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 Gen Z slang meaning ‘ugly’, said to have originated in Black American English, possibly in the New York/Jersey district. The theory is that it relates to chop meaning ‘to cut roughly’.
ZG: 5
In its broadest sense it seems to be becoming more common.
Read MoreWomen have come to feel that doctors (mostly men) do not take what they say about their symptoms or their general state of health seriously, downplaying their pain and taking too much time to identify their problems (as with endometriosis).
ZG: 4
It may do some good to have this labelling of what might otherwise be thought of as mild neglect.
Read MoreSnail farming may be taking off in Australia because now, as well as eating the snail (as escargots) we can eat the eggs of the snail as snail caviar.
ZG: 3
Not popular yet!
Read MoreThe dictionary at the moment has just the one entry for corruption. This, I have discovered, is not nearly good enough. There is a corruption glossary that needs to be considered for inclusion. We can start with grey corruption because that has come to the fore in the Victorian inquiry into the behaviour of the ALP in that state.
ZG: 5
A piece of jargon in the world of politics but of concern for us all. It is what is called more generally ‘jobs for the boys’.
Read MoreApparently the dead giveaway for the performative male is the tote bag, often with Labubu doll attached. The second clue is that they are clutching a book by a female author, which they read as they sip their matcha latte.
ZG: 4
It seems that it has become difficult for men to choose the right fashion statement.
Read MoreThis is the rather unappealing name for the rebel Rugby competition. What every rebel competition needs is people with money to back it. In this case the money that secured the venture came from private backers in the United States, the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia.
ZG: 5
This keeps resurfacing as a sports news item as the struggle for players continues.
Read MoreThese days a ghost ship is a vessel that is avoiding being identified and held accountable for violations of sanctions or violations of national borders.
ZG: 4
There has been more frequent mention of these.
The increasing use of ghost ships is of concern to everyone.
Read MoreCombine the bob with the pixie and you have the bixie which offers almost the length of the bob with the layered texture and jagged edges of the pixie.
ZG: 5
Even Helen Mirren has one it seems.
It seems fashionable in 2025.
Read MoreThis naturally follows generation alpha, the generation growing up after 2010 who took to social media like ducks to water. Gen beta are the children growing up after 2025 who will be the first to have AI as a natural part of their lives.
ZG: 7
Undoubtedly here to stay along with the rest of the set.
Read MoreLimb-lengthening is a medical procedure undertaken to correct birth defects, injuries and the effects of disease, but it is now being done for cosmetic reasons.
ZG: 4
Let us hope that the popularity of this procedure wanes.
Read MoreCAES (compressed air energy storage) is one solution to the problem of how to store energy from renewable resources to stabilise the grid.
ZG: 4
Not a common term yet but it will be!
Read MoreTwo American psychologists in 1956b identified a parasocial relationship as a one-sided relationship. You may be infatuated with a movie star but the movie star doesn’t even know that you exist.
ZG: 5
The people in these relationships don’t use the term but increasingly it will be used about them by others.
Read MoreA bed designed to meet both the medical needs and the emotional needs of patients and caregivers as in palliative care or in the nursing of pre-term babies. The bed is larger enough for two but can be separated into two single beds as required.
ZG: 4
A small number of people in the community will have the need for a cuddle bed.
Read MoreBy announcing AI slop as their word of the year, Macquarie Dictionary has escaped being cancelled by all the primary teachers of Australia. If they had chosen 6-7 it would have been a very different matter.
ZG: 7
While it is hugely topical at the moment, it could be here today and, we hope, gone tomorrow.
Read MoreThis is the responsibility that digital platforms should bear for keeping their users safe and preventing online harms such as scams.
ZG: 9
This is a big issue that affects us all.
Read MoreThis is the blue from Bluetooth combined with the colloquialism snarf meaning ‘to eat greedily’. It is the theft of information from a device that uses Bluetooth technology.
ZG: 3
So many things we have to watch out for!
Read MoreArcheologists of the future, when they come to examine life on Earth in the Anthropocene, may also discover the products of technology which never break down. Plastics will last forever.
ZG: 4
Not a common term but a necessary one.
Read MoreThose of you who read naked running might be tempted to think that this is flying without instruments which would be interesting. But no. Naked in this context means ‘without paraphernalia of any kind’, so naked flying is stepping onto a commercial airline with no baggage.
ZG: 4
While there is increased pressure to adopt this style of travel, most of us feel the need to cart a certain amount of our stuff with us.
Read MoreOnce if a girl was labelled ‘weird’, that meant social ostracisation. Now being weird has come to mean being highly individualistic, and authentic — that modern word of praise.
ZG: 5
Playing with the idea of different styles of lit seems to be popular at the moment.
Read MoreInflation is accompanied by a rise in the cost of living. Friendflation is the rise in the cost of having friends and maintaining these friendships at regular social occasions which inevitably call for some expenditure.
ZG: 4
This is more a sociologist’s term for an observed trend. The people experiencing this may well discuss cossie livs but I doubt that they discuss friendflation.
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