Brush up your Australish

[MotherBear]

It's almost English when dictionary does Australish
Reuters | Thursday, 10 January 2008

Contemplating a New Year tattoo in that fashionable area above the buttocks? To help you along, Australians have given them a not-so-fashionable name: "arse antlers". Want a suntan as well? You could have "tanorexia".

These are just some of the words the country's biggest online dictionary is asking people to vote for as word of the year for its latest annual update.

A "butt bra" raises the profile of the buttocks to go with your arse antlers, while "manscaping" refers to removal of body hair for men, sometimes tied to the female preoccupation with the "lady garden", or pubic zone.

"Tanorexia" refers to an obsession with a suntan, while a "salad dodger" is an obese person.

Other nominations for the Macquarie Dictionary Online include "infomania", for those who constantly put aside the job at hand to concentrate on incoming email and text messages. "Password fatigue" is frustration from having too many passwords to recall.

Casting aside the personal, someone who spreads their clothes around the house, clean or otherwise, is said to be treating the room as a "floordrobe".

Or if the global credit crunch is hitting home, you may be tempted into becoming a "credit card tart", or someone who shifts loans around from one credit card to pay for another.

In business, the "glass cliff" refers to people placed in jobs with high risk of failure because they belong to a group not well represented in leadership positions, such as women.

Even geopolitics gets a mention, with "Chindia" joining China and India, at least in Australish English, in terms of their fast growing strategic and economic clout in the world.

The "Great Firewall of China" noun refers to the block preventing Chinese internet users from accessing online sites deemed undesirable by the Chinese government. To get around it may take a "cyberathlete", or professional computer game player.

Susan Butler, the dictionary's publisher, said environmental themes were hot this year in a time of global warming, with "climate canary" referring to a geographical feature, plant or animal species pointing to climate change.

"Toad juice" refers to a liquid fertiliser produced in Australia from pulverised cane toads, an introduced environmental pest marching its way across the continent. To vote for their favourite word, Butler said people should visit macquariedictionary.com.au. Voting closes on January 31.

From here

[KiwiHopeful]

Thank god I'm sitting on the couch, 'cause I almost fell off when I read this:

Contemplating a New Year tattoo in that fashionable area above the buttocks? To help you along, Australians have given them a not-so-fashionable name: "arse antlers".

I have to say, nothing says 'wannabe porn star' like a tattoo on the small of the back.

[MotherBear]

Originally Posted by KiwiHopeful

I have to say, nothing says 'wannabe porn star' like a tattoo on the small of the back.

Oooh.....er......

Don't I remember someone off here having one done a couple of months ago? And no, it wasn't me. I have enough needles stuck in me for medical reasons without going in for tatoos.

[ebianca]

Don't I remember someone off here having one done a couple of months ago?

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I admit to having one- although mine is not a solid black tribal design like most young girls get- I designed it myself in black and purple with flowers and tribal mixed together and a butterfly thrown in for good luck.

I had the main bit done about 12months ago and had the rest added on a few months ago.

For those who are interested here is a pic- taken just after I had my additions done.

[selchie]

Although I don't mind tats at the small of the back, I do laugh at the terms for them. I always forget "arse antler" in favor of "tramp stamp". Other terms I've recently learned are "Geotard" for people who easily get lost, and "Kentucky/Okie Doorbell" for honking the car horn to summon someone from a house.