‘Democracy Sausage’ Is Officially The Australian ‘Word Of The Year’

The Australian National Dictionary Centre has just released its annual round up of the most popular words Aussies used this year, and...

‘Democracy sausage’ has been crowned our Word of the Year in 2016.

If—for whatever reason—you have no clue what a democracy sausage is, let me explain. It’s a barbequed sausage served on a slice of bread, bought at polling booth spots on election day. It’s like a little celebratory token where you reward yourself for participating in the democratic process.

Who could forget this earth shattering moment when Labor leader Bill Shorten completely missed the memo on how to correctly smash a democracy sanga.

Bill Shorten gets a taste of democracy https://t.co/CaPUAJZ7AY

— ellinghausen (@ellinghausen) July 2, 2016

Shorten mainlining a sausage in bread from the side could be his downfall. #ausvotes

— Nathan (@NathanMJ22) July 2, 2016

Wondering what other words made the shortlist?

One that made the cut this year was ‘shoey’; defined as 'the act of drinking an alcoholic beverage out of a shoe'. It's usually to celebrate a sporting victory, but people try any excuse to do it, to be honest. A real testament to our unwavering classiness, if you ask me.

Even Triple J’s Doctor Karl knocks out a shoey from time to time.

Thanks to jjj, here is a gif of @DoctorKarl doing a shoey. pic.twitter.com/V0FlFSV96Y

— Mark Di Stefano (@MarkDiStef) December 11, 2016

‘Smashed avo’ also claimed a spot on the prized shortlist. The humble (and delicious) breakfast food rose to notoriety this year after columnist Bernard Salt suggested Gen Y's could afford a house—if only they stopped indulging on smashed avocado on toast.

Skipped smashed avocado for breakfast this morning. Excited to buy a house next week.

— Tony Broderick 🙃 (@brod) October 16, 2016

.@oz_f when you can't afford to start your own business pic.twitter.com/cLCOLWu9bu

— Scott Limbrick (@ScottLimbrick) October 18, 2016

Other honourable shout-outs go to: ‘ausexit’, ‘cenus fail’ and ‘deplorables’.

‘Straya 2016: Thanks for the memories (and memes).

Here's 'DJ Albo' (aka, Anthony Albanese) taking us out with a fire mix as he holds it down at the polling booths.

Photo: Twitter (@sportsbetcomau)