Macquarie Dictionary Blog: Archives
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Kombucha, fat washing and burrata
Jan 29, 2014 | 0 Comments
Food terms from Word of the Year 2013
While food is always a flourishing category in the Word of the Year collection, the items that fall into it tend to divide into novelty and health. The representative of the superfoods this year is in fact a drink from Japan, kombucha. Read more...
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Showrooming
Jan 24, 2014 | 0 Comments
An entry from Word of the Year 2013
This word is really so naughty. A subtle grammatical change and the standard showroom of the merchandising world is transformed into the practice that is bringing giant retailers undone. Read more...
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Words like "rape" are being casualised - especially on social media
Jan 22, 2014 | 0 Comments
[WARNING: this article discusses a taboo word]
I had a most unusual request from an ABC presenter. It seems that the word rape has acquired various colloquial meanings which sparked a discussion as to whether this weakened the abhorrence of the community towards the act of rape. Read more...
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Spelling matters: -ise or -ize?
Jan 21, 2014 | 0 Comments
A school in Queensland has caused a stir by using the spelling authorization with a z on its public noticeboard.
This has sparked a debate on radio as to what is the correct spelling and Macquarie has been asked to give advice. Read more...
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Macquarie Dictionary clarifies "authorise" or "authorize"
Jan 21, 2014 | 0 Comments
Susan Butler spoke to Steve Austin about whether it's correct to use an "s" or a "z".
Macquarie Dictionary clarifies "authorise" or "authorize" | 612 ABC Brisbane | 21 Jan 2014
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Dining boom
Jan 20, 2014 | 0 Comments
An entry from Word of the Year 2013
I find this a witty coinage. Thinking it logical to start with the word boom, I began with the word’s etymology, not expecting any problems. I had assumed that boom derived from the association with a sudden explosion. Things that boomed went off with a bang. Read more...
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Tech-free tourism and digital detoxing
Jan 16, 2014 | 0 Comments
Entries from Word of the Year 2013
At first I thought that digital detox was something that the older generation craved. Some respite from all the devices that now crowd our lives combined with a memory that it was not always so and that, from this distance, the digital-free world seems better, nobler. Read more..
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The little word 'because'
Jan 13, 2014 | 0 Comments
It has for many years been described as a conjunction. I know that it is daytime because the sun is up.
It was slightly complicated by turning up in a prepositional phrase because of. We can go on holidays because of your generosity.
But it is being used in a different way now. Read more ...
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Migrants and Aussie Slang
Jan 09, 2014 | 2 Comments
Happy New Year to everyone. I kicked off the year talking to a Probus Club about the history of Australian slang. Always good fun for everyone. One of the members asked if I had noticed a story about how we should expunge slang from our English to be polite to migrants. I said that I had looked at it briefly and that the idea was such a linguistic improbability – no, more than that, impossibility ̶ that I hadn’t given it much thought. Read more...
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Word of the Year 2013 is here!
Jan 07, 2014 | 0 Comments
What's your favourite word from 2013?
Showrooming, freedom camping, eye tracking, one-punch law, yolo or mud run? This is just a taste of the new entries for 2013. The time to decide what will be the 2013 Word of the Year is here! Read more...