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  • Most searched words in 2015

    Jan 06, 2016 | 0 Comments

    The top 10 most commonly searched words in the online dictionary for 2015 are chuffed, wellbeing, practice, practise, firsthand, licence, healthcare, onboard, longstanding, and frontline. Want some help remembering what's what for the common confusables? Here's some handy help from the blog: The dif ...


  • Ideas Factory: How do we fix misuse of the English language?

    Sep 15, 2016 | 0 Comments

    Susan Butler, the Editor of the Macquarie Dictionary joins Neil Mitchell on 3AW to talk about how and whether one can, fix misuse of language in English.

    How do we fix misuse of the English language? | 3AW | 15 Sept 2016


  • Teacher's dictionary

    Aug 01, 2016 | 0 Comments

    Join the editors of the Macquarie Dictionary as they talk through some key educational terms relevant to Australian schools, students and educators in collaboration with Teacher Magazine.

    Teacher's dictionary | Teacher Magazine | 01 Aug 2016


  • A plethora of whisperers

    Feb 25, 2016 | 2 Comments

    The horse whisperer was the starting point for today’s plethora of whisperers. It is thought that this was the name of an Irish horseman, Daniel `Horse-Whisperer' Sullivan (died 1810), whose rehabilitation of intractable horses was thought to involve whispering since he stood so close to the horse he was training. Read more...


  • Bringing 'the heat'

    Feb 11, 2016 | 1 Comment

    Perth is in the grip of a heatwave and so the meteorologist whose task it was to report, yet again, that the heat is with us, remarked casually that it might help to break the monotony if he had other words for ‘the heat’. And so a message was sent to Macquarie Dictionary. Can you help please? Read more...


  • The pronunciation of placenames

    Feb 10, 2016 | 3 Comments

    The pronunciation of placenames can cause great difficulty. It is easy to spot an outsider by the mistakes that they make, usually a cause for mirth or irritation for the locals. Read more...


  • The People's Choice Award for Word of the Year 2015 goes to...

    Feb 02, 2016 | 0 Comments

    This is a first   the people and the Committee have agreed that captain’s call is the Word of the Year. Clearly this term has resonated with Australians, possibly because it touches on two of our national passions – cricket and politics – and so has been nominated as the most valuable contribution to Australian English in 2015. –SUSAN BUTLER, THE EDITOR

    Read more...


  • Susan Butler on Studio Ten talking about the origins of Australian sayings

    Jan 26, 2016 | 0 Comments

    Susan Butler, the Editor of the Macquarie Dictionary joins Studio Ten to talk about where some of our most iconic Aussie sayings come from.

    Origins of Aussie Sayings | Studio Ten | 26 Jan 2016


  • Joe Hildebrand on the power of words

    Jan 25, 2016 | 0 Comments

    A Word of the Year 2015 blog post from guest contributor Joe Hildebrand

    'It’s only words, and words are all I have to take your heart away.'

    With this little lyric a big-haired, trouser-flared ensemble called the Bee Gees perhaps accidentally summed up the universal lament of the human race in a single line – albeit a deeply ungrammatical one. Read more...


  • Word of the Year in the news

    Jan 22, 2016 | 0 Comments

    A collection of some media coverage of Word of the Year 2015. Read more...


  • The Committee's Choice for Word of the Year 2015 goes to...

    Jan 21, 2016 | 1 Comment

    The Committee's Choice for Word of the Year 2015 goes to...captain's call.  

    Honourable mentions to go lumbersexual and deso.

    Read more...

     


  • Words we hate

    Jan 11, 2016 | 14 Comments

    I know it is the time when we celebrate the new words in the English language, but it is also the time, as my friends at 2UE reminded me, when people like to consider the words they most hated in the previous year. Read more...