Should these seven new words go in the dictionary?

Apr 08, 2019
Image stating: Words to Watch May. Should these words go in the Macquarie Dictionary?

Once a month, we pick out a few words submitted by you for consideration in the Macquarie Dictionary. We're looking for anything new, quirky, out of left field, Australian-specific or completely unknown and obscure. Nothing is off the table! For the month of May, we have had a significant amount of submissions, and have picked seven interesting ones for you to enjoy below.

So, what do you think of cancel culture? Have you or anyone you know ever been prangry after watching a mukbang? Are you in support of closed loop systems? Have you ever been a victim of fish fraud

Let us know if you have any other suggestions. We are always happy to hear new words, no matter how big or small a usage they may have. Be sure to vote for some of these when we post them on our Instagram stories.

See other words suggested to the Macquarie Dictionary here.

 

Image of definition of prangry: to be pregnant, angry and hungry all at the same time.

Image of definition of mukbang: a livestream in which the host eats a great deal of food while interacting with the viewers.

Image of definition of cancel culture: the phenomenon of ceasing support for a product, celebrity or idea that has been found to be unacceptable in some way, known as ‘cancelling’.

Image of definition of closed loop: a system that supports the recycling and repackaging of waste products into new ones with a goal of minimising waste.

Image of definition of fish fraud: the practice of businesses mislabelling seafood in order to save money or increase profits, eg. offering barrmundi but serving basa.

Image of definition of bubble wrap generation: the generation (from about 1995 on wards) who are overprotected by parents.

Image of definition of cheeseslaw: a side dish or sandwich filling made of grated cheese, carrot and mayonnaise, common in Broken Hill, NSW.


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3 Comments

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Ken - May 1, 2019, 11:39 a.m.

I’m interested in your last email regarding new words and at least one that is not so new; also including some additional comments.
Working down the list on the webpage; “prangry” and “mukbang” are slang or Strine words and have no place in an English language standard reference. Strine can be fun. Would it be appropriate to have a slang or Strine appendix in the dictionary to acknowledge the words without attempting to make them part of the language standard?
I noticed recently that “feedback” has been given the slang definition in the dictionary. Feedback can only ever be what occurs when a live microphone is placed in front of a speaker connected to the same system. It can never be a reply to somebody else’s statement.
“Cancel culture” is part of a suite of new business terms. The other two are “blame culture” and “just culture”. These terms are just the current business world buzz words and like many others over the years, they will have a life cycle until somebody dreams up something different. For example, during the 1980s and 1990s, the word “Synergy” was hijacked by the young and vigorous. clambering for “Brownie Points” in the business world. It was used in all manner of forms. If you weren’t synergising, you weren’t keeping up with the times.
I’d suggest that it’s not appropriate to introduce terms with a limited life into the standard language. I used the word, “terms” because “cancel” and “culture” are obviously legitimate words in their own right.
“Closed loop”, I would suggest is a tautology, like “basic fundamentals”. A loop by its nature is closed. If a loop is broken, it’s no longer a loop. Closed loop seems to have acquired a new definition according to the related comment on the webpage. The term was first used by the IT industry in the 1980s as a part-description of a business application that managed the end to end processes of a manufacturing system. It has also been applied to some functions of electronic systems.
I’d suggest that “closed loop” is a permanent term and probably warrants consideration for inclusion in the dictionary despite its tautological nature. However, if it is added, it is my view that the definition needs to be generic relating to the circular nature of its function with examples of how it is used.
As there are hundreds of different types of “fraud”, there is nothing special about “fish”. Unless Macquarie is into head-scratching exceptions, I’d say no to this one.
If it wasn’t for the fact the “bubble wrap generation” contains legitimate individual words, this term is slang (see above). Plus we already have “generations” defined. So, no also this this one.
Cheeseslaw - same as for “fraud” above.


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Macquarie Dictionary Admin - May 1, 2019, 4:30 p.m.

Hi Ken,

Thank you for your feedback!

To earn a place in the dictionary, a word has to prove that the community at large accepts it. That is to say, it has to turn up a number of times in a number of different contexts over a period of time. We find these mainly by reading – books, newspapers, the internet – and listening – radio, TV, people chatting.

The Macquarie Dictionary reflects the ever-changing Australian language, and so has the role of being a faithful record of our language choices. It is an up-to-date language reference for new words, definitions, spellings, meanings, pronunciations, origins and usage, etc., as these changes gain currency within our language.

All of the words on this blog may or may not make their way into the general language and that is why they are on our words to watch list. For a term to be accepted into the dictionary we need to find linguistic evidence that it is used as a natural part of English. We cannot add anything until then. We keep a close eye on these words and monitor them before they are added to the Macquarie Dictionary.

Thank you again for your feedback and please let us know if you have any further comments or questions.

Macquarie Dictionary


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Ken - May 3, 2019, 10:46 a.m.

Thank you for your information and time. It is appreciated.


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