Oxford Australia Blog

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Category: Oxford Word of the Month

  • Word of the Month—March: sausage sizzle

    sausage sizzle – noun: 1. a fund-raising or social event for a club, school, etc. at which barbecued sausages are sold or provided. 2. a barbecued sausage in a slice of bread sold or provided at such an event. The sausage sizzle has long been a feature of community events and fundraising in Australia. The…

  • Word of the Month—February: green nomad

    green nomad noun: a person whose travels within Australia are motivated by a concern for the environment. In the Bournda Environmental Education Centre’s 42nd World Environment Day Dinner, held in Tathra, New South Wales, a suggestion was made to the key speaker: … a re-branding of grey nomads to ‘green nomads’, [thereby] encouraging older travellers…

  • Word of the Month—January: Nutbush

    Nutbush noun: a line dance performed to the song ‘Nutbush City Limits’. At what is promoted as the world’s most remote music festival—the Birdsville Big Red Bash—a peculiar record was broken in July of this year: ‘The Birdsville event broke its own world record for most number of people (2330) doing the Nutbush dance.’ (Brisbane…

  • Word of the Month —December: gold coin donation

    gold coin donation noun: a one- or two-dollar coin given as an entry fee or donation when attending a charitable, community, or not-for-profit event. In the mid-1980s, a short newspaper advertisement appeared on a page promoting various forthcoming events: ‘Performism. Special Experimental Music Event. Plus Film Performance… Gold Coin Donation.’ (Canberra Times, 15 September 1984)…

  • Word of the Month – November: goanna

    goanna noun: (in Tasmanian use) the blue-tongue lizard Tiliqua nigrolutea. Most of us are familiar with goannas, a group of reptiles of the genus Varanus that includes the largest lizards in Australia—some more than two metres long. The term goanna is an Australian alteration of iguana, a large tropical lizard. Recently we were alerted to…

  • Word of the Month – October: dog shot

    noun: a sudden blow; a king-hit. verb: to hit (a person) suddenly and without warning; to king hit (a person). In an apology sent via text message, a rugby league player defended the actions of his group when they became involved in a fight outside a night club: ‘“… we never dog shotted any of…

  • Word of the Month – September: burnt chop syndrome

    Word of the Month – September: burnt chop syndrome

    noun: (esp. of a woman) the practice or habit of taking the least attractive item or option; the practice or habit of putting the needs and desires of others ahead of one’s own. Several years ago an Australian journalist described the experience of playing Monopoly with her family: ‘My brothers fought over the racing car…

  • Word of the Month – August: schmiddy

    Word of the Month – August: schmiddy

    Schmiddy noun: a medium-sized measure of beer; the glass containing this. In a recently published comic encyclopedia of Australia, a section on beer provides an unflattering comment on the schmiddy: ‘If you are served schmiddys, the best approach is to leave immediately and find a less pretentious venue.’ (D. Knight, Strayapedia, 2017) The schmiddy is…