Australian words

[Buleste]

The aussies are voting for new words for their dictionary. For more details read the following news report.

A cyberathlete might not suffer boomeritis as he or she is probably a digital native, but could be at risk of globesity, according to Australia's top dictionary.

The Macquarie dictionary this week asked readers to vote for their favourite new word in the latest annually updated online volume, offering a total of 85 words or phrases in 17 categories.

Most of the words are not specifically Australian, but reflect global trends in fields such as technology, health and what the dictionary calls the social scene.

A cyberathlete is defined as "a professional player of computer games" while boomeritis covers a range of sports-related injuries incurred by baby boomers as they pursue physical fitness programmes into their old age.

A digital native is "a person who grows up using digital media and communications systems, and thus has complete familiarity with them," while globesity sums up the worldwide fat phenomenon.

At risk of globesity are salad dodgers -- overweight people -- and slummy mummies -- mothers of young children who have abandoned all care for their personal appearance, as opposed to yummy mummies.

A slummy mummy might also use a floordrobe, "a floor littered with discarded clothes, viewed ironically as a clothing storage system."

She could also possibly, but not necessarily, have arse antlers -- "a tattoo just above the buttocks, having a central section and curving extensions on each side."

The overworked mother is unlikely, however, to suffer from tanorexia -- "an obsessive desire to have tanned skin, placing the sufferer at risk of skin cancer."

Someone who might succumb would be a practitioner of manscaping -- "a grooming procedure in which hair is shaved or trimmed from a man's body, as from the back, legs, chest, genitals, etc."

Many of the new words have been generated by the inexorable march of new technology, with password fatigue being "a level of frustration reached by having too many different passwords to remember".

Overcoming password fatigue, however, has its own dangers, exposing the computer slave to data smog -- "electronic information as by emails, internet searches, etc., which, by its volume, impairs performance and increases stress."

Voting for a favourite word takes place over the last three weeks of January, with the "word of the year" announced in early February.

[Harrison]

I really liked "Salad Dodgers"

[Buleste]

Globesity and Slummy Mummy are my favorites and they fit together so well a Globese slummy mummy. Boy do i know a few of them.

[v85rawdeal]

They need to include "Faddy-Daddy" - a parent who is going through a mid-life crisis, and trying to dress like his children and join in their hobbies.

[Submeg]

damn that is some good stuff

[TiredOfLife]

Salad Dodgers is an old phrase but some of the others are pretty good.
Tanorexia is applicable to a lot of people in my neck of the woods, sad to say.

[Buleste]

Anyone seen that bus company advert about the wanna be WAG tanorexic who goes in young then comes out old and haggard?? If only that happened in real life.

[v85rawdeal]

She'd be of interest to Wayne Rooney, then!

[Buleste]

I think it's cruel all the stick that Wayne Rooney gets. He can't help being the child of Mr and Mrs Potatohead. Seeing all your brothers and sisters being turned into chips at a young age is bound to make you appreciate the elderly.

[J T]

Heh, slummy mummy and floordrobe are good ones. A few of the others I've heard before - but what's boomeritis?