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The Committee’s Choice for Word of the Year 2017 goes to…

Committee’s Choice winner

The Committee’s Choice for the 2017 Word of the Year is milkshake duck. This is an absolute winner! Even if you don’t know the word, you know the phenomenon. Milkshake duck stood out as being a much needed term to describe something we are seeing more and more of, not just on the internet but now across all types of media. It plays to the simultaneous desire to bring someone down and the hope that they won’t be brought down. In many ways it captures what 2017 has been about. There is a hint of tall poppy syndrome in there, which we always thought was a uniquely Australian trait, but has been amplified through the internet and become universalised. –THE COMMITTEE

 

 

Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year 2017 - endling - an individual that is the last of its species, its death resulting in the extinction of the species, as the last known thylacine, which was kept in Hobart Zoo until its death in 1936.

Committee’s Choice Honourable Mentions

 

Endling is a much needed word that has a real resonance to it. We are now facing very real concerns about what extinction means when we go past that point of no return. And the association this word has with the word ‘foundling’ lends a real sense of vulnerability to the meaning. –THE COMMITTEE

 

 

 

Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year 2017 - framily - a group of people who are not related by blood but who constitute an intimate network.

 

 

Framily is an interesting new sociological word, especially as our vocabulary has not always kept up with the changes we are now seeing to the conventional ideas of what constitutes a family. There is an element of kitschness to the coinage but we love it to pieces. –THE COMMITTEE

 

 

 

The Committee for the Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year 2017

Committee for Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year 2017

People’s Choice

Voting is now closed for the People’s Choice. The winner will be announced at 7:00am AEDST 23/01/2018.

Shortlist

The Committee’s top 15 are as below.

Download the Committee’s Choice Top 15 as a PDF.

Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year 2017 - big sugar - the major companies in the sugar industry, viewed collectively. Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year 2017 - bike sharing - a system of making bicycles available for people to use as they need them, riders using an app to pay for, unlock, and relock the bike, and then leaving it in a public place for someone else to use. 

Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year 2017 - daigou - a person outside China who purchases goods, usually luxury items but also items in demand, as formula milk for babies, for a customer in mainland China. Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year 2017 - dark state - the people within a state's bureaucracy, intelligence agencies and security forces who align to form a secret force which aims to control and subvert democratic processes and institutions. 

Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year 2017 - dopamine dressing - the practice of wearing bright colours in an extroverted style in order to lift one's spirits. Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year 2017 - endling - an individual that is the last of its species, its death resulting in the extinction of the species, as the last known thylacine, which was kept in Hobart Zoo until its death in 1936. 

Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year 2017 - framily - a group of people who are not related by blood but who constitute an intimate network. Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year 2017 - makerspace - a location, as a warehouse, provided for craftspeople, artisans, designers, etc., who are using technological advances to create new products. Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year 2017 - milkshake duck - a person who is initially viewed positively by the media but is then discovered to have something questionable about them which causes a sharp decline in their popularity. Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year 2017 - plandid - a photo which appears to be a snapshot taken in an unguarded moment but which is actually carefully arranged. Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year 2017 - poke - a salad comprising diced raw fish, seasoned with a Japanese-style sauce of soy, green onions and sesame, usually served with a variety of vegetables, pickles, etc., on a bed of rice. Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year 2017 - subtweet - a tweet posted about a particular person without tagging the target's username, thus excluding them. Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year 2017 - technology doping - the practice of using sports equipment improved by technological advances, as a high-performance swimsuit, to gain a competitive advantage. Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year 2017 - text neck - neck and back pain associated with looking down at one's phone while text messaging for long periods of time. Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year 2017 - transhumanism - the belief that science and technology will make it possible in the future for human beings to go beyond current physical and mental limitations. Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year 2017 VOTE NOW

You can also access a longer list of 75 words that the Committee whittled down here.

Previous Years Word of the year

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