Australians have been diligent in coining ironic phrases to denote the completely useless, and a warning, some of these phrases get quite colourful! Firstly, there are those with a rural flavour. Such as useful as a bucket under a bull, a dead dingo's donger, a dry thunderstorm, a sore arse to a boundary rider, a wether at a ram sale, tits on a bull, or two knobs of billy-goat poop. Then there are anatomical similes, including useful as a witch's tit, a wart on the hip, a c*nt full of cold water (or boiled snow) or a third armpit. Other phrases tend to associate objects that functionally don't go together, such as useful as a glass door on a dunny, a pocket on a singlet, a roo bar on a skateboard, a submarine with screen doors, an arsehole on a broom, a glass eye at a key hole, and an ashtray on a motorbike. Finally, there are those that refer to things out of place, to wit: useful as a nun at a buck's night, a pork chop at a Jewish barbecue, a spare dick at a wedding, or a tart at a christening. For more slang words from across our states and regions, visit our Australian Word Map.

A bunyip is a mythical Australian beast of amphibious nature that inhabits rivers and deep, dark pools, retreating to underwater caverns known as bunyip holes. They are so shy and stealthy that one has never yet been caught. The word for this animal is from the Aboriginal language Wembawemba of Victoria and Southern NSW. The bunyip is not to be confused with the yowie, another mythical beast akin to a yeti or sasquatch. The word comes from the Aboriginal language Yuwaalarraay, from up Lightning Ridge way. Another fantastic beast is the triantiwontigongolope. A mythical insect beastie, the triantiwontigongolope is sometimes portrayed as a dreadfully dangerous creature like the bunyip in order to frighten children or naive city folk visiting the bush. As if Australia's many poisonous snakes and spiders aren't already enough to scare the wary traveller, C.J. Dennis introduced the triantiwontigongolope in a poem. Not to be confused with the triantelope, which is the common huntsman spider. If you're more afraid of the upper classes than mythical creatures be sure to read about the bunyip aristocracy. This derogatory name is given to Australians who consider themselves superior to others in wealth or status. The description was coined by Daniel Deniehy, a New South Wales MP in the 1800s in response to attempts to establish a colonial aristocracy.   Each week, we have a look at a slang word from Australian English. You can see other Aussie Word of the Week posts from the Macquarie Dictionary here.

Welcome to our new words for July blog. We've got some treats for you this month, including cute animals and the latest Gen Z slang, but our first new word has more serious undertones.  A drought baby is a child born in a period of drought, especially one having never seen rain. The word speaks to recent Australian history. There are more than a few drought babies around the country who only recently splashed in a puddle for the first time. The next word is light strike, a fascinating process that describes the effect of ultraviolet light on wine and beer contained in light-coloured glass. The ultraviolet light transforms amino acids into sulfides, resulting in a change of aroma and taste.  The next words is definitely the most adorable this month. Pawternity leave is a leave of absence taken by an employee shortly after the adoption of a pet or to look after a sick pet. Aww.  Our final two words are up to the moment slang words used by Gen Z or on the internet. They are so up to date no one at the Macquarie office uses them. Do you follow a thinkfluencer? That is, a person with a large online following and narrow-minded views. (I thought that was everyone with a social media account). And did you know that this blog really slaps? Apparently to slap means to be excellent or amazing, rather than a physical punishment handed out to sarcastic blog writers.  

In this episode of Word for Word, we are joined by Tiger Webb from the ABC to chat about the inaugural Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Decade. Find out which words have had staying power and which have fallen out of use.  Join us as we explore our language: the ways we use it, the ways we abuse it, and the ways we ultimately change it.  You can also explore the 'additional links' below to discover what new words and definitions have been on our editor's minds in recent months.    Subscribe now on iTunes, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify or your favourite podcast app to get the latest episode delivered direct to your inbox. Words & Definitions

• burkini
• cancel culture
• captain's call
• covidiot
• doomscrolling
• fake news
• First World problem
• fracking
• framily
• halal snack pack
• infovore
• Karen
• mansplain
• Me Too
• milkshake duck
• onesie
• phantom vibration syndrome
• robodebt
• share plate
• single-use

Additional links Word of the Decade shortlist Word of the Year (2006 - current) Suggest a Word   Acknowledgements Word for Word is produced by Macmillan Audio Australia for Macquarie Dictionary and Pan Macmillan Australia.  Music used in this episode is by Broke For Free, available from the Free Music Archive and used by permission of the artist. Find more music by Broke for Free including The Gold Lining; and If. Our logo is by Amy Sherington. All sound effects and clips are public domain, royalty-free, or used by permission. If you like Word for Word, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts! It only takes a minute and it helps other people discover the show.

The idea for a dictionary of Australian English was conceived in the 1960s, but it wasn’t until 1981 that the first edition of the Macquarie Dictionary was published. More Than Words tells the story of how the dictionary was brought to life during this period – from identifying the need for a genuinely Australian dictionary to the long road towards publication – and explores how the dictionary has evolved over the years since then. The publication of the Macquarie Dictionary signalled the end of the huge struggle to claim validity and dignity for Australian speech, words and expressions, and patterns of language. Written by Pat Manser, who worked as a research editor for the first Macquarie Dictionary, More Than Words recounts the story behind the dictionary that gave a full account of Australian English as it was heard and written in the speech of labourers, the jargon of merchants, swearwords, Australianisms, as well as the basic core of English vocabulary. 

Each new edition of the Macquarie Dictionary features a foreword written by an esteemed Australian writer. For the Eighth Edition, we were honoured to welcome Kim Scott, author Taboo and the Miles Franklin Award winning That Deadman Dance. The words below represent a selection of those that stood out for Kim, which in turn represent just a fraction of the 3500 new entries included in the Macquarie Dictionary Eighth Edition. Kim’s foreword focuses on some of the Indigenous words included in the Eighth Edition. Kim notes that many of these words would once have been labelled simply as 'Aboriginal' but have since been updated with more understanding of their place within Indigenous culture and language groups. Take for example Ngangkari, from the Pitjantjatjara language, one of many Indigenous words included in the Macquarie Dictionary Eighth Edition.  ngangkari noun an Indigenous practitioner of bush medicine; healer. Kim Scott’s other word selections are often humorous or food related. Each of the six words below reflects changes to the way Australian English is used by the public. To read the rest, order your copy of the Macquarie Dictionary Eighth Edition and read the foreword for yourself.  hair doughnut noun a doughnut-shaped sponge or similar material used as the support for a doughnut bun or similar updo. rat tamer noun Colloquial a psychologist or psychiatrist. sadfishing noun Colloquial the practice adopted by some people, especially on social media, of exaggerating claims about their emotional problems to generate sympathy. schnitty noun Colloquial a schnitzel, especially a chicken schnitzel. stepmonster noun Colloquial (humorous) (sometimes derogatory) a stepmother. zoodle noun a spiralised strand of zucchini, sometimes used as a substitute for pasta.

The Macquarie Atlas of Indigenous Australia, Second Edition is a unique tool for exploring and understanding the lives and cultures of Australia's First Peoples. Combining the magic of maps with the latest data from the 2016 Australian Bureau of Statistics, the Atlas allows us to explore a visual history of Indigenous Australia.  About the contributors This second edition of the Macquarie Atlas of Indigenous Australia is a collabroative publication of the Australian National University, the Australian Bureau of Statistics and Macquarie Dictionary. General Editors Bill Arthur and Frances Morphy have been researching Indigenous affairs and working closely with Indigenous communities for several decades. In 2001 they began working on the first edition of the atlas, which took out the award of Overall Winner in the 2006 Australian Awards for Excellence in Educational Publishing (EEPA). In 2017, they began working on this second edition of the Atlas. Across both editions, there have been over 40 contributors who have researched, written and mapped the content in the Atlas under the general editorship of Bill and Frances. One of the primary aims for this second edition was to increase the presence of Indigenous people contributing to the project. These contributors are drawn from a wide variety of places and professions - from academia, the arts world, Indigenous organisations and the public service. A full list of chapter contributors is available here. About the cover art The cover art, titled Kungkarrangkalpa Tjurkurpa, is a collaborative painting made by Anawari Inpiti Mitchell, Angilyiya Tjapitji Mitchell, Lalla West, Jennifer Nginyaka Mitchell, Eileen Tjayanka Woods, Lesley Laidlaw and Robert Woods at the Papulankutja Artists group in the Northern Territory. The Seven Sisters Songline refers to the Pleiades constellation. It travels from the west to the east across the far western and central deserts. The sisters are pursued by a man, Yurla in the west and Wati Nyiru further east, who is a shapeshifter with transformative powers. He becomes particularly besotted with one of the sisters and pursues them endlessly in order to possess them. Today, this saga is visible in the Orion constellation and the Pleiades star cluster as a constant reminder of the consequences of attempting to possess something through wrongful means. Cover Art: "Kungkarrangkalpa Tjurkurpa", 2015, a collaborative painting made by Anawari Inpiti Mitchell, Angilyiya Tjapitji Mitchell, Lalla West, Jennifer Nginyaka Mitchell, Eileen Tjayanka Woods, Lesley Laidlaw and Robert Woods  About the maps There are several types of maps in the atlas. Among those featured are thematic maps which indicate the occurrence of phenomena across parts of the country, or an event or feature at particular locations and chloropleth maps which show the distribution of socio-economic data. Also featured are choropleth maps, maps with proportional symbols, column maps, as well as graphs, charts and illustrations. More information is available within the atlas itself. Earlier attempts to map Indigenous people at the national level include Norman Tinsdale's iconic map 'Tribal boundaries in Aboriginal Australia', based on research that had been carried out between 1930 and 1974. This map is discussed in detail within the book, but it was "significant in the genesis of the atlas." The version of the map used in the Atlas is an adaptation of Tindale's map. It includes "Indigenous group boundaries existing at the time of first European settlement in Australia, as far as they could be determined. It is not intended to represent contemporary relationships to land." Earlier examples of national mapping tended to deal with just single subjects. While acknowledging and drawing on them, this atlas surveys a comprehensive range of cultural, social and economic traits in a large set of national maps. Find out more The Macquarie Atlas of Indigenous Australia is available in hardback and as a fixed-layout ebook. This ebook is available as part of Apple's Volume Purchase program which allows educational institutions to purchase copies in volume and distribute to students and teachers for use in the classroom and at home. There is also a comprehensive Teacher's Guide available for free download.