'Strollout' has gathered pace, romping home as the Macquarie word of the year. I'd have gone for 'vax' if on the list

By Roslyn Petelin, Course coordinator, The University of Queensland

In a break from the usual tradition, Macquarie asked the public to choose their word of the year in advance of the committee’s decision. The pundits were betting on a COVID-19 inspired word and the shortlist certainly contained possibilities related to the pandemic: “Delta”, “shadow pandemic”, and “strollout”. And they were right!

Macquarie’s other 16 possibilities included more obscure choices such as “humane washing” to describe “the misleading marketing of a product sourced from…

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