Microsoft Office 2007’s dictionary will recognise Australian colloquialisms such as g’day, sheila, bogan and dag. Microsoft said that 24,000 Australians voted in an online poll on its website for the 20 Aussie words they felt were most culturally relevant. G’day led the pack with 2868 votes, following by sickie with 2152 votes, ute (1912), trackies (1597) and bogan (1557).

Previously, when typed into Microsoft Word, all of these words appeared with a red line under them, indicating a spelling error. Tony Wilkinson, information worker business group director at Microsoft Australia, said the reason for incorporating the above “quintessential Aussie vernacular” into Office 2007 was to make the software more user-friendly for Australians.

“Although many Australian words and spellings are alreadyincluded in Microsoft Office, we saw the upcoming release of the 2007 Microsoft Office system as the ideal opportunity to make sure the Aussie classics weren’t forgotten and new Aussie words were added,” he said.

Online voters got to pick from a shortlist of 41 words, compiled by a panel of local language experts including David Blair, the founding member of Macquarie Dictionary’s editorial committee. “Australia has a unique cultural background and, as a result, there are a number of Australianisms in our language,” he said, praising Microsoft for its recognition of Australian culture.

[Source: Sydney Morning Herald]