macquarie 
Three of the most commonly confused words are there, their and they’re – and it’s no wonder because they all sound exactly the same when we say them aloud. Words that sound the same but have different meanings and/or spellings are known as homophones. Homophones are one of the trickiest areas of spelling, that even … Read more
There are some timely and topical words running through our selection of new words this month. Three words, bothsidesism, infodemic and zombie fact have links to public discourse. Bothsidesism, or false balance, is when the media gives equal footing to two sides of an unequal argument, for example on climate change or vaccinations. An infodemic … Read more
Last year, we published the second edition of the Macquarie Atlas of Indigenous Australia. We are honoured that this book has made the longlist for the Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) 2020. It has been longlisted under Illustrated Book of the Year 2020. From the ABIA website: The ABIAs showcase the collaborative efforts of publishers, … Read more
Sirens blaring in the distance. Here come the zambucks! An old slang term for a St John’s ambulance officer, the term zambuck originated in the 1910s. The name arose from the proprietary name of an antiseptic ointment commonly used by paramedics at the time. Our slang has been updated since the 1910s. Ambo is the most likely … Read more
We have previously explored the influence of Irish words and slang on Australian English. In honour of St Patrick’s Day, we are exploring some other Irish-related words and phrases, the most applicable of which, on a day when people dressed in green are filling up pubs, is your shout. A round of drinks is an Australian … Read more
Lost the car keys? Dropped your lunch? Missed your bus by seconds? You might be said to be on a bad trot. This Aussie slang term for a run of bad luck originated in the 1940s. I don’t mean to put the mocker on but we’ve got even more slang terms for bad luck below. … Read more
The word many is generally used as an adjective to describe something that constitutes a large number, or when something is relatively numerous. The reference to ‘number’ here is important, as many is used with count nouns. Count nouns refer to objects that could feasibly be counted, such as: cats, bananas, trees, people, paintings, etc. … Read more
The clock ticks slowly towards lunchtime. Your stomach rumbles, you can’t wait to get stuck into last night’s leftovers, but your workload seems to be growing. You might need to tell your work buddies that you will be eating lunch al desko. Al desko is a nice piece of Aussie slang that riffs on the term … Read more
Australia is home to hundreds of bird species. Their squawks, squeaks and cries fill our landscapes. Introduced to Australia in the 1860s, the Indian myna is one such bird you might see around your suburb or if you are unlucky, you might see them flying around your yard, trying to steal your dog’s food. Not … Read more
In the dictionary, we have entries for many iterations of the acronym that represents the diverse range of the rainbow community. The acronym started as LGB, which stood for lesbian, gay and bisexual. Over the decades, it has been added to many times to become LGBTQIA for which the letters stand for the following words. These abbreviations … Read more
