At a time of ‘permacrisis’ and ‘gaslighting’ the Macquarie judges wisely went local, embracing teal as word of the year
Roslyn Petelin The Conversation November 29, 2022 The Macquarie Dictionary has announced its word of the year – “teal” – also chosen recently by the Australian National Dictionary Centre as its word of 2022. Teal, a colour that’s not quite green and not quite blue, is, of course, a peculiarly Australian choice. As is the Macquarie people’s choice: “bachelor’s handbag”. I wonder who came up with this as a term for supermarket BBQ chicken (and pork and beef) sold in plastic bags with handles. And why narrowly confine it to the demographic of “bachelor”? Did we really need this term? Will it catch on? But let’s return to the Macquarie committee’s choice. The greenish-blue colour was used by several independent candidates for their promotional material in the 2022 federal election. A loosely-aligned group of female professionals turned politicians successfully challenged incumbents in blue-ribbon seats, resulting in a “teal bath”. Teal is now used as a term to cover independent centrists ...