'Shirtfront' beats 'man-bun' as word of the year
'Shirtfront' is the Australian National Dictionary Centre's word of the year, beating the terms 'Team Australia', 'man-bun', 'Ned Kelly beard', and 'coward punch'.
The word was famously used by Prime Minister Tony Abbott earlier this year when asked about whether he was going to confront Vladimir Putin about the downing of flight MH17.
"Look, I'm going to shirtfront Mr Putin ... you bet you are, you bet I am," Abbott said in an interview in October.
While the Prime Minister probably meant it in a figurative way, the word has allegedly helped boost his popularity with voters. Mr. Abbott's use of the phrase has also prompted the Macquarie Dictionary to change the meaning of the word.
"I don't think the Aussie rules thing – which is a head-on charge aiming to knock someone to the ground – is what was meant," said Susan Butler, the editor the Macquarie Dictionary. "It was a more general thing of grabbing someone by the shirt"
'Shirtfront' has caught on in diplomatic lingo, with both British Prime Minister David Cameron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi jokingly using the term in their addresses to Australian Parliament during the G20 summit.
According to the centre, the word of the year is selected on the basis of its prominence in the "Australian and cultural landscape during the year".
"We selected shirtfront because we saw it really dominated the media this year," Amanda Laugesen, the director of the centre, said in a media interview.
"We are also, as the Australian National Dictionary Centre, looking for an Australian word ideally that has really influenced public debate [...] but I think shirtfront stood out front and centre."
According to the centre, whether the figurative use of shirtfront continues in popular use remains to be seen.
Morning news break – December 10
