Photo GettyBarnaby Joyce's dual citizenship debacle has helped inspire the choice of Kwaussie as Australia's official word of the year. The Australian National Dictionary Centre director Amanda Laugesen says Kwaussie - a blend of Kiwi and Aussie - came to prominence particularly on social media during the constitutional crisis that engulfed several senators and MPs who discovered they were dual citizens this year. Dr Laugesen said the centre believed that Kwaussie was first used in a 2002 New Zealand newspaper in relation to actor Russell Crowe. "He was described as a Kwaussie - what you get when you cross a Kiwi who can't decide whether they're a Kiwi or an Aussie," she said. Kwassie was picked as the winner from a short list of words selected by staff at the Australian National Dictionary Centre, which with Oxford University Press publishes the Australian National Dictionary of words and phrases unique to Australia.

Source: Otago Daily Times December 03, 2017 21:11 UTC