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Six new words to watch

October is here. The weather is heating up, and though the footy finals have been moved from their traditional slots, you can console yourself with these six competitive words to watch. 

There are only two pandemic-related words this month: corona corridor and maskhole. The former isn’t as menacing as it sounds but is actually a route such as an air corridor established to allow movement within a travel bubble (which you may recall from this batch of new words back in July). Maskhole is an anti-masker, or someone who refuses to wear a mask, a play on, well…we’re sure you can figure it out. 

Futch refers to people exhibiting both butch and femme characteristics, while a letterati is a person who frequently writes ‘letters to the editor.’ We hear regularly from prominent letterati in the Macquarie Dictionary inbox and wouldn’t have it any other way.

Our final word to watch is wokefishing. A play on catfishing, wokefishing is when someone pretends to have progressive views on dating apps to ensnare a partner but doesn’t hold them in real life. More -fishing words which is also relevant on dating apps are hatfishing and blackfishing. Could dating be any more confusing?

Let us know if you have any other suggestions. We are always happy to hear new words, no matter how big or small a usage they may have. Be sure to vote for some of these when we post them on our Instagram stories.

See other words suggested to the Macquarie Dictionary here.

corona corridor - a notional route, such as an air corridor, established to allow movement within a travel bubble

futch - exhibiting both butch and femme characteristics

letterati - a person who frequently writes letters 'to the editor'

maskhole - an anti-masker, or someone who refuses to follow rules about wearing a mask for public health.png

sentinel surveillance - the monitoring of a population to determine the overall health level and any changes within.png

wokefishing - pretending to have progressive views on dating apps but not having them in real life.png

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