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.
There was a tug-of-war between a truly accurate identification and a name that the general public can remember. Now we have a group of subvariants deriving from a variant of the Omicron strain of the virus (called JN.1) which have been given the name FLiRT.
Read MoreDenver Water (Denver, Colorado) coined this word in 1981, the same year that the Macquarie Dictionary was published, but it has taken almost thirty years for it to filter through to us.
ZG: 4
Not a huge take-up yet but the next drought will probably change that.
Read MoreThere are various neurological conditions which are thought to be non-reversible, conditions such as dementia and Alzheimer’s. But there is anecdotal evidence dating from the late 1800s of patients who experience a reversal of their symptoms so that they can suddenly remember people, speak clearly, and display lucid thinking.
ZG: 4
This has great significance for the elderly people who experience it, and their families.
Read MoreRemember Y2K? How we all waited for planes to fall out of the sky, for our computers to implode, for every computerised device in the world to implode. And then nothing happened. The next tech scare on the horizon is Q-day!
ZG: 5
There are murmurings about Q-day at the moment but it is still a fair way off. Frequency will increase as we get closer.
Read MoreThis is a neighbourhood which has a farm or community garden at the heart of it, so that people can produce their own food in close proximity to where they live.
ZG: 6
Not a high-frequency item yet since we wait for more of these to be developed.
Read MoreRemember the sovereign citizen of COVID days? Well, this sovereign citizen also claims that they do not have to pay any tax.
ZG: 4
There are occasional noisy outbursts from the sovereign citizens but the frequency of this term is not high.
Read MoreFirst you have children. Then it seems that these days the children all acquire fur babies, presumably as a practice run at parenting. Finally they have human babies and you have grandchildren and a grand-dog.
ZG: 7
This is becoming an accepted part of family relationships.
Read MoreAI is now able to create video from text instructions although, as usual, the result has to be checked. Occasionally the software gets it wrong and the requested dog in the street suddenly morphs into four dogs. The people who check the product of AI are called red teamers.
ZG: 4
The checking of the red team goes mostly unnoticed by the general public but as AI develops we may all need to become red teamers.
Read MoreThere have been examples of this in Australia for the last four or five years but it seems to be a practice that is growing in popularity. We go to funerals and the thought arises — if only the deceased person could have been here — they would have really enjoyed it.
ZG: 3
Not a huge take-up yet but it is something that may well have some appeal.
Read MoreA performative activist is someone who pretends to espouse a cause, even if they have no interest it, because it is likely to improve their standing in social media, and not appearing to be involved and supportive may produce a negative response.
ZG: 3
No doubt a smear word in the world of political activism.
Read MoreThe situationists of post-war Italy, with their Marxist view of society, felt that people were being moulded to become individual consumers at the expense of their creativity and individuality. They railed against the conforming aspects of the culture designed to facilitate consumerism.
ZG: 3
The term itself would not have much currency although the general sense that we must fight consumerism and not become slaves to our digital devices is fairly strong.
Read MoreThis is a small sachet containing tobacco-free nicotine and a flavour, designed to be placed under the tongue so that the nicotine is absorbed into the bloodstream.
ZG: 3
Another item in the constant battle against nicotine use.
Read MoreI was familiar with the Dark Web and the Deep Web but I had not heard of the Surface Web. This term has been derived as the opposite of the Deep Web.
ZG: 4
Possibly a term that is on the rise.
Read MoreRecently I have come across the verb to barrow (a particular cause). It is a very likely offshoot from the phrase to push a barrow, be it yours or someone else’s, meaning to campaign vigorously for a proposal or cause.
ZG: 4
Given the Australian tendency to say push one’s barrel it’s surprising we don’t have the verb to barrel in this sense.
Read MoreSome countries are experiencing the economic miracle of immaculate disinflation. Inflation is cooling but the unemployment numbers are not going up. Akin toy that other miracle — immaculate conception.
ZG: 3
This has against it that it is in the jargon of economists — who have probably all moved on to the next scenario by now.
Read MoreThis stands for least-cost routing and is a scheme initiated by the Reserve Bank to cut card payment processing fees for businesses in the hope that this will result in less cost to consumers.
ZG: 4
This term may have increased exposure if the Reserve Bank is obliged to enforce it.
Read MoreNo one can predict the future, particularly when it comes to the development of a disease. The best we can do is evaluate the risk of acquiring one. This is where genomic analysis may be able to help.
ZG: 4
This is a piece of medical jargon but one which we may all get to know, despite the complications.
Read MoreThis is not a new term but one that has entered mainstream communications because of the large number of battery fires we are getting from e-scooters and e-bikes that have lithium batteries.
ZG: 4
While there is a lot of concern about exploding batteries, in discussions of the subject people tend to steer clear of explaining how a battery works.
Read MoreThere has been much discussion about which sector of the community has been suffering most from inflation, and which sector has been contributing to inflation. The activities of business in putting up prices has come to be seen as a significant driver of inflation.
ZG: 5
There is keen interest in the issue of greedflation at the moment and various proposals that will work their way through parliament.
Read MoreIt has been around since 2016 but just surfaced in mainstream media in Sydney because the man accused of murdering Jesse Baird and his partner was described as an ex-boyfriend and a clout chaser.
ZG: 6
A word in common use in the world that focuses on celebrities and influencers.
Read More
