe expression You really slay me! dates back to American English of the 1920s so it is fairly traditional slang these days. You might even seem a bit quaint if you used it. But there is a new way in which slay is being used adjectivally, as in He is so slay! That movie was slay! Or as an interjection. What do you think of the movie? Slay!
ZG: 5
As with all such slang it has huge currency in a particular group.
Read MoreThere is another lit to add to the collection, a genre of novels featuring menopausal women. A variant on this is the crime sub-genre, hot-flush noir.
ZG: 6
The community of book readers is shrinking as the hot-flush lit is catching on, which means it has a small but enthusiastic group of supporters.
Read MoreOn the golf course spectators are asked to be as quiet as possible. No sudden loud noises, no loud voices or energetic movements. This is all set out in the Aberdeen Code of 1783.
ZG: 5
A fashionable way of expressing disdain that may take off.
Read MoreThe no-wash movement is hardline about not washing clothes, both for the sake of the fabric and for environmental reasons. Alongside them are the low-wash people who agree that we are obsessive about washing our clothes and that the environment would benefit if we stopped doing this, but they also feel that our clothes can reach a point where throwing them in the washing machine is the correct thing to do.
Read MoreThis is slightly misleading as a name because it gives the impression that the flu virus is somehow targeting young children which it isn’t. But more young children are getting the flu because the vaccination rate is so low this year.
ZG: 5
This one is picking up in frequency as winter progresses and there is a push for more vaccinations.
Read MoreThis is the sector of the economy of the country that comprises people, both paid and unpaid, who take care of children, the elderly, the sick and the disabled. The reason why it has been given a label is because it is the most rapidly expanding sector of the economy in many countries.
ZG: 4
A word for the bureaucrats and economists but an important one for all concerned with it.
Read MoreThe first of these was the laser gun but, now that we have other kinds of weapons that rely on directed energy, we need an all-encompassing term for all weapons that damage or destroy a target using highly focused energy alone.
ZG: 2
A bit of military jargon.
Read MoreI had thought that we had written all there was to say at the entry for fuck in the Macquarie Dictionary after many rewrites and revisions, but no — there is more.
ZG: 7
A popular bit of slang at the moment, probably one that will incur disapproval from the older generation.
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