Copyright © Françoise Herrmann
The National Dictionary Center, at the Australian National University (ANU), selected 'strollout' as the 2021 Word of the Year (WOTY). The neologism refers to how slow the vaccine rollout unfolded in Australia. The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) Secretary, Sally McManus, is credited as the person who coined the term 'strollout' to express the frustration of Australians, who saw vaccines as a 'path to freedom' from 'lockdowns', and the constraints of the 'new normal' (Burnside, Nov. 16, 2021).
In keeping with the mission of the ANU National Dictionary Center, which is to conduct research on Australian English, and to advise the Oxford University Press on matters of Australian English, the ANU National Dictionary Center, was motivated to select the WOTY 'strollout' as a uniquely Australian term, of considerable local frequency. A selection criterion that contrasts with the overriding high-frequency criteria, usually invoked to select WOTTIES. In sum, the term 'strollout' was selected as an Australian English WOTY, within the state of the 2021 global pandemic context, which has had such a massive planetary effect, including on language use.
References
https://slll.cass.anu.edu.au/centres/andc
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-17/australian-word-of-the-year-is-strollout-referencing-vaccines/100626698
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