The Macquarie Dictionary of Australia has just announced its word of the year, and it might not be one you know.
So what word did the dictionary’s committee decide has “captured what 2017 has been about”?
The wait is finally over and our Word of the Year can be revealed! It’s also your chance to vote for your #WordoftheYear -> https://t.co/X2BVNJjBG2 pic.twitter.com/jliasItKjL
— Macquarie Dictionary (@MacqDictionary) January 14, 2018
So what is a milkshake duck?
It refers to someone who is initially well-loved, before falling from grace, usually after something unsavoury is revealed about them, for example being sexist or racist, or having a not so wholesome past.
The phrase stems from a tweet posted way back in 2016.
The whole internet loves Milkshake Duck, a lovely duck that drinks milkshakes! *5 seconds later* We regret to inform you the duck is racist
— pixelated boat (@pixelatedboat) June 12, 2016
And now that it’s gone from obscure meme culture reference to mainstream term with a dictionary definition, here’s how to use it in a sentence.
It can be a noun – for example: Ken Bone was one of the first milkshake ducks.
He was the red jumper-wearing undecided voter made famous during the presidential debates. This was before his very not safe for work Reddit commenting history was discovered.
The whole internet loves Milkshake Duck, a lovely tweet that conveys the collective backlash toward the suddenly famous after their problematic pasts are uncovered! *5 seconds later* We regret to inform you the duck is in the dictionary
— Nick Wiger (@nickwiger) January 14, 2018
Alternatively, milkshake duck can be used as a verb. The family of Keaton Jones were milkshake ducked after a video of the young boy talking about being bullied went viral at the end of last year.
Celebrities like Rihanna deleted social media posts praising him after pictures surfaced of the boy and his family posing with confederate flags. The original video, with its 22 million views, has now been deleted by his mother.
Milkshake Duck is absolutely the perfect pick for word of the year
— Casey Briggs (@CaseyBriggs) January 14, 2018
It’s inevitable in this day and age. As sure as a viral star will rise, they will almost certainly be found to be problematic.
So now we have a word for that feeling when a new fave disappoints us all.
Wait, shouldn’t that be two words?
The whole internet loves milkshake duck, Macquarie Dictionary’s word of the year! *5 seconds later* We regret to inform you milkshake duck is actually two words.
— Very Helpful Ninja Pirate Monkey Stable Genious (@jonkudelka) January 15, 2018
It seems milkshake duck has itself been milkshake ducked. It was only a matter of time.