macquarie

Many English words have been borrowed from French (and many other languages). There are lots of words that descend from the French language that crossed the English Channel with William the Conqueror in the 11th century, and which don’t seem French to us at all, such as abandon, volume, wardrobe, finance and descend. More recent borrowings still … Read more

The release of the Macquarie Dictionary Eighth Edition should be a celebration of all of the new and wonderful words that have entered our lexicon in the past few years. However, while we take great delight in most, there are always a number which make us feel like dying a little inside. Whether it’s the awful  … Read more

We hope you’re wearing a clean pair, because this week we are discussing the unmentionables. Underdaks, also called underchunders or underdungers, is a colloquial name for your underpants. Daks are trousers, therefore underdaks must logically be underwear. Simple.  Aussie slang is full of alternative words for our trousers and underwear. Reginalds or Reg Grundies are rhyming slang for undies, while bloomers are known … Read more

This week we are talking about galahs but not the endemic Australian cockatoo with its grey and pink plumage and cute chatter. Galah also means fool. As in Get out of it, you great bloody galah. Galahs are noted for erratically noisy behaviour, which seems pretty bizarre to humans (no doubt it all makes sense to them), hence a galah is … Read more

Today we have a blog that will send a shiver down your spine…brr (sorry).  With winter on its way out we thought this was our last chance to share some of our favourite “cold” words. So pop a cold one and enjoy the list of our favourite chilly entries below.  Let’s start with cold shoulder (which … Read more

A recent poll in the UK found that 74% of respondents treat the word ‘data’ as a singular collective nouns, compared to 14% that treat it as plural. The results of this poll were published on Twitter and sparked some mild outrage about the degradation of the English language. The word data comes to us from classical … Read more

Look a-yonder comin’ Comin’ down that railroad track  – Johnny Cash No, it’s not the Orange Blossom Special, it’s a rattler: any type of train noted for its loud rattling. From travelling our cities we know there are still plenty of rattlers roaming Australia’s railroads! And if you’re from New South Wales, you may remember … Read more

Today we feature a classic piece of Aussie slang, a word for all situations, so flexible that it can bend into any lexicon, what was it again? Sorry, I’ve forgotten the name of the thingo… oh, that’s it! Thingo is this week’s Aussie Word of the Week.  Thingo is versatile. A handy place holder for … Read more

At a time when we are all relying to the expertise of our doctors and nurses, we are on the lookout for quacks, and not the kind you hear from a duck. A quack is an ignorant or fraudulent pretender to medical skill. Think Dr Nick Riviera from The Simpsons.  Similar words include mountebank, which more specifically refers to someone … Read more

Welcome to our new words blog, where we share new and topical words, some of which were submitted by you via the suggest a word feature on our website. Been a long winter, right? Here are six new words to keep you warm while the chill lingers.  Blood harmony might sound like the title of a … Read more