What is a Bachelor’s Handbag?

‘Bachelor’s Handbag’ has been announced as this year’s people’s choice winner for the Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year.

Announced annually, the Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year is chosen from new entries included in the dictionary for that year, with the public able to vote for the people’s choice award.

Past winners of the people’s choice award include ‘Karen,’ and ‘strollout,’ which refers to the leisurely pace of Australia’s vaccine rollout.

The phrase was alongside other finalists including ‘hidden homeless’ (“people with no home who stay temporarily with friends, family members, etc., without accessing homeless support services.”), ‘quiet quitting’ (“the practice of strictly limiting oneself to performing the tasks within one's job description, and working only the hours for which one is contracted”), and ‘spicy cough’ (a nickname for COVID-19).

However, the colloquial phrase referring to a takeaway roast chicken took the top spot.

The ‘Bachelor’s Handbag’ gets its name from its packaging, which resembles a handbag, and its convenience, in that it requires no preparation, thus making it the perfect dinner for bachelors who can easily pair it with a Woolies coleslaw or some bread and mayo.

Macquarie Dictionary managing editor Victoria Morgan told AFP: "We have had a fair bit of feedback that some people call it the tradie's handbag or the bachelor's briefcase."

Another member of the committee added: “Bachelor's handbag is a funny, clever coinage – so quintessentially Australian, summing up the role of a BBQ chook perfectly.”

As well as the people’s choice winner for Word of the Year, the Macquarie Dictionary also announced its committee’s choice, with ‘teal’ coming out in front.

‘Teal’, in this instance, does not refer to the colour everyone said was their favourite at age 11, but to 'an independent political candidate who holds generally ideologically moderate views, but who supports strong action regarding environmental and climate action policies, and the prioritising of integrity in politics'.

Morgan told SBS News: "Prior to this year, teal was really just a term for a colour [a deep greenish-blue colour] and also a type of duck, and then it started to be used to describe an independent candidate with a certain set of shared views.”

Another member of the committee added: “It's hard to go past teal as an emblem of Australia's political landscape in 2022.

"It's not a brand-new word, but it is a brand-new sense that no-one saw coming.”