Sunrise hosts baffled by Australia’s Word of the Year: ‘Never heard it’

Sunrise hosts were left baffled on Wednesday morning after learning that ‘strollout’ was named Australia’s Word of the Year for 2021.

The term, which was selected by the Australian National Dictionary Centre, is defined as “the slow implementation of the COVID-19 vaccination program in Australia”.

‘Strollout’ was first coined by Australian Council of Trade Unions Secretary Sally McManus earlier this year on social media to describe the country’s delayed vaccine rollout.

After newsreader Edwina Bartholomew revealed the news, adding that it’s “iconically Australian and was picked up around the world”, David ‘Kochie’ Koch shared his thoughts on the word.

“I talk a lot, we talk for three and three-quarter hours here. I don’t think I have ever used the word 'strollout' or heard it,” he remarked.

“So how did it go around the world as distinctly Australian when Australians haven’t heard of it?”

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Edwina admitted that she also hadn’t heard of ‘strollout’ until she read the news story, and sports presenter Mark Beretta joked that “no one knows this word”.

“I’ve heard it,” Nat Barr replied. “It was definitely used when we weren't getting as many vaccines out. I’ve never said it but it was definitely used.”

Wrapping up the segment, Kochie decided to set a challenge for himself and his co-workers for the rest of the day.

“One of us will use the word ‘strollout’ in some context every half an hour,” he declared.

Confusion over Word of the Year for 2021

Social media users have since commented on the winning word, with a number of followers agreeing that they haven’t seen it before.

“Never heard of this term and definitely won't use it,” one person wrote, followed by another who added, “NO ONE has ever used it”.

“Only ever seen it used on American shows,” someone else shared, while a fourth said the news was “hardly worth a mention”.

The announcement of Australia’s Word of the Year for 2021 comes after last year’s selection of ‘iso’, an abbreviation of ‘isolation’.

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