Tag: WORD OF THE MONTH
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Oxford Word of the Month – July: Hoon operation
Hoon operation (also anti-hoon operation, hooning operation) – noun: a police campaign targeting dangerous drivers. A 2015 media release by the Queensland Police Service stated: Police are investigating after a vehicle allegedly evaded them and later crashed at Yatala following a targeted hoon operation late last night. (Australian Government News, 12 April) The term hoon…
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Oxford Word of the Month – May: Spill
spill – noun: the deliberate creation of vacant positions in a cabinet, political party, or organisation. In recent months in 2015, we have seen an attempt by Federal backbencher MPs of the Liberal Party to put forward a spill motion. Had this motion been successful, it would have led to a spill, where (in this…
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Oxford Word of the Month – April: Big Stoush
Big Stoush – noun: the First World War. A number of different terms evolved during the years 1914–18 to refer to the war that involved so many countries of the world and caused so many casualties. In English, the terms world war and Great War were first recorded in 1914. The Oxford English Dictionary first…
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Oxford Word of the Month – February: Eggshell blonde
Eggshell blonde – noun: (also eggshell blond) a man with a bald head. Three Polished Gentlemen. Never before in the history of Sale have so many ‘egg-shell blonds’ graced the business side of a bar than when three perfect specimens dispensed good cheer at a Sale hostelry t’other afternoon. Two, up from Melbourne, were assisting…
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Oxford Word of the Month – January: Fridging
Fridging – noun: the act of stealing from an outdoor refrigerator. In 2010 a number of newspaper reports from Western Australia and Queensland made reference to certain criminal activities described as fridging. The activity involves stealing items from outdoor refrigerators, and the word derives from fridge, an abbreviation of refrigerator. The first evidence for fridging…
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Oxford Word of the Month – November: Snowball March
Snowball march – noun: a march held during the First World War to encourage army recruitment, particularly from rural areas. During the First World War, a method for recruiting soldiers, especially from rural areas, was the snowball march. After the outbreak of war, committees were formed in most Australian towns to organise and encourage recruitment….
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Oxford Word of the Month: Soccer
soccer — verb: in Australian Rules, Rugby League, and Rugby Union: to kick (a ball) as in a game of soccer, esp. along the ground; to kick a ball without handling it. The word soccer as the name of the popular ball game derives from Assoc., the abbreviation for Association football, the formal name for…