The Australian National Dictionary Centre has chosen a word of the year that pretty much no one has heard of.
“Kwaussie“, a portmanteau of Kiwi and Aussie, fairly obviously refers to someone who is both of those things. It can either mean someone who is of Australian and New Zealand descent, or someone who holds dual citizenship, a.k.a. Barnaby Joyce.
“The word was used to describe deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce, and we found it very popular in social media,” said Amanda Laugesen, director of the ANDC.
But…. was it?
The Australian National Dictionary Centre says “kwaussie” is the word of the year. We’re yet to find anyone who has heard of it.
— 3AW Breakfast (@RossAndRussel) December 3, 2017
https://twitter.com/janeenorman/status/937424410633314304
I am very unconvinced by the selection of Kwaussie as the Australian National Dictionary Centre’s word of the year pic.twitter.com/z59Grf4Otk
— Matt Bevan (@MatthewBevan) December 3, 2017
Have literally never heard this “word of the year” before. https://t.co/v2qe9l0UHc
— Kate Allman (@KateAllman_) December 3, 2017
https://twitter.com/jamesmassola/status/937417215070019584
“Kwaussie” beat out some very strong contenders along the lines of “postal survey” and “robodebt“, both of which not only dominated the lives of Australians for literal months of this year, but were in fact used frequently enough that we don’t have to explain to you what they are.
It also beat “makarrata“, a Yolngu word that rose to prominence following the Uluru Statement that not only means “treaty” but also describes a process of conflict resolution, peacemaking and justice; “jumper punch“, a word that describes an illegal punch sometimes used in AFL; and “WAxit“, a post-Brexit term used to describe the hypothetical departure of Western Australia from the Australian federation.
But nah…. we’re going to go with “Kwaussie”, which as far as anyone can tell has been used by precisely one person: The Guardian columnist Van Badham.
https://twitter.com/vanbadham/status/937420753019871232
The injustices of 2017 will never end.
