With a total of 75 words spanning fifteen categories, the Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year longlist (you can check the full list out here) can be a lot to take in! To make choosing the People’s Choice Word of the Year 2019 easier, our Committee narrows the longlist down to just fifteen words which are then open to the public to vote on.
Take a look at the highlights from one of the categories, Social Interest. Learn what these new words mean and where they come from and let us know what you think of them by commenting below.
If you consider yourself up-to-date on the latest social issues and trends, then you’ve probably heard of at least one or two of the words from the Social Interest category. This category covers everything from modern culture to political and socio-economic issues.
Being mindful of what you do and what you say has never been more important with cancel culture upon us. The last few years have seen many public figures being ‘cancelled’, that is, effectively becoming a social pariah and losing public support due to an indiscretion or offensive behaviour, usually in the form of an action or comment.
Do you know which side of the latte line you fall on? A latte line is an imaginary line that marks a socio-economic and cultural division. This is also sometimes referred to as a quinoa curtain.
cancel culture
noun the attitudes within a community which call for or bring about the withdrawal of support from a public figure, such as cancellation of an acting role, a ban on playing an artist’s music, removal from social media, etc., usually in response to an accusation of a socially unacceptable action or comment.
Also, call-out culture, outrage culture
Nick Cave has addressed the current state of rock’n’roll in a lengthy and poetic statement about cancel culture. themusic.com.au
In the era of cancel culture, retailers need to understand the reasons when things go wrong, and how dealing with a poor customer experience via exceptional customer service can protect, and even enhance, brand reputation and the value this can deliver. retailbiz.com.au
latte line
noun Colloquial an imaginary line supposedly marking a socio-economic and cultural division, with people living on one side having greater access to jobs, infrastructure, prosperity, etc., and those on the other side of the line as being disadvantaged.
Also, quinoa curtain.
Largely spanning Sydney’s north-eastern suburbs, the schools above the Latte Line are responsible for producing the bulk of the highest HSC results, when compared with the areas below the Latte Line in the southwest. educationtoday.com.au
Using Melbourne’s iconic The Age Good Food Guide (GFG) as an indicator of social change, KPMG has established that in 1999 there was one GFG restaurant in the inner west. The 2011 edition shows 10. Melbourne’s Latte Line has pushed west of the Yarra and only stops at Rosamond Road, Maribyrnong. vu.edu.au
Also making up the Social Interest category are unschooling, period poverty and welcome wall. You can find the definitions for these words as well as our longlist on our Word of the Year page.
The shortlisted word from this category for 2019 is also the 2019 Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year! Cancel culture took out the main prize, which you can find more information about and vote on the People’s Choice here.
