Aussies whip out their a*se antlers
Hot competition for word of the year
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Lovers of the English language in all its glory have until 31 January to vote for the online Macquarie Dictionary word of the year from a splendid selection of neologisms and rather more familiar terms.
Reg readers will, of course, be au fait with offerings such as "bloatware", "Web 2.0" and the "Great Firewall of China", but what about "arse antlers", "toad juice" or "lady garden"?
Well, according to Macquarie these last three are "a tattoo just above the buttocks, having a central section and curving extensions on each side", "liquid fertiliser produced from pulverised cane toads" and "a woman's pubic region", respectively.
Also up for consideration are the increasingly popular "man flu", plus "tart fuel" ("wine coolers and alcopops, viewed by men as deceptively alcoholic drinks that will lower a woman's resistance to sexual advances") and "tanorexia", as exemplified by Goldenballs's squeeze Posh.
In total, there are five words in each of 17 categories, with the winner to be announced in February. Mercifully, "blogosphere" is not among the options, so there's still hope for our beloved mother tongue. ®
COMMENTS
@Chris C - use of text speak
Agree with you entirely
I have a colleague who is much older than me but insists on using shorthand phrases on MSN and e-mail and she lets the predictive text do the talking on texts.
Have a listen to the comedic track 'these are my worries' by Bill Bailey, the end bit sums the situation up perfectly.
I always use full english in all my communications, even if I end up with a concatenated text which costs me more.
My word of the year is the El Reg coined celebutard - a thicko that will do anything to get on TV or in the media, Brian Belo is the perfect example
Missing Words Round
I'm having difficulty in finding the words "dignity in sport" in these antipodean literary gems. Perhaps an ocker could help?
(Yes, I know that NZ is nearer the strict definition of antipodes from my location)
Wot no vuln?
For people who can't manage words of more than one sylable.
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