With the Federal election almost upon us, we delved into our database to help you make sense of the slang and jargon your candidates have been spouting on the campaign trail. We’ve heard a lot about the dreaded gaffe during this election campaign. A gaffe is defined as a social blunder. Someone who is inclined to make … Read more
It’s April 1st, and we all know what that means – it’s New Words time! The first new word for your consideration is bike shedding. It refers to the tendency to spend a disproportionate amount of time on trivial matters or decisions because they are easier to consider. The word comes from a fictional example … Read more
This week, we have hacked out a space for all the hacks. When we searched hack in our database we had one election inspired word in mind: party hack, a long-time, loyal member of a political party, especially one who does menial work for the party, but there were just so many definitions of hack that we couldn’t resist … Read more
After a comprehensive, independent examination of the Junior Atlas of Indigenous Australia the book has been reintroduced for sale after it had been temporarily withdrawn. On 15 February Pan Macmillan Publishers put a temporary hold on further supply of the Junior Atlas of Indigenous Australia in light of concerns raised by some members of the public. A comprehensive, independent … Read more
We’re back again with five new words for the start of the new month! Our first word is hyperpop. It’s a term for a genre of music that heightens and exaggerates contemporary mainstream pop. Don’t you think all those P’s make it a pleasurable word to pronounce? On the other hand, we have the distinctly … Read more
February is here and with much of the country now back at work or school, with any luck you were able to return after a healthful and restful break. In that spirit, here are five new words themed around health and fitness. Have you been eating a lot of mango this summer? Perhaps you’ve heard … Read more
The Junior Atlas of Indigenous Australia is a collaborative publication between the Australian National University, the Australian Bureau of Statistics and Macquarie Dictionary. It is based upon the award-winning Macquarie Atlas of Indigenous Australia and the Macquarie Atlas of Indigenous Australia Second Edition. The content has been adapted to suit a younger audience. It includes contributions from more than 40 … Read more
Another long and strange year, capped off by the announcement of the Word of the Year, strollout. And of course, all year, our series on new words to watch got a lot of support and a little criticism for some of the words included, however we should note these are selected from words submitted by the … Read more
At the Macquarie Dictionary we like to spread good cheer. To celebrate our good mood, we rummaged around the Dictionary database in search of words and phrases that express that happiness. That’s why this week’s word of the week is happy little vegemite. 🙂 🙂 🙂 A happy little Vegemite is a person in a good mood, as … Read more
There are few more inspiring sights than a group of sharply dressed young blokes loitering on the street corner with absolutely no ill intentions, and so, inspired by the upstanding behaviour of such young men we selected lair as this week’s Word of the Week. A lair isn’t just a supervillain’s hideout, it’s also a flashily dressed young man … Read more
