'Matilda’ named Australia’s 2023 word of the year

The massive popularity of Australia's women's football team is one for the history books: "Matilda" has been named Australia's word of the year.

The football team, called the "Matildas" or Tillies for short, finished fourth at the Women’s Fifa World Cup in August.

Their semi-final match against England was the most-watched TV program in Australia since 2001, reaching more than 11 million viewers. 

Their success swept the country, with Matildas on banners at pubs and living rooms.

The Australian National Dictionary Centre, based at the Australian National University, selects a word or expression that has gained prominence in the Australian landscape over the past 12 months.

The Centre’s Director Dr Amanda Laugesen said this year’s choice was easy given the massive popularity of the team and the word’s long history in Australian English.

She said it also reflects the growth of interest in women’s team sports.

“From the 1880s, matilda was one of the names for a swag, a bag of possessions carried by an itinerant man looking for work. These days most people would only know this in relation to the song Waltzing Matilda,” Dr Laugesen said.

“It’s only since the mid-1990s that the women’s soccer team has been called the Matildas, but after this year’s World Cup the word has once again cemented itself in the Australian lexicon."

rm/msh (AFP)