Changing Australian English

Question 1

Trending fashion movement promoting inclusivity

Answer 1

Neologism ‘Naarmcore’ used to describe a trending fashion movement - blended lexeme from proper noun “Naarm” (Aboriginal name for Melbourne) and common noun “Normcore” (minimalist style of dressing)

Question 2

Resisting change government health forms

Answer 2

• 2022 Albanese switched the terms ‘mother’ to ‘birthing parent’ on government health forms
• Insulting to traditionalists and mothers
• “exclusionary, alienating and derogatory” - leading to reversal

Question 3

Adapting to changing language standards on social media

Answer 3

‘Algospeak’ - coded terminology invented by youth to evade algorithmic detection on social media
“unalive” - death or suicide
“leg booty” - LGBTQIA+

Question 4

Use of technology to regain intimacy of spoken discourse

Answer 4

“Even over text, we attempt to imitate and reproduce features of spoken discourse in pursuit of attaining the intimacy associated with face-to-face interactions, such as emojis, capitalisation, onomatopoeias and discourse particles”