Annus horribilis is a Latin phrase that means “horrible year”. While it was initially used in the year 1891 in an Anglican publication to describe 1870, the year in which the dogma of papal infallibility was defined in the Catholic Church.
The expression was brought to prominence more recently by Queen Elizabeth II in a speech at Guildhall on 24 November 1992, in describing her year. She said: “1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure. In the words of one of my more sympathetic correspondents, it has turned out to be an annus horribilis.”1
In Australia, the phrase was brought to prominence more recently by Peter Dutton in his condolence speech after the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2023. In this speech, he hadn’t quite got the hang of the Latin pronunciation in referring to the Queen’s 1992 as her ‘anus horribilis’ instead of the correct, ‘annus horribilis’. While the Queen was beyond caring, I suspect that the palace was not amused.
2025 has proven to be Dutton’s annus horribilis, in that not only did the coalition badly lose the May federal election, but Dutton was given the arse from his own Dickson seat which, in keeping with his mispronunciation, seems entirely appropriate.
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