It was TS Eliot who said, “For last year's words belong to last year's language/And next year's words await another voice”.
The voice of next year can now be heard – and it’s saying that gendie nooch, murder noodles, and tiger toast are the language of today.
The Australian lexicon has always been colourful, and this year’s Macquarie Dictionary is no exception, as the Australian publishers are considering inventive new slang words that reflect the current moment.
The habit of shortening words – other internet examples include cozzie livs for cost of living, or platty j for the Platinum Jubilee – might merit their own entries, courtesy of Macquarie’s judicious decision-making.
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“Each month we choose five from our words-to-watch list that have been submitted either by the public or by us,” Macquarie Dictionary’s managing editor, Victoria Morgan told The Guardian.
“The words-to-watch list is just a big pool of words that we then go through and we research to see whether they’re actually in use or not.”
Macquarie Dictionary’s official blog featured a list of potential new admissions for the year.
These included gendy nooch (gender neutral), murder noodle (a snake, especially one which is venomous), tiger toast (toast with a topping of Vegemite and strips of cheese), and password child (a child favoured over their siblings, as shown by use of their name in the parent’s passwords).
“Should these words be entered into the Macquarie Dictionary?” The Macquarie blogged asked its readers.
Simply being in consideration, though, does not mean they will always end up in print – it is simply part of Macquarie’s process to “research these new terms” said Morgan.
Stuff
The Macquarie Dictionary is considering new slang words – cozzy livs and gendy nooch amongst them.
The Macquarie Dictionary is published by Macquarie Dictionary Publishers, which is an imprint of Pan MacMillan Australia.
In recent years, their words of the year have been “cancel culture,” “doomscrolling”, “single-use”, and “teal”.
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