A bush telly is a campfire, or the stars – in other words, what you watch for entertainment at night in the bush. It’s rather a beautiful term and one that continues to this very day. Instead of being relegated to the past like some Australian colloquialisms, bush telly can even be found on Instagram. This … Read more
Once a month, we pick out a few words submitted by you for consideration in the Macquarie Dictionary. There is no real criteria; we’re looking for anything specific to Australia or from overseas, the words that make you angry or blush, words completely unheard of or from out of left field. There are no wrong submissions! For the month … Read more
In a nation divided over sausage sandwiches and sausage sizzles, potato scallops and potato cakes, and parmie and parma, it is refreshing to come across a new undiscovered Aussie food icon.
Greenie is a term for a conservationist that is now used worldwide, but it was originally an Australian coinage back in the 1970s. Although the association of the colour green with environmentalism was first made in German politics of the early 1970s, and first appeared in English in the name Greenpeace, the addition of -ie to form a … Read more
Each week, we have a look at a slang word from Australian English. This week we look at No flies on you a complimentary phrase roughly translating to ‘you are clever’. This has been Aussie slang since the 1840s and is one
If you cast your minds back, you may remember calling the humble banana a nana as a child. Originally an Australian toddler’s word, dating back to the 1890s, this is now a very common term. So common in fact, that Australian Bananas uses it as well. Another reason this may be so easy to recognise is … Read more
Each week, we have a look at a slang word from Australian English. This week we look at puggle. Nowadays, a puggle refers to the young of an echidna until it leaves the pouch. However, a puggle was originally a trademark name for a fictitious Australian bush
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 … Read more
One of the most difficult questions to answer, particularly when working for the Macquarie Dictionary, is “What is your favourite word?”. The answer can change depending on your mood, on the time of day, on the event or upcoming events, on any little thing, but there are usually one or two ‘go-to’ words that will always please.
A lamington is an Australian culinary treat essentially consisting of sponge cake pieces dipped in runny chocolate and then rolled in desiccated coconut. And while this may seem comical in hindsight (something like the etymology of sandwich), it is thought to have been named for Lord Lamington 1860–1940, governor of Qld, 1895–1901. Of course, the lamington being … Read more
