Every year, the Macquarie Dictionary – an Australian language dictionary – holds a competition for the world (or phrase) of the year.
Here’s what made this year’s shortlist. You can vote on the Macquarie website, with the winner set to be announced next week.
Bachelor’s handbag
“A takeaway roast chicken [from the fact that such a chicken requires no further preparation, so is seen as an easy meal favoured by a single person, and that it is often packaged in a small plastic
bag with a handle]”.
Barbiecore
“A fashion characterised by an all-pink colour palette, especially bright pink”.
Bossware
“Software installed on an employee’s computer which allows their employer to remotely monitor and measure activity and productivity”.
Brigading
“A concerted effort by a large number of people to effect a particular action or change, as by online voting or reviewing”.
Clapter
“Applause from an audience to indicate agreement with a comedian’s joke or statement, especially one of a social or political nature”.
E-change
“A move from a city environment to a rural location, made possible by [being able to] work remotely from home”.
Gigafire
“A fire which burns through more than 100,000 hectares”.
Goblin mode
“A pattern of behaviour characterised by an embrace of indolence and slovenliness. [so called from the grotesqueness ascribed to… a goblin]”.
Hidden homeless
“People with no home who stay temporarily with a friend, family member, etc., and who do not access homeless support services”.
Nepobaby
“A celebrity… who has a famous parent”.
Orthosomnia
“An excessive preoccupation with obtaining the amount and quality of sleep recommended by a wearable sleep tracking device, often resulting in anxiety, which can in turn… affect sleep”.
Pirate trail
“A trail which has been established or constructed without the required permission, used for mountain biking”.
Prebunking
“The practice of challenging the veracity of misinformation or disinformation, and the authority of its source, before such information is disseminated”.
Quiet quitting
“The practice of strictly limiting oneself to performing the tasks within one’s job description and working only the hours for which one is contracted”.
Skin hunger
“Desire for loving or friendly physical contact with another”.
Spicy cough
“COVID-19”.
Teal
“A political candidate who holds generally ideologically moderate views, but who supports strong action regarding… climate action policies, and the prioritising of integrity in politics”.
Truth-telling
“The act of relating the facts of a situation, exclusive of any embellishment or dilution applied as justification for past actions”.
Yassify
“To apply multiple filters and edits to an image… in order to transform the original image to one which is glamorous and beautiful. [from YAS QUEEN, popularised in 2021 by a Twitter account which posts such images]”.
