He may no longer be PM, but Tony Abbott is still getting the last word in – thanks to the latest edition of the Australian National Dictionary released this week.
The first update since 1988, Oxford University Press head Peter van Noorden has credited the former Coalition leader with bringing colour to the Australian language.
So what were his top ‘Abbott picks’?
Captain’s picks
“He certainly brought us some beauties in terms of ‘shirt front’, which was a real winner,” he said at Parliament House in Canberra.
“‘Captain’s pick’ was a beauty as well and he sort of the became the poster boy for ‘budgie smuggler’. We’re a bit disappointed that Tony Abbott isn’t as prevalent anymore on our TV screens.”
Plenty of other political references did make the cut though – “Howard’s battlers”, the Nationals’ election “wombat trail” and the old Australian Democrats slogan of “Keeping the Bastards Honest” all getting a plug.
Food was another favourite, with dozens of new inventions (“babyccino” and “long black”) and classics including “Neenish tart”, “fairy bread”, “battered sav” and “chiko roll” making the grade.
Then there are the phrases and idioms – “BBQ stopper”, “could not run a chook raffle”, “carry on like a pork chop” and “do a Bradbury” all notable mentions.
Altogether, more than 6,000 words and phrases unique to Australia have been added to the new edition, including words from over 100 indigenous languages.
Surely that’s reason for it to go “straight to the pool room”?
You can watch Tony “shirt front” Vladimir Putin again here.
