We all know on person who specialises in ruining our fun. A wowser is slang name for a prudish teetotaller; a killjoy, spoilsport or nark; a person who doesn’t

One-pub town is a way to describe those small Australian country towns you drive through on a road trip. They often sit on a crossroads

Recent events have led to an upsurge in suburban gardeners across Australia planting their own little veggie patches. We can’t talk about growing our own

Trackies, a staple of Australian fashion since the glorious 1990s, have had a resurgence in recent years…

We’ve got you pegged with this week’s Aussie Word of the Week. Commonly used in New South Wales and Queensland, peg is an adaptable piece

This week’s Macquarie Word of the Week is dedicated to all Ned Flanders fans. A mollydooker is a slang term for a left-handed person. In

This week we are travelling over topography, out of our dense city centres to the backblocks. Part of Aussie slang since the 1860s, backblocks is a term for the outer suburbs of a city…

There are new words being born every day, mostly to do with COVID-19 and the many changes this is bringing to our daily lives and

Welcome to our new words blog where we cover new and trending words and consider their worthiness for inclusion in the Macquarie Dictionary.  This month,

Every so often a new piece of slang gains momentum in our culture. Thanks to a recent popular song, smoko became one such piece of slang propelled from hazy beginnings into the spotlight…  

Every year on April 25th, Australians pause to commemorate Anzac Day and all those who served their country in armed conflict…

Did you know you can see Madonna’s bra from office buildings in Sydney? You can even drive under it! Madonna’s bra is a cheeky nickname

Picture this. You’re waiting patiently at the traffic lights when your local hoon pulls out across the intersection with a screech of tires and a puff

The Macquarie Dictionary is constantly being reviewed and updated to make sure the words and definitions being offered are the most relevant possible. We appreciate

Then and than are commonly confused and it’s no wonder why – they sound very similar, are spelt very similarly and both come from the

Three of the most commonly confused words are there, their and they’re – and it’s no wonder because they all sound exactly the same when

There are some timely and topical words running through our selection of new words this month.  Three words, bothsidesism, infodemic and zombie fact have links

Last year, we published the second edition of the Macquarie Atlas of Indigenous Australia. We are honoured that this book has made the longlist for