But is it in the dictionary?
People sometimes get hot under the collar when a word (or particular definition of a word) that they consider to be colloquial or offensive, or just irritating, finds its way into the hallowed halls of the dictionary. They assume that the dictionary is saying it is now okay to use that word in polite company, or in lofty literary endeavour.
But inclusion in a dictionary simply records that a word is being used by people in a particular way. It does not confer approval or disapproval. To quote Susan Butler, editor of the Macquarie Dictionary:
Dictionaries do not shape the way in which words are used. They collect the evidence for the ways in which the language community has chosen to use words. We follow, we don’t lead, and we definitely don’t attempt to influence.
What is considered acceptable language in a given context (at choir rehearsal as opposed to the pub, for instance) varies between cultures, so it is best to use a local dictionary, such as the Macquarie Dictionary or the Australian Oxford Dictionary. You can subscribe to these online, or invest in a printed copy, or both.
There are various print versions, such as concise dictionaries, shorter dictionaries and student dictionaries. My preference is to buy the biggest book I can afford, with an online subscription keeping me up to date between print editions.
Both Australian Oxford and Macquarie include encyclopaedia-type entries for places, people and events in Australian (and to a lesser extent, world) history, politics, science and culture, such as ‘Melba … Dame Nellie’, and ‘Burke … Robert O’Hara’ (note to Melbourne readers: different spelling from ‘Bourke Street’, which was named for governor Sir Richard Bourke).
Macquarie recently published its sixth edition, which boasts new headwords such as ‘mummy blog’ and ‘fiscal cliff’. If you want to keep up with the Joneses in the vocabulary stakes, do your homework at Macquarie’s Word of the year. The latest winner is ‘infovore’, which is defined as ‘a person who craves information, especially one who takes advantage of their ready access to it on digital devices’.
The People’s Choice award went to ‘onesie’, while honourable mentions were bestowed upon ‘firescape’ and ‘cli-fi’. The inaugural winner (in 2006) was ‘muffin top’, a proudly Australian coinage (and phenomenon?) that went global. Voting for Word of the year is held every January. Antipodean slang does make it into Northern Hemisphere dictionaries. Examples in the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (sixth edition, 2007) include ‘cobber’, ‘bludger’ and even ‘pommy’.
