The Australian National Dictionary is on the hunt for the country’s hidden regional words and phrases.

The public is being called on to submit regionalisms which are words and expressions unique to a particular state, territory, town or region.

Dictionary Centre Senior Research Mark Gwynn says they’re always interested to see where a word has come from and what it means.

“There are more than 16,000 Australian words and phrases recorded in the dictionary, including around 350 that are identified as being specific to a particular state or territory, but we know there are many more waiting to be discovered,” Mark Gwynn said.

“We’re interested in the words and expressions that make Australia stop and say, ‘I’ve never heard that before.'”

Members of the public can submit regional words and phrases through the Australian National Dictionary Centre’s Word Box or contact page.