Sure, on the outside it's all sunshine, smiles and snags. But scratch the surface, and you'll find a thinly veiled competitive tension.

It's Sharyn's pavlova versus Tracey's trifle. Or, Greg's insistence this year's celebrations be held on his newly extended deck, with six-burner barbecue.

Conversation inevitably turns to who will buy the fanciest car this year, who went on the most exotic summer holiday.

So, as we prepare to gather again this Friday, let me take this opportunity to help you perfect your barbecue banter.

Why not impress your friends and family by slipping a few of the top economic buzzwords for 2018 into your Australia Day conversations?

Of course, there's a right way and a wrong way of doing these things. Let me show you...

ANIMAL SPIRITS

Incorrect: Did you hear they're now making whiskey infused with Wagyu beef? Animal spirits! What will they think of next?!"

Correct: "After a decade of turbulence following the global financial crisis, the main economic question of 2018 is whether we will we see the return of much needed 'animal spirits' to drive greater investment and entrepreneurialism. Wouldn't you say, Tracey? By the way, this trifle is great!"

BITCOIN

Incorrect: "Jane and I just sold our house and invested all our money in bitcoin!"

Correct: "Bitcoin is clearly a bubble. Sure, the underlying technology in the blockchain will revolutionise many aspects of society. But as a currency, it just doesn't stack up."

FIAT MONEY

Incorrect: "Shirley and I have been saving all year so we can trade in the Camry to buy a zippy little Italian Fiat."

Correct: "Fiat money is a form of exchange backed by governments. It has no intrinsic value of its own, but as a medium of exchange, it can't be beat. Did you hear Bob and Jane just sold their home to buy bitcoin? Crazy."

FISCAL SPACE

Incorrect: "My new year's resolution is to lose 10 kilograms, but I'm finding it sooo hard. I had planned on doing exercise DVDs in my loungeroom every evening, but we just have too many couches and side tables - there's no fiscal space."

Correct: "Despite historical high levels of debt, the Australian government still has fiscal space to increase spending, should it be needed to support the economy."

NAIRU

Incorrect: "Isn't it terrible the way we're treating all those people on NAIRU?"

Correct: "At 5.5 per cent, Australia's jobless rate is close to what economists call the 'NAIRU' or non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment. If it goes any lower, we can expect to see wages and price pressures increase. By the way, Sharyn, this pavlova is great!"

NORMALISATION

Incorrect: "Hey do you remember all those 'Life. Be In It' ads from the 1970s and '80s featuring that obese guy on a couch called Norm? Well, clearly they didn't work as two-thirds of Australians are overweight. I guess we've all undergone a process of normalisation."

Correct: "With interest rates at record lows, and with signs of an improving economy, you would expect the Reserve Bank will begin a campaign of normalisation this year - raising interest rates back to more normal levels."

ONE BELT ONE ROAD

Incorrect: "Kids today, I'll tell you! Back when I was a girl, we were so poor, we only had one belt and one road - usually dirt - to walk to school on!"

Correct: "Hey, did you hear about the Chinese government's One Belt One Road initiative to revive trade along the former Silk Road. No? Neither had I. But it's likely to stimulate infrastructure investment, which is good for Australian raw material exporters."

OUTPUT GAP

Incorrect: "Nah mate, I better not have another beer or my output gap at work tomorrow is going to be massive."

Correct: "After a prolonged period of large spare capacity in the global advanced economy, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development now estimates the output gap across its member countries will close in 2018, creating the potential for the return of inflation."

REFLATION

Incorrect: "We took the blow-up mattress camping down the coast, but it must have a hole in it, because we had to keep waking up for reflation."

Correct: "After a period of subdued price rises in many developed nations, reflation - a pick-up in the pace of price growth - is returning."

SHUTDOWN

Incorrect: "Poor old Shane. He asked Tracy out to dinner at the RSL, but she said no. Total shutdown."

Correct: "Isn't it amazing about the US government shutdown? It's like 2013 all over again! Trump couldn't get Congress to pass a 'continuing resolution' to keep funding federal departments. Democrats were demanding a deal to recognise illegal immigrants who came to the US as kids before they agreed to pass it. By the way, did you hear Shirley and Stan are buying a Fiat? I'm not racist, but that's unAustralian."

TRUMP TRADE

Incorrect: "I really wish it were possible to do a Trump Trade. I'd trade him for Oprah, or Hillary, or anyone, really."

Correct: "The main risk to financial markets valuations in 2018 is that investors begin to unwind the so-called 'Trump Trade' - the optimistic purchasing of US equities in hopes of a large US recovery fuelled by infrastructure and tax cuts."

ZOMBIE BUSINESSES

Incorrect: "Have you ever read a column by that Jessica Irvine? She's an economics writer and she can't stop banging on about zombies. Even wrote a book about them. Now she reckons there are a bunch of "zombie businesses" that may go under when interest rates rise.

Correct: Actually, that one is entirely correct.