Widespread dissatisfaction with the cost of groceries and an investigation into questionable pricing policies at Australia’s largest supermarkets has led word nerds at The Australian National University (ANU) to pick Colesworth as their Word of the Year for 2024.
Colesworth is a portmanteau – or blended word – used in reference to the perceived duopoly of Australia’s largest supermarket retailers, Coles and Woolworths.
According to Senior Researcher at the National Dictionary Centre, Mark Gwynn, it is used in mostly negative contexts to highlight the power and market share the two businesses hold in Australia.
Each year the Centre selects a word or expression that has gained prominence in the Australian landscape over the past 12 months.
Mr Gwynn said although Colesworth had been around for several years, its usage only recently spiked as ordinary Australians vented their frustration at the increasing prices of food staples and dodgy pricing practices.
“Aussies walk out of the supermarket with less after paying more, but then hear news of massive profits in the supermarket sector. And with official investigations into some of the pricing practices at Australia’s two largest supermarkets, it’s no wonder that ordinary shoppers have become cynical,” Mr Gwynn said.
“The blend of the supermarket names Coles and Woolworths into Colesworth provides a succinct way of referring to both supermarkets while at the same time hinting at the negative aspects of what is perceived as an unfair duopoly.”
The Centre’s Word of the Year shortlist is made up of a mix of words and compounds that say something about the year in Australian society.
The full 2024 shortlist includes:
The Australian National Dictionary Centre researches Australian English in partnership with Oxford University Press Australia and New Zealand, and edits Oxford’s Australian dictionaries.
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. OUP is the world’s largest university press with the widest global presence.
Top image: A customer shops at a Coles supermarket. Photo: doublelee/Shutterstock.com
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