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  • Words of the Year slug it out!

    Jan 22, 2015 | 0 Comments

    A commentator has described the various Words of the Year as filters, all of them framed slightly differently, through which we could look at the words of the preceding year. One filter might be the idea of the celebrity word, another the computer-driven greatest number of hits on the dictionary database.

    Each of these filters is interesting in its way. Read more...


  • Word of the Year 2014 is here!

    Jan 19, 2015 | 0 Comments

    How will 2014 define us?

    Mcquarie Word of the Year 2014 voting is now open ... baby hatch, daughterless technology, decision fatigue, facekini, normcore, precariat, typosquattting, wikiwash ... what will this year's winners be? Read more...

     


  • Word of the Year Photo Competition

    Jan 19, 2015 | 0 Comments

    Release your inner photographer! It’s time to get out your cameras (or your phones) and start snapping photos that you think best depict the new words from 2014. Read more...


  • Susan Butler writes piece for The Drum about the Macquarie Word of the Year

    Jan 19, 2015 | 0 Comments

    What will be the word of the year? Even in such a short time, we can find patterns in the words we call on to describe, portray and reflect the world we inhabit today, writes Susan Butler.

    In February the Macquarie Dictionary will announce the word that it considers to be the most significant in the annual upload to the dictionary online. This has been a dictionary ritual since 2006 and, as it progresses, will give us an opportunity to look back on the words that mattered to us over the decades and get the feel of each particular year. It is the dictionary version of a family photo album. 

    My word! How our language has changed | Sue Butler | The Drum


  • The difference between complement & compliment

    Jan 15, 2015 | 0 Comments

    The easy one is complement. If something complements another thing, it serves to round it out in some way. The short way to remember this is to say that a complement makes something complete.

    The necklace complements your new outfit.

    Both complement and complete come from the same Latin verb complere to make full. Read more...


  • Most searched words in 2014

    Jan 13, 2015 | 0 Comments

    The top 10 most commonly searched words in the online dictionary for 2014 are: practise, practice, licence, effect, wellbeing, firsthand, license, longstanding, onboard, complement Want some help remembering what's what for these common confusables? Here's some handy help from the blog: The differen ...


  • A wongi about Australian Word Map

    Jan 09, 2015 | 0 Comments

    None

    Do you wear your cossie, swimmers or togs when you go to the beach? And when you're there, do you eat an icy pole, an iceblock or a by jingo? Do you say peanut butter or peanut paste? Read more...


  • Word of the Year is nearly here!

    Jan 05, 2015 | 0 Comments

    Word of the Year 2014

    The much anticipated annual Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year is on the way. The editors are busy selecting final contenders from new words in 2014 that are being added to the Macquarie Dictionary Online.

    Each year, we ask the public to vote on the new words that you like best. We also assemble a team of experts to debate on which word from 2014 they think is the most striking contribution to Australian English. The public vote determines the People's Choice winner and the committee determines the overall winner. Read more...