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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

The words that we use to talk about gender are always evolving. At the heart of these changes are the differences between the terms binary

New month, new words. Check out the seven new words we have curated for you below.  It’s quite an eclectic mix. Educrat is a name for a

Did you know that forte, as in ‘His forte is portrait photography’, which we pronounce  ‘faw-tay in Australian English, is actually pronounced like ‘fort’ in

If you’re a fan of horror, fantasy or just plain crime novels, you’ve probably come across some interesting (and hypothetical) ways to kill people. Speaking

Australians are known worldwide for their love of a sausage sizzle, so this week we are honouring the mystery bag, a clever nickname for sausages

Pick up the Batphone and you’ll get the dark knight. Pick up the lagerphone and you’ll get the sounds of traditional Aussie folk music.  A

Our previous six new words blog inspired a lot of discussion in the comments section of the Macquarie website. Below are seven more new words

This week we are honouring our readers who are flying solo this Valentine’s Day. For anyone who is all alone like a country dunny, Macquarie Dictionary

February’s first Word of the Week is for all those who were picked last during sports at school. We’re talking about ring-ins. You know, when the

In a world where our words are practical and repetitive (just read any email chain!) we like to collate words that make you sit back and