There’s a new dictionary of polar words just out, Cold words. Anyone who’s been South soon realises that there are words used there you don’t hear much in other places – not just the slang of a particular group of expeditioners in any one year, but also words like icefish, snow petrel or auroral oval.

If you know ANARE Club Member Bernadette Hince’s Antarctic dictionary (from 2000) you’ll have an idea what her new dictionary Cold words: a polar dictionary is like. It’s taken 25 years to make it. Each word has quotations from publications where it’s been used – including Aurora. You might find yourself quoted in it! This time round, she’s revised every word and added the words of Arctic English.

It is available from CSIRO Publishing. The usual price is $60 plus postage. If you’re reading this in April 2025, you can get it until the end of April as a special offer for $48 including postage within Australia or NZ. The link is here