Perhaps it’ll make the fifth edition of the slang dictionary. It means “hot, attractive” and trended on Twitter in Australia during the first episode of Ja’mie: Private School Girl. Then there’s “quiche”, another neologism of a Lilley alter ego, Ja’mie. Many find it offensive I accept it as endearing and enjoy the cheeky playfulness. His alter ego Jonah popularised the term “ranga”, meaning ginger (from orangutan), and it was used to describe everyone from Julia Gillard to yours truly. It sometimes seems as though Chris Lilley is solely responsible for keeping Australian slang neologism alive. “Bogan” itself still features in the dictionary – it’s not new but still very common. The third new term for 2014 is “unit” – defined as “a bogan Unit is a brand popularly associated with the underclass”. Tockley was invented in 1974 by two fourth grade students in Charlestown near Newcastle in New South Wales. One of them is “ort” (buttocks) and the other is “tockley” (penis). Two of the three new Australian slang additions for this edition are actually old words, but their entry into the dictionary suggests a surge in popular usage. It’s not these terms that he’s suggesting are dying out (although some certainly are) – but the introduction into the global vernacular of fresh slang terms with an Australian etymology.Īs a lexicographer, Thorne’s methodology is thorough terms must be attested by at least two separate audited sources to warrant inclusion. Many existing slang terms of Australian origin are still recorded and are in frequent use (underchunders, squiff, dunny, lurk, lash, rack off, daggy, come the pork chop/raw prawn – to name a few). To prove his point, Thorne highlights that there are just three new Australian slang terms for this fourth edition of his slang dictionary – the fewest yet. Is Australian English innovating less? Or is the land of the flamin’ mongrel taking itself more seriously? “There’s a trend where most new terms are now coming from the UK and US,” Thorne suggests.
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