McDonald's Australia Petitions For Macquarie Dictionary Entry

Like it or not, McDonald's is a part of daily life for people across the globe. So much, in fact, that the Australian arm of the fast food chain is jockeying for a spot in Australia's Macquarie Dictionary.

Specifically, McDonald's Australia wants the term "Macca's" -- Australian slang for the brand -- to be included in the dictionary's 2012 update. The chain says that according to a survey it recently commissioned, 55 percent of all Australians refer to McDonald's by its nickname. McDonald's Australia's chief marketing officer Mark Lollback said that the figure "reflects our place in the Australian community."

They may have a shot -- the Macquarie Dictionary is well-known to include a number of proper names, particularly of prominent Australian people and places. It regularly accepts submissions for new words and phrases.

McDonald's is already the subject of several entries in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), widely considered to be the premier dictionary of the English language. An entry bearing the name of the chain is defined as "Any service, organization, etc., likened to the McDonald's chain in some respect, esp. in operating in a highly efficient, standardized manner."

Also included are "McDonaldize," meaning "To make (something) resemble the McDonald's restaurant chain or its food," and "McDonaldization," meaning "The spread of influence of the type of efficient, standardized, corporate business or culture regarded as epitomized by the McDonald's restaurant chain."

But the most-buzzed term inspired by McDonald's is arguably "McJob," added in 2001 with the definition, "An unstimulating, low-paid job with few prospects, esp. one created by the expansion of the service sector." McDonald's didn't say anything at the time, but sparked a furor when it petitioned the OED to change the entry in 2007.

At the time, OED released a statement saying that the dictionary was merely a record of popularly used words. In response, McDonald's reps called the definition "outdated" and "insulting." The OED said it would take time to reconsider the definition -- but the fact that it remains unchanged speaks for itself.