Australian National Dictionary Centre announces Aussie word of the year

The intense dealings within the Federal Government this year have certainly made an impact on Aussies with the phrase “Canberra bubble” topping the 2018 word of the year list. 

Compiled by the Australian National Dictionary Centre, the list highlights political, cultural and social landscapes that best reflect the year that was. 

Canberra bubble was noted as the most significant, referring to the idea that federal politicians, bureaucracy, and political journalists are obsessed with the dealings in Canberra. 

The phrase has been used on many occasions since 2015 but skyrocketed into headlines throughout 2018 by Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

The PM used the term in October to describe the political scene at the time, claiming every one gets caught up in the “gossip” and “rubbish” and doesn’t listen to what politicians are actually saying. 

Other than the much talked about politics of the year, the other major topic has been the country’s move to create an environmentally friendly world. 

It is for that reason the term “bag rage” was selected as one of the top phrases of the year. Just like “single-use” which was announced as the Collins Dictionary Word of the Year a few months ago, bag rage has been thrown around quite a lot since the banning of plastic bags from some supermarkets in Australia. 

Although many were pleased to see the bags ousted from supermarkets, others were outraged to hear the disposable bags were no longer an option when doing their weekly shop. This led to a wave of bag rage as Aussies adjusted to the change and learnt to bring along their reusable bags to the shops. 

Keeping with the environmentally friendly theme, NEG (National Energy Guarantee) also made it into the list. The Australian National Dictionary Centre describes this as the “regulatory obligation imposed on energy companies to provide a reliable supply of energy while meeting emissions reduction targets”.

Read more: Single-use only: Collins Dictionary reveals Word of the Year

Another, perhaps not surprising, addition to the list is “drought relief”. It is common knowledge that Australia is experiencing one of its worst droughts on record, with farmers across the country struggling to get by.

Not a week has gone by without the significance of the drought mentioned with Aussies all rallying together to support those in need. Multiple campaigns have taken place throughout the year, with thousands of dollars raised for the farmers who each day hope for a little bit of rain.

The remaining two on the shortlist are “fair dinkum power” and “blockchain”. Again, it was Morrison who boosted the first term into the spotlight.

The PM used “fair dinkum power” to defend the traditional sources of energy against those who argued it was impacting climate change. As for “blockchain”, the word may not be as commonly known by Aussies unless they are into cryptocurrency transactions.

According to the Australian National Dictionary Centre, it means: “A system in which records are maintained across several computers that are linked in a peer-to-peer network, used especially for cryptocurrency transactions”.

Basically, it is the technology that protects cryptocurrency transactions with block referring to a piece of digital data, and chain meaning a network of servers.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you think Canberra bubble is a good word of the year?