Posted on 7 September 2017

Another bout of un-Australian

It’s been a while since a politician has resorted to branding their opponents as un-Australian but we had an instance of it recently with Immigration Minister Peter Dutton applying it to pro-bono lawyers defending refugees. It has to be said that he was prompted to do it by radio broadcaster Alan Jones but he took it up willingly enough. Read more...
Posted on 4 September 2017

Should these words go in the Macquarie Dictionary?

September 2017

We are always on the lookout for new, emerging and interesting words to add to the Macquarie Dictionary. In a time of global instant communication, these words are popping up faster and in vaster quantities than ever before. Read more...
Posted on 25 August 2017

When do words borrowed into English become English?

You would think that the answer to this would be ‘after a suitable period of time’. For example, table comes from tabula, borrowed into Old English from Classical Latin. Read more...
Posted on 3 August 2017

Should these words go in the Macquarie Dictionary?

August 2017

We are always on the lookout for new, emerging and interesting words to add to the Macquarie Dictionary. In a time of global instant communication, these words are popping up faster and in vaster quantities than ever before. Read more...
Posted on 20 July 2017

One person, two people, three persons, four?

A dictionary reader asked about the distinction between persons and people, both indicating plurality but having different connotations. If we start with the etymologies of the two words we can see that they are coming from different directions... Read more...
Posted on 3 July 2017

Should these words go in the Macquarie Dictionary?

July 2017

We are always on the lookout for new, emerging and interesting words to add to the Macquarie Dictionary. In a time of global instant communication, these words are popping up faster and in vaster quantities than ever before. Read more...
Posted on 3 July 2017

Celebrating language for NAIDOC Week

This NAIDOC Week, we're celebrating by sharing some fun facts around the many different Aboriginal languages and cultures in Australia. Read more...
Posted on 1 July 2017

Word wranglers: Meet the team behind the Macquarie Dictionary

BY DARRYN KING

Darryn King dropped by the office to have a chat with our editorial team about what goes on behind the scenes.  Read the full article | The Monthly, July 2017 Note: This article is behind The Monthly's paywall.  
Posted on 8 June 2017

Language that is blue – or green – whatever you fancy

The different meanings of colour words normally flow from their basic sense and are self-evident. Blue for the old-fashioned washing powder came about because it turned blue in water. A blue for a sporting award came about because the ribbon with which the person or animal was draped was blue. Read more...
Posted on 6 June 2017

Should these words go in the Macquarie Dictionary?

June 2017

We are always on the lookout for new, emerging and interesting words to add to the Macquarie Dictionary. In a time of global instant communication, these words are popping up faster and in vaster quantities than ever before. Read more...
Posted on 1 June 2017

What does Donald Trump’s 'covfefe' mean?

Senior Editor Victoria Morgan chats with ABC Radio

Fitspo, bromance. The world is full of made up words but this is a new one - Covfefe. Last night US President, Donald Trump, tweeted “Despite the constant negative press covfefe”. So what does it mean? Victoria Morgan, editor of the Macquarie Dictionary, speaks to Raf Epstein.
Posted on 23 May 2017

Mind-bogglingly visceral reactions

We often describe reactions in terms of the effect they have on our bodies, both real and imagined. So something that is scary is hair-raising – our hair stands on end, or is bloodcurdling – we imagine our blood solidifying like curdled milk. Read more...