This labour of love was treacherously banjaxed by the marketing kiddies at iinet, who simply dumped all my work down the gurgler. No consultation, no warning, just POW.
Now it's back, and I am now (March 2024) working on a 200,000-word book version. It will probably be called Australianisms. In this blog entry, you will find all of the material that was in the original web version.
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Think of this as the harvest of a quiet eye. It began as a Trove list of early examples of Australian words, terms, slang and phrases, but at 200 items, it was unwieldy and annoying for anybody accessing it. This web page (now with some 650 entries and growing most weeks) avoids some of those limitations. The original cumbersome list is still there on the Trove site (with a pointer to this page), but this is where I am concentrating my efforts— and I am now adding book references for some of the words and phrases. You won't ever see those on the Trove list.
NOTE: Any errors now seen in the text should be accurate reflections of the original sources, though I have made a few corrections of obvious typos like transpositions. My (rare) interpolations are identified with square brackets. Please, always check back to the original source if you plan to quote the text. There is always either a web link or failing that, a source for books.
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Note: the bespoke short URL for this page was http://tinyurl.com/ozlingo. It is now https://tinyurl.com/oz-lingo
| A small and non-commercial advertisement for me I do this sort of thing for fun, and I write books for fun and little bit of profit. Some of my best ideas emerge first (and for free) through Old Writer on the Block, which is, in theory at least, my writing blog. But as it's my blog, I get to make the rules, so sometimes I rabbit on about microscopy, fossils I have met, messing with acid, wee beasties of interest, the physics of sand dunes or descants on the origins of words like "tablet". You don't have to go there, but you may have fun. |
Selection criteria
As a rule, I hope to take three to five instances of each word or phrase, unless I think there is good cause to extend the collection, as happened in the case with "billy". That's my prerogative: if you are interested in this sort of thing, I hope it will be to your advantage. I have in mind assisting lexicographers, but sometimes the greatest interest is in the ways a word changes. Another issue is point of origin: I believe that the data here probably show that a number of terms (including damper, kangaroo dog and billy) originated in what was then Van Diemen's Land. while wowser appears to come from W. A.This will also help writers of Australian historical fiction, seeking to avoid anachronisms. A word may have been in use prior to its first publication, but it was definitely in use when it was first seen in print. In this context, look out for cases where the word or phrase is in quotation marks, as this generally seems to indicate that it was fairly new when printed.
The material is presented as one page to make searching easier. That aside, the order of presentation is words and phrases by alphabetical order, using the most commonly accepted modern form (so check the context!), and then by date. When in doubt, use your browser's search function. Because I have the source material in a spreadsheet, I can vary this, and I welcome other opinions -- ordering by date or in some other way will be dead easy. Note that some of the words you seek may appear also in other passages, and I think one passage appears three times, as it had three target words in it.
Note: for inexplicable reasons (at the moment), this works best in Chrome and even better (ptui!) in IE. Firefox causes problems with the em-dash.
The early appearances:
(Please ignore the line of double quotation marks that follows: they represent a coding idiosyncrasy, still to be hunted down.)" " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " "
| aborigine | 1798 | Conversing with Bennillong after his return from England, where he had obtained much knowledge of our customs and manners, I wished to learn what were his ideas of the place from which his countrymen came, and led him to the subject by observing, that all the white men here came from England. I then asked him where the black men (or Eora) came from? He hesitated; did they come from any island? His answer was, that he knew of none: they came from the clouds (alluding perhaps to the aborigines of the country); and when they died, they returned to the clouds (Boo-row-e). He wished to make me understand that they ascended in the shape of little children, first hovering in the tops and in the branches of trees; and mentioned something about their eating, in that state, their favourite food, little fishes. | David Collins, An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, volume 1, 1798 (A. H. and A. W. Reed, 1975), p. 454 | It is unclear quite what Collins mean by this. He used the word earlier in reference to the Guanches of the Canary Islands, using the sense we are familiar with. |
| aborigine | 1814 | GOVERNMENT and GENERAL ORDERS. Government House, Sydney Saturday, 10th December 1814 CIVIL DEPARTMENT HIS Excellency the Governor having long viewed with Sentiments of Commiseration the very wretched state of the aborigines of this Country; and having revolved in his Mind the most probable and promising Means of ameliorating their Condition, has now taken the Resolution to adopt such Measures as appear to him best calculated to effect that Object, and improve the Energies of this innocent, destitute, and unoffending race. With this anxiety to make an Experiment so interesting to the Feelings of Humanity, and to endeavour to ascertain how far the Condition of the Natives may be improved by the Application of such Means as are within his Power, His EXCELLENCY feels that he is making an Acknowledgment to which they are in some Degree entitled... | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 10/12/1814, p. 1 | This is a remarkable document, and well worth reading in full. The governor is Lachlan Macquarie. |
| according to Cocker | 1874 | Being asked if she had any reason for leaving, with the most charming naivete she answered the bench with drooping mein [sic], that "she didn't like to say," and mademoiselle could not be cajoled or commanded to give the why or the wherefore. At this crisis, Host Fuller was "boxed," and having shoved his nose into Jeremiah he explained that he had no fault to find with the "gal." She was a stunner and no gammon. He liked her much. He had hired her in Sydney as cook at fourteen bob a week, and the "run of her Dover," and she had pleased him mightily these four months, but the other evening she skedaddled, and left them potluck, and he didn't think that according to Cocker. She had ten pounds odd coming as wages. | The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser, 19/2/1874, p. 2 | A charge under the Masters and Servants Act, heard at Walgett. |
| aerial ping pong | 1945 | The most popular Army gamble is the "swi game," from the German for two. Rugby is "organised wrestling"; Australian rules football, "aerial pingpong." Any type of dessert is "pudding"; rice is "Ah Foo Ballast"; sausages are "snaggers"; tea is "chi" or "brew." | The West Australian, 24/11/1945, p. 5 | Article 'Brave New Words'. |
| aggy | 1899 | The Trades and Labour Council of New Zealand is very anxious to get legislation to prevent the individual acquisition of wealth... A law to prohibit the individual acquisition of marbles would prevent the "muckers" of the school—such is the term by which the crack marble players are known—gathering in the "chows" and "stonys" and "aggys" of his schoolmates | The Queenslander, 15/4/1899, p. 673 | Column 'Jottings by the Way' |
| Anzac | 1915 | During the progress of the fight I received information from Anzac that enemy reinforcements had been seen advancing from Maidos towards Krithia. | The Advertiser, 8/6/1915, p. 12 | At this time, 'Anzac' is a place, or HQ. |
| ANZAC Day | 1915 | Mr. James referred to the "Anzac Day" celebration which, was to be held in Adelaide in connection with the Eight Hours' Day celebrations there the proceeds from which were to be utilised to swell the South Australian Wounded Soldiers' Fund. He was convinced that it would be impossible to get the South Australians to favor the federalisation of their fund. It was, in his opinion, hopeless to try to do so. Nevertheless, it was a fact that many of the people locally had subscribed to the fund believing, that it was to be federally administered. | Barrier Miner, 13/10/1915, p. 3 | The 161st instance of "Anzac Day", and the first from outside South Australia (but from Broken Hill, which always looked to Adelaide). |
| ANZAC Day | 1915 | ANOTHER "BUTTON DAY." The various tents which administer so much to the comfort and care of our soldiers, whether in camp in the States, in Egypt or at Gallipoli, being in need of assistance, the Lord Mayor's Central "Button" Committee has fixed to-morrow as "Anzac" day, and have issued at special "remembrance" button to be sold throughout the Commonwealth at the usual price of 1/, the proceeds to be divided between all the tents working for the welfare of those under arms either at home or the front, viz., Y.M.C.A., Churches of England, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, Methodist, and Salvation Army. | Gippsland Times, 16/12/1915, p. 3 | Yet another date for the day. There were more than 400 instances of "Anzac Day" before this. |
| ANZAC Day | 1915 | ANZAC DAY. ADELAIDE, Wednesday. This year the Eight-hours Day committee sacrificed the identity of its celebration by conducting a carnival in aid of the wounded Soldiers' Fund. The committee was enlarged to embrace all sections of the community, and the day was observed as Anzac Day. Many thousands of people witnessed the street procession. | Sydney Morning Herald, 14/10/1915, p. 10 | After the event, almost 220 "hits" in, the interstate press notices—on page 10! |
| ANZAC Day | 1915 | THE STREET RIOT. Incidents connected with the riot in King William-street on Anzac Day were again related in the Adelaide Police Court on Tuesday, when Allen Dalziell was charged with having hindered Constable Feudeloff in the execution of his duty, namely, while he was arresting Joan Davoren on a charge of drunkenness. | The Advertiser, 20/10/1915, p. 14 | A brawl had broken out between drunken soldiers and police—but the date was October 13, not April 25. |
| ANZAC Day | 1915 | ANZAC DAY The Executive Committee of the MONSTER PROCESSION, PAGEANT, and CARNIVAL to be held on WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13, in aid of THE WOUNDED SOLDIERS' FUND, has decided that the day shall be known as ANZAC DAY. The Souvenir offered by the Committee to the person whose suggestion for a title was adopted has been awarded to Mr. Robert Wheeler, Prospect. | The Advertiser, 28/10/1915, p. 2 | Note that this was to be October 13. The April 25 day was still a long way ahead. |
| ANZAC Day | 1916 | ANZAC DAY. Proposed Celebration in Brisbane. A public meeting will he held in the Exhibition Hall this evening to discuss the steps to be taken for the celebration of Anzac Day on April 25. | The Brisbane Courier, 10/1/1916, p. 8 | And now the pattern was set. ANZAC day would be April 25. |
| ANZAC Day | 1916 | I met Mr. W. Copley, ex-M.P., and Minister of the Crown, in the street on Thursday, and I could not help congratulating him on his remarkably hale and hearty appearance (writes 'Rufus,' in Saturday's Journal). ('Well, I was 70 years old last birthday,' remarked the gentleman from Blackrock, 'and I am not likely to forget it, because it was April 25, Anzac Day.' | The Register, 10/1/1916, p. 4 | The earliest designation of April 25 as "Anzac Day"? |
| apples (she's) | 1941 | Darkness, was approaching, so the three anti-tank gunners, reconciled to their unhappy position, placed the ammunition in a handy place ready for use. Throughout the night they "stood to" in turns, keeping a constant vigil, and were greatly relieved when dawn broke. They had done their job and were pleased the threatened attack on our post had not eventuated but had taken place in another sector. The corporal came along and during a "once over" found that in the hurry of the previous night the ammunition had not been primed! Imagine the feelings of the three anti-tank gunners! After the first dread thoughts had passed away out came the postal orderly's final remarks: "Wouldn't it ——. Anyhow, she's apples." | Western Mail, 18/12/1941, p. 35 | This and the next entry both come from W.A. |
| apples (she's) | 1945 | A hazardous operation in variably provokes the comment: "There's no future in it." Anything or anybody which is worn-out materially, physically or mentally has "had it." When you've had it, you "give the game away," though, oddly enough, this phrase is seldom used in a condemnatory sense. Anything satisfactorily arranged or done is sometimes "sewn up" but more frequently: "she's apples" or "she's caster." The roots of both phrases are unknown. | The West Australian, 24/11/1945, p. 5 | Article 'Brave New Words'. |
| Aussie Rules | 1924 | AUSSIE RULES. Under the Australian rules the semi-finals were entered into last Sunday when Yarloop met Mornington at Brunswick and after a stirring game Yarloop won by 8 points. | The Bunbury Herald and Blackwood Express (WA), 5/9/1924, p. 6 | Short news report, quoted in full. |
| Australasia | 1793 | Of the two names-Australia and Australasia-suggested in the opening of the quotation, to take the place of New Holland Shaw evidently favoured Australia while Smith in the " Transactions of the Linnaean Society " vol iv, p 213 (1798), uses Australasia for the continent several times. Neither name however, passed then into general use. . . .1793 -G. Shaw and J. E. Smith, "Zoology and Botany of New Holland," p. 2: "The vast island, or rather continent, of Australia, Australasia, or New Holland, which has so lately attracted the particular attention of European navigators and naturalists . . ." | The Sydney Morning Herald, 20/5/1905, p. 14 | Note that this is a 1905 account |
| Australasia | 1808 | 'MR. PRINTER," "Your sage Correspondent affects to describe, "The HABITS that grace Australasia's Black Tribe; "But if Habit means Dress, you'll permit me to call "The Dress of HER Natives — No Habit at all." | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 6/11/1808, p. 2 | Incorrectly rendered in one TROVE correction as "Australia". It is actually Australasia. |
| Australia | 1793 | Of the two names-Australia and Australasia-suggested in the opening of the quotation, to take the place of New Holland Shaw evidently favoured Australia while Smith in the " Transactions of the Linnaean Society " vol iv, p 213 (1798), uses Australasia for the continent several times. Neither name however, passed then into general use. . . .1793 -G. Shaw and J. E. Smith, "Zoology and Botany of New Holland," p. 2: "The vast island, or rather continent, of Australia, Australasia, or New Holland, which has so lately attracted the particular attention of European navigators and naturalists . . ." | The Sydney Morning Herald, 20/5/1905, p. 14 | The quote from Shaw and Smith referred to above by Bruce Logan. |
| Australia | 1813 | FROM Albion's blest Isle have we cross'd the wide Main, And brav'd all the Dangers, of Neptune's Domain— The Hurricane's Whirlwind, the Tempest's loud Roar, An Asylum to find on Australia's rude Shore For the Genius of Britain sent forth a Decree, That her Sons should be exil'd—once more to be free ! By PHILLIP commanded, our landing we made, And worshipp'd His MAJESTY'S Standard, display'd As a Pledge of Assurance—a Pledge ever dear, That Britons in Exile were still Britain's Care :— Then gratefully bending, we hail'd the, Decree, Which bade us look forward, and hope to be free ! By Woodlands o'ershadow'd, how hard was the toil The Pride to subdue of an obstinate Soil,— Till Ceres appear'd, with her radiant train, And shed her rich lustre across the Campaign :— Then, join'd by Pomona, she hail'd the Decree, That the Sons of Exertion should live and be free ! | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 30/1/1813, p. 3 | A poem called 'Effusions of Gratitude'. There are three more stanzas. This poem pre-dates Fliinders' A Voyage to Terra Australis of 1814, commonly cited as the first use of 'Australia'. The name is said to have been used by Alexander Dalrymple in 1771, though not to denote the island-continent (unconfirmed). |
| Australia | 1814 | 1814.-M. Flinders' "Voyage to Terra Australis," introduction, p. 3, and footnote: "I have .... ventured upon the readoption of the original Terra Australis, and of this term I shall hereafter make use, when speaking of New Holland, and New South Wales, in a collective sense." Footnote: "Had I permitted myself any innovation upon the original term, it would have been to convert it into Australia, as being more agreeable to the ear, and an assimilation to the names of the other great portions of the earth." | The Sydney Morning Herald, 20/5/1905, p. 14 | The other claimant, usually recognised, is Matthew Flinders, also acknowledged by Logan. |
| Australia | 1905 | Sir-Seeing a letter in your paper this morning, asking who was supposed to have given Australia its name, I beg to forward you the following information on the subject. . . .The word "Australian" is older than "Australia." The name Australia was adapted from the Latin name Terra Australis. The earliest suggestion of the word is credited to Flinders, who certainly thought that he was inventing the name, which was in the year 1814. Twenty-one years earlier, how ever, the word is found, and the passage containing it is the first known use of the word in print. Shaw may thus be regarded as its inventor. Ac[c]ording to its title page the book quoted is by two authors, the zoology by Shaw, and the botany by Smith. The botany, however, was not published. | The Sydney Morning Herald, 20/5/1905, p. 14 | Bruce Logan comments and provides sources for varying ideas about the origin of the name. |
| babbler | 1921 | Just one more—the biggest dud of the lot. A battalion quartermaster was asleep in his tent near the cook carts one night when a dud 8 in. shell crashed in the opening, shaking the fear of seven hells into him to that extent he fled into Ypres seeking the deepest cellar he could find. A jar of rum was knocked clear of the tent, and lay, neck down, intact in the mud. For three hours after daybreak the battalion "Babblers," who would sell their souls for rum, worked and yarned in full view of the derelict jar of joy without taking the slightest notice of it. It was an amazed quartermaster who retrieved the rum and told the cooks that he reckoned they were the greatest blanky dud "baskets" in the division. And the "Babblers" fervidly and luridly agreed with him. | Sunday Times (Perth), 4/9/1921, p. 17 | This seems unduly late. |
| bagman | 1905 | "Yes, what about the cooks?" he inquired. You've never mentioned them. Some of them, no doubt, are decent fellows, and good at a 'hand-out,' but most of them are the biggest dodgers we have to encounter. They've got eyes like eagle-hawks, and noses like a Woolloongabba Society damsel. They can see a hungry bagman three miles off on a plain, and smell him two miles off in scrub land. Then away they rush, and the doors, and if they've a bit of meat or a puddin' cooking in a boiler outside, they'll hook it out! When you arrive all is silent, not a soul or a smell of tucker to be seen anywhere. Should, by any chance, you come upon them suddenly to tap, whisper or interview the 'poisoner,' he'll bang the door with a loud, fierce, uncharitable bang! | The Northern Miner (Charters Towers), 20/7/1905, p. 3 | On the Wallaby' by "6x8". |
| Bagman's Gazette | 1900 | The School of Arts is going along satisfactorily under the able secretaryship of Mr. W. Hobson and his competent staff of assistants. The only difficulty they have to contend with is the news agents, who don't care about supplying papers under an order for three months. However, that difficulty has been overcome, and everything is going along merrily: and, I might say, it will be a good thing for the pro-Boers, which I am very sorry to say are here in great numbers. They are principally amongst the shed hands, and most of them have been camping on the billabongs for the last three or four mouths, and have never had a chance of seeing any other paper but the Worker, commonly called the "Bagman's Gazette" amongst them. | The Western Champion and General Advertiser for the Central-Western Districts (Barcaldine), 1/5/1900, p. 8 | Katandra Notes'. This is significant, because the 'Gazette' is usually said to be fictional, but this seems to be the earliest use of the phrase in a newspaper. Did the meaning truly change? |
| Bananalander | 1881 | According to the dictum of some statesmen, for an emigrant to have a few pounds in his pockets is a crime; such are not wanted in Queensland, they may go to America, or Hongkong, or to any other warm place, but they must have no admittance to Bananaland. Immigrants with money in their pockets make bad shepherds, perhaps. And the fact is, all the farming people of the United Kingdom possessing a little capital and who are on the move to found homes in new countries are departing for America. | The Queenslander, 20/8/1881, p. 246 | Article called 'Immigration and Settlement'. |
| Bananalander | 1881 | Clippings from the Papers. In the north of Queensland alligator stories in the dull reason do duty in the newspapers for our snake stories. This is the latest from Bananaland. A resident on the Bowen River, was always losing his dogs, no sooner did he get a fresh pack together than one by one they disappeared, and all efforts to avenge the slaughter failed. At last he procured a dog skin, stuffed it, and fixed it up near a tree at the edge of the water, and concealed himself with a Snider rifle ready. He had not long to wait, very soon a black snout emerged from the water and a huge alligator made for the dummy dog. Crack went the rifle, and the saurian tumbled into the river with a great splash. Another attempt was made with the same success; and then another until at last the hunter began to think that he had cleared the river of alligators. At last on looking more closely, and holding his fire he noticed something strange in the alligator's movements. | The Western Champion (Blackall/Barcaldine), 19/8/1881, p. 2 | The punch line: "Then he saw that it was the same alligator he had first shot, brought up to the scratch by two other alligators in order to draw his fire and exhaust his ammunition, The man who tells this story never told a lie in his life." |
| Bananalander | 1881 | Can this be?-The writer of "notes from Bananaland" in the Sydney Bulletin, says: William Coote has entered an action for £1000 against the Evangelical Standard and the "black dragoons" as Carlyle calls the parsons, are fluttering like caged sparrows. | Warwick Argus (St. Lucia), 31/5/1881, p. 2 | This points to the Bulletin as the original source of the term. |
| bandicoot | 1803 | My men, who slept on the ground which they had ceared for a garden, in a hut which they had built for the occasion, informed me that one of their comrades was awakened out of his sleep by some animal which seemed to be gnawing his hair, which he had driven away, but as it was dark he could not observe its shape of rigure. He supposed it to be the Bandicoot rat, an animal that seldom appears by day-light; and it being well-known that the Colony was infested with such vermin, and having remarked several burrows in different places of this island, I was inclined to give in to the same opinion. | The Narrative of a Voyage of Discovery Performed in His Majesty's Vessel The Lady Nelson., James Grant, p. 137 | London: C. Roworth |
| bandicoot | 1804 | A boat was yesterday disposed of at the wharf, and the following sums deposited on delivery : 1 stuffed squirrel, 1 ditto koolah, 3 parrots, warranted to talk in six weeks, 1 bandycoot, 2 native cats, and 1 tame kangaroo. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 30/9/1804, p. 2 | Are these items to be shipped to England? The context does not make this clear. |
| bandicoot | 1804 | Two sons of Mr. John Howorth, settler, went together among some standing and fallen timber, to look after a small flock. The eldest boy, sitting near a large tree in which three apertures had been cut for the purpose of searching after the bandycoot, unhappily stretched one of his arms within the hollow, and suddenly withdrawing it much terrified, acquainted his brother that he had received a bite from a black snake. The poor little fellow, conscious of his danger, with an air of despondency remarked that he should soon die; and complaining of sudden illness, made an effort to return homeward. But his faculties yielding to irresistible lethargy and stupor, he lost his way before he had proceeded many paces, and was observed by a neighbouring settler, who enquiring what ailed him, received in a feeble tone the information of his illness, but without aligning any cause of complaint. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 21/10/1804, p. 2 | The boy died, 12 hours later. |
| bandicoot | 1818 | CAUTION. Stock-Owners and others are cautioned against allowing their Stock to Trespass upon the Farms of Joseph Berrisford and George Oakley, or to run upon the Grazing Ground allowed to the Undersigned, called Woodcock and Bandicoote Hills, situate between Humphrey's River and Fawkner's Run, in the District of Glenarchy. Any Cattle or Sheep found thereon, after this Notice, will be impounded. ALEXANDER WADDLE. Glenarchy, Oct. 10. | The Hobart Town Gazette and Southern Reporter, 10/10/1818, p. 2 | This was an advertisement concerning trespassing stock. |
| bandicoot | 1826 | I would advise that the Government herd of bandacoots, which they call cattle, be destroyed or disposed of | Colonial Times and Tasmanian Advertiser, 28/7/1826, p. 4 | Hence the notion of bandicoots as miserable beasts? |
| bandicoot | 1827 | ... the Ross Government Farm, was to be given up in favour-and its proceeds to go to the benefit of the Orphan School-that the miserable bandicoot cattle which compose the Government herd at that place, were to be slaughtered and sold also for its support | Colonial Times and Tasmanian Advertiser, 12/1/1827, p. 2 | It appears misery is now clearly part of the word. |
| bandicoot | 1831 | One hundred acres of Crown land at the back, would not feed one bandycoot . | Colonial Times and Tasmanian Advertiser, 14/9/1831, p. 2 | The metaphor is refined. |
| bandicoot | 1834 | ...so thinks I to myself I'll just take care of her money for her in case she might lose it, but when I rummaged your pockets I could not find anything but these here keys; you was as destitute as a Bandycoot, as a body might say. | The Sydney Herald, 16/6/1834, p. 1s | Court report: now the bandicoot is poor as well. |
| bandicoot | 1837 | ...nothing can be more miserable than being surrounded with an hungry, iron stone scrub that would starve a bandicoot. | The Sydney Herald, 9/1/1837, p. 4 | The word "miserable" inserts itself |
| bark hut | 1815 | The GOVERNOR is at a loss to appreciate fully the services rendered by Mr. Cox to this Colony, in the execution of this arduous work, which promises to be of the greatest public utility, by opening a new source of wealth to the industrious and enterprizing. When it is considered that Mr. Cox voluntarily relinquished the comforts of his own house, and the society of his numerous family, and exposed himself to much personal fatigue, with only such temporary covering as a bark hut could afford from the inclemency of the season, it is difficult to express the sentiments of approbation to which such privations and services are entitled. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 10/6/1815, p. 1 | Cox was using a bark hut during road building over the Blue Mountains. |
| bastard | 1945 | If we do not crusade against swearing for moral reasons, we should certainly do so on grounds that it weakens the vitality of the language. The Great Australian term of endearment is now used mainly in the neuter gender. Example: "I'll open the beer; give me the bastard." (The first syllable is heavily stressed and broad.) | The West Australian, 24/11/1945, p. 5 | Article 'Brave New Words'. |
| Bathurst burr | 1850 | GENTLEMEN,-I trust you will allow me a space in your columns, to draw the attention of the residents in this district to the very serious enemy to sheep-farming which is now spreading in Gundagai and its immediate neighbourhood. I allude to the plant or shrub commonly known in the colony as "the Bathurst Burr." What its botanical name may be I am not aware, but it probably belongs to the numerous family of spurgeworts, (Euphorbiaceæ), and I am induced to believe that it is not a native of the colony, but that it has been introduced from South America. It is said only to have appeared here within the last two years. If prompt measures be taken it could soon be prevented from spreading. | Sydney Morning Herald, 1/4/1850, p. 2 | The letter is written to the editor from 'The Murrumbidgee River'. The writer must have been near the 'Jugung Creek' and the 'Monney Monney Ranges'. The author is (in Greek letters) Sonchos Heteros, or "the other thistle". |
| Bathurst burr | 1850 | THE BATHURST BURR ... Mr. D. Bunce, a botanist, residing at Melbourne, thus writes on the subject to the Editor of the Argus: "I beg to state, on my return from Moreton Bay and Northern Districts to this province, I passed through the Bathurst country, and saw a plant growing very common in many parts of that district, which I supposed to be the plant called by the Sydney Herald Correspondent 'Bathurst Burr,' should this be the case, I shall be pardoned for offering the following remarks: It is a South American exotic, belonging to the genus Zanthium, of which it is a species, and I think it is not unlikely to have been originally introduced by the prickly thorn-like seeds attaching themselves to the tails and the mane of the mules which were imported from that country. My attention was first called to this plant by John Hood, Esq., of Molong, which he, with many others of the Bathurst settlers, represented as being a very troublesome customer." | Sydney Morning Herald, 24/4/1850, p. 3 | The genus should, in fact be given as Xanthium. |
| Bathurst burr | 1864 | The following may be of use to your Jackeroo friends if they don't know it already "We have received intimation to-day from Messrs Clark, Hoffman and Co of the Australian Chemical Works that they have after many experiments discovered a solvent for the burr in wool-the object of desire to the Messrs. Winter and so many other squatters but as it will take some time to make the needful inquiries we can say nothing more on the subject at present." | The Brisbane Courier, 18/5/1864, p. 4 | The burr here is presumed to be Bathurst burr. |
| Bathurst burr | 1879 | It is somewhat doubtful whether the following thirteen may not really be indigenous : —Silene gallica, Linn., or French catchfly ; Stellaria media, Linn.; Xanthium spinosum, Linn., or Bathurst burr; Bidens pilosa Linn., or cobbler's pegs ; Galinsoga parviflora, Cav. ; Tagetes glandulifera, Schranck ; Physalis peruviana, Linn., or Cape gooseberry ; Rumex acetosella, Linn.', or; sheep's sorrel ; Chenopodium ambrosoides, Linn. Sisyrinchium micranthum, Cav. ; Cynodon dactylon, Pers., or common couch grass ; Holcus lanatus, Linn., or meadow soft grass; Lipocarpha argentea, R. Brown. | The Darling Downs Gazette and General Advertiser (Toowoomba), 18/7/1879, p. 3 | On Some of the Introduced Plants of Queensland', F. M. Bailey. |
| bean (without a) | 1900 | 'Bli-me! I rolls me portfolio. Pads the hoof with a cronk pin. The old slush was on fire. I had crook optics. I spars up to the bludger. Cracks graft. He skied his rockets and cracked a deaf 'un. I guyed a whack. Pads it back, and 'ere I am dead flat without a bean." The translation of this very hideous talk is given as follows:-"I rolled my swag up. Walked out with a sprained foot. The sun was very hot, and I had sore eyes. I walks up to the manager, and asks for work. He put his hands in his pockets, and wouldn't listen to me. I turned away from him, walked back, and here I am without money, not even a penny." Little wonder at anybody's "cracking a deaf 'un" to a request couched in such terms ... Australia has no distinctive slang amongst her country people, such as obtains, for instance, in the United States. But better far be without anything of the kind, which, after all, is useful mainly to the romance-maker, than possess such a degraded spec[i]men as that g[i]ven above. | Australian Town and Country Journal, 12/5/1900, p. 21 | A quotation from an unidentified "Queensland contemporary" (i.e., newspaper). |
| Bee's knees | 1874 | The election of the Committee occupied considerable time, and it was with difficulty that- a representative of the carpenters could be induced to act as a Committeeman. Mr. CLIFT said they were willing enough to hold up their hands, but not one of them was game enough to come forward—not one of them had a heart as big as a bee's knee. | The South Australian Advertiser, 8/4/1874, p. 2 | Report on a strike of the Moonta miners. Quoted in several other papers. |
| Bee's knees | 1875 | As soon as she was clear she went again at full speed, while the hands were engaged trimming the yards by the lifts and braces. Like a thing of life, she threaded away amongst the ships till reaching the deep-water topmost berth she stopped. In about the twinkllng of a "bee's knee" down went the starboard quarter cutter, fully manned, with an officer in charge. The dingy from over the stern followed suit, and in about a quarter less than no time the Sappho was moored head and stern. | South Australian Chronicle and Weekly Mail, 12/6/1875, p. 15 | Miscellaneous shipping news. Note that this is also South Australia. |
| Bee's knees | 1881 | I would remark that my letter and advertisements contain the truth on the great facts of the case, and all that is necessary on this subject for the study of the Stateman. I never aimed at the microscopical nicety which enables a professor to tell us the number of hairs on a bee's knee. | Evening News (Sydney), 21/12/1881, p. 6 | Letter from R. C. Luscombe, in Sydney on free trade. |
| Bee's knees | 1905 | However, among the characteristic features of a Stradivarius violin are the bees knees of the pfurling, which are kept closer to the inner corners than in most instruments, and hence display a greater margin of wood on the outer edges of the corners. Then the block pegs are half under the pfurling. showing only one-half. In the F holes the wing is concave and the breast convex, showing the distinct sinking of the wing directly you come to the F hole. | The Register (Adelaide), 21/8/1905, p. 3 | The sense is unclear here. |
| Bee's knees | 1909 | Pulled His Leg. The shipping reporter was furiously angry. A wag of a purser had sent along his manifest, and some such absurdity as this appeared in next day's paper : 'Two dozen bees' knees, 8 cases post-holes, 10 bags treacle, 50 reams oysters.' | The Richmond River Herald and Northern Districts Advertiser, 30/4/1909, p. 2 | Filler story. |
| Bee's knees | 1910 | BEES' Knees to You. I'm off to Wilkins and Jones's for my Summer Suit. Busy B, Charing X. | Bendigo Advertiser, 17/9/1910, p. 12 | Much-repeated advertisement. |
| Bee's knees | 1925 | I refer to the era of the mosquito's eyebrows, the 'bee's knees,' the monkey's instep,' the 'caterpillar's kimono,' and all the rest of that school of expression which leads, us up and down from what I believe originally started as the 'cat's pyjamas,' Versatility again! Sixty-two different ways of saying the same thing. Versatility but not especially originality on the part of the younger generation. | Sunday Times (Sydney), 12/4/1925, p. 5 | A discussion on slang. From the Kalgoorlie Miner's version ofd the same story, this was originally a story about New York slang. |
| Bee's knees | 1925 | You Australians are lucky I guess! Your Government legislates to keep your locally made whisky 100% Pure Malt Spirit and says that if its bottled in bond you can't label it 'old' unless it's 5-year whisky at least. That's talking business! And it appears that any old hooch can be dumped in here and labelled 'English,' 'Irish' or 'Scotch' or just plain piebald and it's reckoned the bee's knees because it's imported and costs more. | The Argus, 28/7/1925, p. 6 | An American sailor speaking in an advertisement for Old Court Whisky. Clearly we see the American origins implied. |
| big wigs | 1825 | So much, for Australian gallantry!—but entre nous, Mr. Editor, I will tell you the cause it was not published?—it was because I wrote some nonsense about, their big wigs and ugly black gowns, without the slightest intention of offending them. And surely, Sir, lawyers; who themselves say such impudent things to poor witnesses who are called before them, ought not to be angry at a joke. I shall not notice master Coachee further than by wishing I was a man for his sake (if so, I should have given him a parading on the Race Course, to improve his manners); but will beg to draw your attention to a matter of much more consequence, I mean the situation of us currency spinsters. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 13/1/1825, p. 5 | Ostensibly, a letter from a girl to the editor, attacking the editor of the "Australian". |
| big wigs | 1826 | ON Friday last, Mr. Paul entertained a large party of friends at his new residence in George-street. There were we calculate, about sixty present. Music, and Singing, and Dancing, were the order of the night. Good humour and happiness were universally predominant, owing to the real welcome, unostentatious liberality, and old English cheer, with which the guests were treated. We much rejoice to see the respectable inhabitants of' Sydney, thus enjoying themselves; we rejoice that the big wigs are not the only persons in New South Wales, who are able to discuss the merits of a well loaded table, and can trip it in the ball room on the light fantastic toe; we rejoice that the impotent folks, yclept "The Exclusionists," are not the only persons who can live in the style and adopt the manners of gentlemen. Not that we would infer that the Exclusionists are definitively gentlemen—for our experience would induce us to be somewhat sceptical on this point. But let that pass—at least, for the present. | The Monitor, 30/6/1826, p. 5 | Headed "A Correspondent Writes". |
| big wigs | 1828 | The Colony has this week received an accession to its judicial strength in the person of James Dowling, Esq. who arrived on Sunday, from London, by the ship Hooghley, with the appointment from the Home Government of Assistant Judge. In the afternoon of Monday Mr. Dowling disembarked under a salute of five guns from Dawes' Battery. Seeing an unusual moving about, and bustle among the big wigs and officers of the Colony, civil, ecclesiastical, &c and those with no wigs at all, many of the Sydney inhabitants were for a short time plunged in ignorance, and could not divine the cause, till the thunder of Dawes' great guns, and public rumour roused the weak minds to acknowledge that a new Judge was about to be landed and installed. ... Mr. Dowling landed at the Government stairs on the east side of the Cove ... and proceeded straight towards, and into the Government-house, where the customary oaths were administered to him by Chief Justice Forbes, after which Mr. Justice Dowling returned on shipboard. | The Australian, 27/2/1828, p. 3 | The arrival of a new judge. |
| bike | 1898 | But as a model of the way in which the public will cling to a slang term, and cuddle it, as it were, to their bosoms, commend me to the objection able word "bike," or the still more dreadful "trike." "Jigger" is another very popular term-in fact, most people seem to devote a tremendous amount of time and energy to avoid by any chance using the word "bicycle." | The Broadford Courier and Reedy Creek Times, 25/2/1898, p. 5 | An article denouncing new slang as debasing the philological currency of the English tongue. |
| bilby | 1886 | RABBITS are reported on the increase... "Brer Rabbit," as the southern humorist calls him, is driving one of our best-known native animals out of the country and up north. As he marches that way he will exterminate the poor thing. The bilby, a sort of kangaroo rat, is a small burrowing animal, of no harm, and better eating than the rabbit, if we are to believe the old hands. The rabbit has proved itself adaptive and possessed of a good knowledge of economy; stupid as they say it is. When bunny finds a bilby's hole, it immediately annexes the poor little thing's home, and makes Mr. Bilby seek other quarters. The bilbies are therefore moving northward; either not liking the look of the rabbit, or being unable to cope with it. Presently the rabbits will drive away the great silly four-legged and two legged sheep. One of the questions debated here at present is whether, when the rabbit proof fences are erected, the rabbits will learn to climb them. | Australian Town and Country Journal, 2/10/1886, p. 16 | News from Hay. |
| bilby | 1886 | Amongst mammals the most interesting was the Bilbie, a species of kangaroo rat (Hypsyprymnus Greyi) which had the unusual habit of making extensive burrows in the sandhills, and which, from its nocturnal habits, is seldom seen, and difficult to procure except by trapping. | The Brisbane Courier, 11/1/1886, p. 6 | Article entitled Vertebrate Fauna of Charleville. |
| bilby | 1898 | On the frontages of some of the West Australian rivers, and on the Upper Darling in New South Wales, and the Warrego River in Queensland there is known to exist one of the very rarest of marsupials, known to bushmen by the name of Bilbi; but it is a remarkable fact that very few bushmen, even pioneers, have ever seen one of these interesting little animals. During my travels through Queensland those persons I have met with who have given a faithful description of the animal knew little or nothing about its habits or life history. The word Bilbi is of aboriginal origin, and is still used by the blacks on the Warrego and Darling rivers. The West Australian natives call it Dol-goitch and sometimes Dal-gyte. Although it is most popularly known by the name of Bilbi it is frequently spoken of by the settlers on the Darling as the 'native Australian rabbit.' on account of very long delicate rabbit-like ears. Only two species of this animal are known to science. | The Queenslander, 28/5/1898, p. 28 | A Rare Marsupial, THE BILBI. Paper given by C. J. Pound, F.R.M.S., to the Royal Society. |
| billabong | 1838 | We have just heard of the complete failure of Mr. Eyre's expedition with cattle for Southern Australia or Portland Bay, I am not sure which ; however, the party lost themselves in the bush and have lost all their stock. One of the party, a Mr. A. Heron, formerly an overseer for the Rev. John Joseph Therry at Billy Bong, in Camden Forest, made the Port Phillip road south of the Goulburn River, where he was found in a dreadful state of exhaustion, having been fourteen days without provisions; his recovery is said to be very doubtful. He states that the whole party is astray, that they lost their way and made the sea coast twice. Neither Mr. Eyre nor any others of the party have yet been heard of; what made the party separate has not yet transpired. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 14/6/1838, p. 2 | This report of Eyre's party may be inaccurate, as Eyre made a successful crossing to Adelaide in 1838. |
| billabong | 1839 | The blacks are again becoming troublesome in the southern districts. Two white men have already been murdered, one an assigned servant to Mrs. Jenkins, of Eagle Vale, and the other a man in the employ of Mr. Larkins, of Billybong Creek, near the Hume. A reward of twenty pounds is offered for the capture of the murderers of Mrs. Jenkins' servant. The long-promised Police stations on the route to Port Phillip do not seem to be formed yet. | The Colonist, 26/1/1839, p. 3 | Story headed 'THE BLACKS'. |
| billabong | 1850 | ... reported the murder to the police, as well as the loss of the horses ; reported the murder first to Dr. Fletcher, one of his neighbours ; heard of it first from Mr Paterson, who brought some bones with him ; could not say what bones they were; they were human bones, and there were some teeth ; some of the bones were those of the hand ; went to look at the place where the bones were found ; was directed to it by Mr Paterson's shepherd who had seen the fire burning ; it was about a mile or a little more from witness's place, on a billy bong; the fire was not burning, but there was a great mass of timber ; it was an old tree that was lying on the ground, and the fire had spread ; near where the large fire had been there was the appearance of a small camp fire, but nothing like a wurley or breakwind ; touched none of the bones till he made the report at Dr. Fletcher's, whose son and Mr Moore, J.P., returned with ... | South Australian, 17/5/1850, p. 1S | Earliest use in modern sense? |
| billabong | 1850 | The country still continues to be Billybongs and swamps alternately. These Billybongs are a series of long necks of elevated land stretching from the mallee scrubs, of which they are in fact a continuation to the river where they assume the character of steep cliffs of a bright red or yellow colour, with veins of pipe clay. You have no sooner descended one of these Billybongs than you have to ascend another, which from the bright red colour of the soil and their elevation above the general level of the intervening large swampy polygonum flats, are perceptible a considerable distance ahead. To reach which you have a "Jem Crow's" dance round sundry boggy lagoons. After passing these and you congratulate yourself on being upon the eve of ascending the next ridge, you ... find ... a low, deep, narrow, and sinuous water course, which has been imperceptibly overlapping the aforesaid waterholes, and hugging the next Billybong to its very base. | The Argus, 30/3/1850, p. 2 | The Diary of a Naturalist, apparently by Daniel Bunce. Note that this appears to be a different sense of 'billabong'. Did Bunce get it wrong? |
| billabong | 1852 | Since the foregoing was written, we learn from an individual just arrived from the Lachlan, that the floods on the lower part of the river have not been nearly so high as towards its head, a large portion of the waters it appears, as usual during floods, being absorbed by the back creeks, lagoons, and billabongs, before they disappeared in the immense swamp near its junction. | Sydney Morning Herald, 3/8/1852, p. 3 | This is copied from the Bathurst Free Press of 31/7/ 1852, p. 2, which is hard to read. |
| billabong | 1852 | A gentleman of our acquaintance, who has a station in that quarter, under the impression that the whole of his herd would be rolling in fat, lately sent down his stockman for a draft of bullocks, instead of which he received the unwelcome intelligence that the face of the country had been so long parched, and water so scarce, that not a fit beast was to be found on the run. How far this state of things may be remedied by the late floods, which, we are told, raised the river fully 20 feet above its usual height, remains yet to be learnt. But it is a well-known fact that many of the floods never reach the lower portion of the river, the superfluous waters being exhausted in their downward course in supplying the billybongs, back water-holes and lagoons. The hither Lachlan is most luxuriant in grass and herbage, its oldest settlers scarcely recollecting anything to equal it during their residence there. -Bathurst Free Press, April 7. | The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser, 10/4/1852, p. 3 | The Lower Lachlan'. |
| billy | 1848 | . . . we went in the evening, and he put some bread on the table, and the "billy" on the fire; we told him we would not wait for anything to eat, but would take the things he was going to give and go away | The Courier (Hobart, Tas.), 29/7/1848, p. 2 | The earliest located instance by a large margin, implying a Tasmanian origin for the word. |
| billy | 1854 | Woodfield was at the time in bed, but got up and said, "Mary, put the billy on and make some tea." The deceased then went to the door, and was called out by one of the men. | The Courier (Hobart, Tas.), 12/8/1854, p. 3 | Also from Tasmania! |
| billy | 1855 | An Irishman told me this morning that he had not kindled a fire for four days, but tied his billy to a gum-tree, and the excessive heat of the sun kept the pot boiling equally as well as fire.-Correspondent Mount Alexander Mail | The Argus, 6/2/1855, p. 6 | First mainland instance (so far). |
| billy | 1856 | There were others, innocent of drays and barrows, or other artificial appliances, who harnessed to their own broad backs the huge "swags" that cruel fate imposed upon the primitive gold hunter. These carried a veritable coat of arms as it were upon their shoulders; the shield a broad bundle gules, sable, azure, or nondescript as the case may be; and quartered saltierwise by a pick and shovel; the crest of a "billy" of most unquestionable sable, and the whole garnished with accessories equally novel in the school of heraldry . . . | The Star (Ballarat), 11/10/1856, p. 1s | The billy here, while black, could just possibly be a billycock hat. |
| billy | 1857 | ...we fell in with an elderly man who was tailing cattle. Having just boiled the "billy," we invited him to partake of a pannican of tea, which he accepted. | South Australian Register, 3/11/1857, p. 3 | The old man turns out to be an old lag. |
| billy | 1857 | On the ground near him were found half a bottle of brandy, a large pruning-knife, a light-coloured felt hat, a tin billy full of water, some tea and sugar, tobacco and pipe, and a merino waistcoat with bone buttons. The sum of seven shillings and threepence was found in his pockets. | The Argus, 16/5/1857, p. 5 | The possessions of a man found hanged, an apparent suicide. |
| billy | 1857 | Haslam had pictured a madman as one who would put his head into a tin billy to escape annoyance, and he, (Dr Kenworthy) after all he had heard, would pray for a tin billy for his own especial behoof. | The Star (Ballarat), 27/4/1857, p. 2s | While going on the head, this was a tin billy. |
| billy | 1858 | He had on moleskin trousers, and a sleeve waistcoat, the fronts of which were dark. He had a pair of bushy whiskers, cropped short. One of the men carried a billy, like the one produced. Could not say which carried it. witness could not identify the deceased as one of the two men whom he had seen on Wednesday evening. | The Argus, 25/1/1858, p. 5 | A description of two suspects. |
| bingey | 1882 | Anatomists and physiologists—and I presume, etymologists—are bursting their brain pans to know what the irrepressible McElaone meaneth by the Premier "busting his bingey." It is hoped the coming lexicographer will make a note of that gem. | Hawkesbury Chronicle and Farmers Advocate (Windsor), 5/8/1882, p. 2 | cf "busting a gut". |
| bingey | 1893 | [A cook had used white powder as salt]. Smoke O came on, and old drovers' yarns were just about commencing with pleasant anticipations of the delivery of cattle in the morning after a long and hard trip, all were in good spirits, when the cook had a somewhat sudden pain in his McElhonian bingey, and then dropped semi-paralysed crying out for mercy for the present time and the great hereafter, so acute was the agony. Another dropped off the log alongside the camp fire, and Mr. Millar luckily thinking of the white mixture ... saw at once that poison had been used for salt, and the cases were serious. At this time all hands in the camp were performing a corroboree, and not losing his presence of mind, got salt and mustard hot doses ad lib, and administered them to the patients ...The supposed salt was a patent kangaroo skin cure, and contained all imaginable, and it was a wonder no fatal results occurred. | Bathurst Free Press and Mining Journal, 18/8/1893, p. 3 | Note the reference to McElhone. |
| bingey | 1900 | The richest alluvial patch in W.A Kurnalpi-was first prospected in a singularly successful way. Reedy, the prospector, took with him from The Cross several blacks, and was away many weeks, when he brought into Coolgardie about 1,200oz. of gold. His plan was to give his blacks a good breakfast of porridge and send them out in different directions with instructions to "spec" till night. According as the hands contained colors or slugs at night depended the porridge extension of the "bingey" of the speckers. When Reedy left Kurnalpi he was under the impression that the potentialities of porridge had depleted its surface of gold. | West Australian Sunday Times (Perth), 29/7/1900, p. 7 | Gossip column. |
| bingey | 1907 | Miss Ada Lawrence, the star with (he Anderson Co., at His Majesty's, is a soft-eyed little lady with a good stock of natural talent and earnestness. Is a marvellous study, as she carries in her pretty little noddle the script of nearly seventy dramas. Broke all records once by assuming fifteen lady characters in as many nights. Played Eve in Father Duff's "The Two Worlds" over in Ballarat, and considering the fact that she was "supported" by an Adam, with a hiccough and a protruding bingey, she did remarkably well in the character of the World's First Flossie. Since that awful drama Miss Lawrence has devoted her talents to depicting the wronged wife, who, in a garret, rejects the villain who offers to buy her prop. diamonds and sealskin jackets made from Boodlekine rabbits. | Sunday Times (Perth), 19/5/1907, p. 9 | Theatre review. |
| bint | 1945 | I had not heard "sort" used as a synonym for "sheilah" until I joined the Army. It still survives, but is less popular than the equally ugly Arabic "bint" which, it is sad to think, because it has nothing to commend it, seems to have come to stay. | The West Australian, 24/11/1945, p. 5 | Article 'Brave New Words'. |
| Black Maria | 1847 | GREAT TROTTING MATCH IN AMERICA.-The second meeting for a trial of speed between the celebrated horses Hector and Black Maria, took place on the 11th of May, for a purse of 200 dollars, two mile heats, under the saddle, and terminated with the same result as the previous one-Black Maria not proving a match for Hector. It was supposed by the friends of the mare that her defeat in the 1000 dollars match on the 1st of May, was caused by her being overtrained, which had produced weakness; and they calculated that she would be able to beat him at a future time, when in better condition. This opinion, however, proved a fallacy. | Bell’s Life in Sydney and Sporting Reviewer, 23/10/1847, p. 1 | So 'Black Maria' was not an unknown name. |
| Black Maria | 1858 | Baxter's boat was a whaleboat, as was also Keefe's, the Black Maria was a fishing boat, and the Frances Jane was a skiff. On starting, the Cornstalk took the lead, followed by Black Maria, then Black Swan, and Frances Jane last. | Bell’s Life in Sydney and Sporting Reviewer, 6/2/1858, p. 2 | A report of the Second Dapto Regatta. The race was one by Baxter (Cornstalk). |
| Black Maria | 1868 | She requested him to move away, whereupon the vagabond took off his cap, which was full of soot, and flung it in her face, nearly blinding the poor girl by the outrage. The ruffian could not pay the five-pound fine imposed upon him, and in default he was carted away in the congenial "Black Maria," or prisoner's van, to gaol, there to undergo two months' imprisonment and hard labor. | Launceston Examiner, 18/7/1868, p. 2 | The offence and trial happened in London. |
| Black Maria | 1893 | Let us suppose a case. When any festive youth of Little Bourke street, overcome, perhaps, by copious libations at the shrine of Bacchus, winds up his revelry by 'stoushing a Chow,' or, if remonstrated with by a guardian of the peace, punctuates his arguments with a brick, he is promptly run in, tried, and sentenced to say, five, years. He is then sent out to Pentridge in the 'Black Maria,' with a little band of kindred souls, all chained together, and whiling away the tedium of the journey by defiantly warbling 'Home, sweet Home,' or ' A Bandit's life for Me,' in various sharps and flats. | The Coburg Leader, 15/3/1893, p. 4 | A visit to Pentridge, and now the term has currency in Australia. |
| bloke | 1848 | When did you get out Benney? I gave you up my lad, I made sure it was a go with you. That ere Bloke was nigh Bellussing us. Ven I vos in that ere Kex cadame, as the black and vile uns kalls it, I singed-never no more. But I thinks the Beek didn't no me, so Jack gets served, and I napped Thrums in Slangs. | Bell’s Life in Sydney and Sporting Reviewer, 26/2/1849, p. 1 | Said to be 'A conversation between two well dressed men on the corner of George and Market Streets'. The parallels with Sam Weller's speech suggest an English origin? |
| bloke | 1850 | I suppose I was gone about half an hour; when I came back Mr. Brownrigg was just come up to the hut; he was on horseback; he came to the hut door and said, are you ready to go to Longford ; we both answered yes; he said, well, I most go and get the mare shod; he went away, and was gone twenty minutes; when he came back he said, has Mac been over? we, said no, he said well you can go when the coach comes, and I'll stop and give Mac the key of the hut; I remember when Brownrigg took his horse to be shod, Mullay said, "I'll watch the bloke and see, whether he goes over to Mac's;" the coach came and we went away to Longford; when we got there Mr. Hortie was from home, and we waited till Mr. Brownrigg came there, and he sent us back to Perth | Launceston Examiner, 10/7/1850, p. 4 | Trial evidence: Mullay was one of two charged with murder. |
| bloke | 1853 | At the rate of about three knots on hour we journeyed on and on, till a fear arose in our usually undaunted bosoms that we must be benighted in the scrub, unless speedy relief were presented to us in the shape of a Pub! At length our 'grief was driven into madness' of joy by the exclamation of our driver, 'hallo! you blokes inside, there be a flag at last!' | Bell’s Life in Sydney and Sporting Reviewer, 21/5/1853, p. 2 | Article 'Whitsuntide Sports at Canterbury'. |
| bloke | 1854 | Mr. BROADHURST stated the case, and called James Burns, from whose evidence it appeared that he was a digger, working at Oakenville Creek ; and on the 20th of December last, he went into a public house there, and bad a glass of brandy and water; prisoner with other persons was there, and after a short time prisoner entered into conversation with Burns, and they had one glass of brandy and water together. Burns had not gone a hundred yards from the public-house, when he felt quite sick, and was obliged to sit down, and in a few minutes prisoner came up, and said "here you are, old bloke," and at once put his hand into my pocket and took out a bag containing eight notes on the Commercial Bank for £2 each, and about 10s. in silver, he also took a double-bladed penknife, and then walked away. Witness swore that he was perfectly conscious all the time, but unable to resist, or assist himself. | Sydney Morning Herald, 21/2/1854, p. 4 | Trial of James Duffey for robbing James Burns. |
| bloke | 1898 | For instance, the word "cove," or "covey," has pretty well died out, but the average user of slang clings to "bloke," or "blokey," with affectionate enthusiasm. "Chap," too, may be said to have been tacitly received into the language. There are curious variations in the argot of different classes. | The Broadford Courier and Reedy Creek Times, 25/2/1898, p. 5 | An article denouncing new slang as debasing the philological currency of the English tongue. |
| bludger | 1897 | Accused came up, called them "a pair of bludgers," and said he would arrest them. Witness denied the accusation, whereupon accused assaulted Bullen. Grotty, who appeared to be under the influence of liquor, claimed that he was a policeman. | Kalgoorlie Western Argus, 22/7/1897, p. 5 | Thomas Grotty, charged with impersonating a policeman. |
| bludger | 1897 | Then there's yet another class-there are the "gaggers" by day and the "bludgers" by night The "bludgers" are the worst type of the lot They pick up the drunks, they are out all night, and ready for anything | Sydney Morning Herald, 11/12/1897, p. 10 | This appears to be a different sense to that used in Kalgoorlie, earlier in the year. The gaggers and bludgers are types of cabmen. |
| bludger | 1899 | BILL BLUDGER-MY OATH! Bill Bludger was the gamest bloke That ever donned a mitten, (verse) | West Australian Sunday Times, 24/9/1899, p. 7 | A poem, originally from 'The Truth', Sydney, by 'The Warrigal'. |
| bludger | 1900 | 'Bli-me! I rolls me portfolio. Pads the hoof with a cronk pin. The old slush was on fire. I had crook optics. I spars up to the bludger. Cracks graft. He skied his rockets and cracked a deaf 'un. I guyed a whack. Pads it back, and 'ere I am dead flat without a bean." The translation of this very hideous talk is given as follows:-"I rolled my swag up. Walked out with a sprained foot. The sun was very hot, and I had sore eyes. I walks up to the manager, and asks for work. He put his hands in his pockets, and wouldn't listen to me. I turned away from him, walked back, and here I am without money, not even a penny." Little wonder at anybody's "cracking a deaf 'un" to a request couched in such terms ... Australia has no distinctive slang amongst her country people, such as obtains, for instance, in the United States. But better far be without anything of the kind, which, after all, is useful mainly to the romance-maker, than possess such a degraded spec[i]men as that g[i]ven above. | Australian Town and Country Journal, 12/5/1900, p. 21 | A quotation from an unidentified "Queensland contemporary" (i.e., newspaper). |
| blue (in the sense of lose money) | 1898 | Thus quite important city merchants will tell you nonchalantly that they "blued their stuff" in such and such a venture; while the partizan of the paddock on the racecourse prefers to express himself" as having "blued his good greed." | The Broadford Courier and Reedy Creek Times, 25/2/1898, p. 5 | An article denouncing new slang as debasing the philological currency of the English tongue. |
| Blue Mountain parrot | 1823 | ORNITHOLOGY. About four years ago a blue mountain parrot was taken from this country to England, by the way of Java and Holland. After an absence of nearly 3 years from its native place the charming little whistler laid two eggs ; and the following year, a lately received letter says, this bird produced ten more eggs! | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 3/4/1823, p. 2 | This bird is better known today as the rainbow lorikeet. |
| Blue Mountains | 1808 | To be Let, for any Term that maybe agreed on. Two valuable and desirable Farms, well adapted for stock, &c.. commanding an extensive pasturage, and known by the name of Kearn's Retreat, at Richmond Hill or Nepean Point, containing 160 acres, 50 clear, with two miles square of pasturage bounded by the Rivers Nepean, Gross and Blue Mountains; and the other Jones's at Kissing Point containing 30 acres, all clear, adjoining the Common; and for the accommodation of the Tenant two parts ploughs, harrows, and harness will be let with the Farms. for particulars enquire of M. Kearns Pitt's Row, Sydney. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 25/12/1808, p. 2 | The old name was Carmarthen Ranges, but this does not appear in Trove. This ad appeared also on the next two Sundays. |
| Blue Mountains | 1814 | IT having been long deemed an Object of great Importance by His EXCELLENCY the Governor to ascertain what Resources this Colony might possess in the interior, beyond its present known and circumscribed Limits, with a View to meet the necessary Demands of its rapidly increasing Population; and the great Importance of the Discovery of new Tracts of good Soil being much enhanced by the Consideration of the long Continued Droughts of the present Season, so injurious in their Effects to every Class of the Community in the Colony, His EXCELLENCY was pleased some Time Since to equip a Party of Men, under the Direction of Mr. GEORGE WILLIAM EVANS, one of the Assistant Land Surveyors (in whose Zeal and Abilities for such an Undertaking he had well founded Reason to confide); and to furnish him with written Instructions for his Guidance in endeavouring to discover a Passage over the Blue Mountains, and ascertaining the Quality and general Properties of the Soil he should meet with to the Westward of them, | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 12/2/1814, p. 1 | The first official reference to the Blue Mountains in the press, and the first other than the ad (and repeats) for Kearn's retreat. This was the preamble to a report of Evans' findings. |
| bluegum | 1803 | On Wednesday last the following statement of Timber, &c. sent on board the Glatton on account of Government was concluded, viz. 162 Pieces of crooked and straight Timber, from 41 and a half feet to 10 feet in length, and from 10 to 20 inches in Diameter: The species consist of Mahogany, Stringy-bark, iron-bark, Black and Blue Gum, and Box; most of which are fit for Ship-building; the number of solid Feet is estimated at 4,700. 55 Pieces of a Wood resembling Lignum Vitae, lately found; it dyes a light yellow, and may be useful for that purpose, as well as for the Pins and Sheaves of blocks. 30 Casks of Blue Gum Bark, which has been so successfully used in this Colony for tanning Leather. Some Grindstones. 2 Casks of Iron Ore, as a Specimen. Exclusive of the above, 113 Plank and Logs of She-oak have been sent to different individuals. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 15/5/1803, p. 2 | News report. |
| bluetongue | 1849 | December 26.--The natives brought us a few pieces of fish and turtle, but it was almost rotten; they also gave us a blue-tongued lizard, which I opened and took out eleven young ones, which we roasted and ate. There was nothing but scales on the old one, except in its tail. We always equally divided whatever we got from the natives, be it what it might; but they brought us very little that was eatable. I could easily perceive that their pretended good feeling towards us was assumed for the sake of fulfilling their own designs upon us. Although they tried to make us believe they were doing all in their power to benefit us, their object was to obtain an opportunity of coming upon us by surprise and destroying us. | Narrative Of An Expedition Undertaken Under The Direction Of The Late Mr. Assistant Surveyor E. B. Kennedy , William Carron, p. 74 | Sydney: Fairfax and Kemp |
| bluetongue | 1876 | ...a land shell Helix bidwelli, by Mr. J. A. Henderson; a scrub wallaby Halmaturus ualabatus, by Mr. J. A. Boyd; a snake (new species of Hoplocephalus?), from Kiandra, by Mr. R.J. Campbell; an egg of the brush turkey Talegalla lathami), from Burraway Creek, near Berrima, by Mr. T. Glencowe; a blue-tongued lizard (Trachydosaurus sp.) from Mount Victoria, by Mr. D. Adams; 2 large specimens of a species of rock snake (Lialis amethystinus), alive, from Cape York, by Mr Walter Powell; 1 Falcunculus frontatus, 1 Dicaeum hirundinaceum, by Mr. W. Bradley, Randwick; 1 pelican (Pelicanus conspecillatus), by Mr. J. A. Boyd... | The Sydney Morning Herald, 10/6/1876, p. 6 | List of recent donations of specimens to the Australian Museum. (The next eight instances are all from A.M. donations.) |
| bluetongue | 1889 | Reptiles.-Brown-banded snake, Hoplocephlus curtus, Mr. H. J. M'Cooey; Hoplocephalus ramsayi, Mr. H. J. M'Cooey; brown snake, Diemenia super ciliosa, Mr. H. J. M'Cooey; lizard, Typhlops nigres cens, Rev. W. S. Frackleton; Blue-tongue lizard, Tiliqua gigas, Mrs. M. Hall; blue-tongue lizard, Tiliqua gigas, Mr. H. Newcombe; Slow-worm, Pygopus lepidopus, Mr. Harry Wells. | The Sydney Morning Herald, 12/1/1889, p. 12 | The first instance of "blue-tongue" as opposed to "blue-tongued". |
| bob (shilling) | 1838 | The 'plant,' is successful; the bet is made; the stranger of course loses, and the gentleman with the thimbles consoles him as he pockets the money with an assurance that it's all the fortín of war! this time I vin, next time you vin; never mind the loss of two bob and a bender! | Colonial Times (Hobart), 13/3/1838, p. 5 | This is one of the sketches by Boz (Charles Dickens), proving an English origin for the word. The action described is thimble-rigging. |
| bob (shilling) | 1874 | Being asked if she had any reason for leaving, with the most charming naivete she answered the bench with drooping mein, that "she didn't like to say," and mademoiselle could not be cajoled or commanded to give the why or the wherefore. At this crisis, Host Fuller was "boxed," and having shoved his nose into Jeremiah he explained that he had no fault to find with the "gal." She was a stunner and no gammon. He liked her much. He had hired her in Sydney as cook at fourteen bob a week, and the "run of her Dover," and she had pleased him mightily these four months, but the other evening she skedaddled, and left them potluck, and he didn't think that according to Cocker. She had ten pounds odd coming as wages. | The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser, 19/2/1874, p. 2 | A charge under the Masters and Servants Act, heard at Walgett. |
| bodgie | 1950 | Other hundreds of pallid, long-haired young males are slaves of a moronic fashion that is taking them out of their out-moded zoot-suits and drape-shapes and putting them into the uniform of the Bodgies, in ankle-tight trousers or a farm-worker's jeans, and forcing them to leave the tails of their plaid-checked shirts waving in the wind. | Sydney Morning Herald, 30/9/1950, p. 9 | This in a discussion of male fashions. |
| bodgie | 1950 | EVER heard of "the bodgie" and "the weegie"? They are the names of the two new hair-do's that are catching on at South Coast beaches this season. The bodgie is for boys; the weegie for girls. The bodgie is better known as the American 'crew cut' or 'college cut,' and is particularly popular with surfers. The hair is close-cropped all over — with scissors, not clippers — but it doesn't look as though the wearer has just come out of a shearing shed. For the weegie cut, the hair is cut almost as short as a man's but is complete with side-burns, and like the bodgie, is combed back to meet at the back of the head. | The Courier-Mail, 6/10/1950, p. 8 | Note that this is Brisbane's south coast. |
| bonzer | 1904 | . . . adjoining the Lone Hand, is the Bonzer, a new syndicate property. it is reported that Messenger, the prospector, has struck the reef at the northerly end of the Bonzer,. and traced it to the southern boundary. The stone gives excellent dolly prospects of fine gold. | Kalgoorlie Western Argus, 12/1/1904, p. 7 | Was this the origin of the word? Probably not. |
| bonzer | 1904 | 'How did I barrack, eh?" I say gleefully to my son. "You barracked a bonza," he answers, "but there were moments when I was ashamed of you!" | The Argus, 4/6/1904, p. 5 | The variation in spelling suggests to me that the mine did not start the usage. A football match. |
| bonzer | 1904 | 'Not venomous! Rats! He'd squeeze you to death in one act. I say, Bill, ain't his noo skin bonza?" | The Argus, 23/7/1904, p. 5 | The variation in spelling suggests to me that the mine did not start the usage. At the zoo, regarding a python. |
| bonzer | 1905 | Tired out, all retire to rest, but not to sleep. Excitement runs high, and the cold is intense. "By jingo, it is a bonza all right," "I say, have you got any blankets?" | Camperdown Chronicle, 10/1/1905, p. 4 | A different sense? Extreme, rather than good? |
| bonzer | 1906 | 'Never mind, dear," said her husband; "we'll soon shift the dirt. It will take a bonzer cyclone to move this kipsy." | The West Australian, 6/1/1906, p. 2 | Seems to mean large, rather than good |
| bonzer | 1906 | We'd better slip out and secure our ground. There'll be a bonzer rush when they find us out. | Western Mail, 10/3/1906, p. 48 | Approaching the modern sense. |
| boodle | 1898 | ... we find ... a leading delegate at the Federal Convention assuring his brother delegates that the smaller States wanted "the lion's share of .the boodle." "Boodle," of course, is American, and the use of the expression is perhaps justified by the frequency with which it is mentioned in Yankee politics. But "the lion's share of the spoil" would be a far "neater expression," although perhaps it does not convey the same fine and subtle aroma of political and municipal corruption as the slang term. | The Broadford Courier and Reedy Creek Times, 25/2/1898, p. 5 | An article denouncing new slang as debasing the philological currency of the English tongue. |
| boodle | 1900 | The Opposition were unsparing in their denunciation, of the brutal strength of the majority—as all Oppositions are—and of the conduct of the Chairman, of Committees and of the Government. The latter were among other things termed, "dirty tools of a boodle syndicate," and "political thieves:" and the Chairman's actions were loudly declared to be a scandal and an outrage. | Australian Town and Country Journal, 3/11/1900, p. 7 | The context was a bill to construct a private railway to carry coal in Queensland. |
| boomerang | 1824 | The overseer, finding it impossible to contend with such a number, retreated; the natives followed, shouting and throwing their spears and boomer-rings, when one of the latter struck Chamberlane's horse, and cut a piece out on the ribs | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 30/9/1824, p. 2 | This was in the vicinity of Mudgee |
| boomerang | 1826 | We were amused after dinner by the throwing of the Bomaring or crooked stick. There seems a sort of magic in it, by the certainty of their making it come back to where they stand, however forcibly they may throw it from them. | The Australian (Sydney), 20/12/1826, p. 3 | This was during a trip, by foot and by boat, to Brisbane Water, via Manly and Pittwater, this was probably somewhere near Terrigal. |
| boomerang | 1838 | The battle was fought in a valley at the foot of a range of mountains, about 5 miles from the settlement, called Taylor's Range. The three strange tribes encamped at the base of the mountain, and the settlement tribes on a small ridge on the opposite side of a valley. After painting themselves, and covering their heads and bodies with the gaudiest parrot's feathers, they sent three of their skippers, or young men, armed with spears and boomerangs, to challenge the hostile tribes, who were similarly painted and dressed, and stood with spear and shield in hand at the foot of the mountain, and presented a most formidable appearance. The skippers ran up to the enemy's camp, and, after boasting of the superior valour of their tribes, the goodness of their sight, the force with which they threw their spears and bomerangs, returned unmolested to their own camp. | The Australian, 25/10/1838, p. 2 | A description of a battle fought between Aborigines near Moreton Bay. There is considerable detail on the way such affairs were conducted. The spelling bomerang was quite common. |
| borak | 1893 | To use for the purpose of controverting an argument the epithets illogical wishy-washy, Domain loafers, drunkards, incapables, &c., may no doubt be the easiest and most natural method available to the writer in distress but Mr Abbott is more to be pitied than blamed. He gives us his best and choicest rhetorical flowers. With regard to having shirked answering his question whether it was a sin for a working man to save £1 per week the reason I did not notice it was that it appeared to me too silly a question to be asked seriously. I thought he was only what is called "poking borac" or joking. However, if it will prove any balm to his ruffled feelings, I must admit that I cannot see any special wickedness in his doing so but I shall require the loan of Mr Abbott's spectacles before I shall be able to perceive the possibility of his doing so, and I don't think his chances in that direction will improve if there should be any increase in political economists of Mr Abbott's type. | The Sydney Morning Herald, 10/4/1893, p. 8 | Letter to the editor from a Fitzjohn Hall. No reference is made here to modern politicians. though modern critics may discern striking parallels. |
| borak | 1896 | A policeman is a "Johnny" Or a copman or a "trap," And a thing obtained on credit Is invariably "strap," A conviction's known as "trouble," And a gaol is called a "jug," And a sharper is a "spieler," And a simpleton's a "tug." If he hits a man in fighting, That is what he calls a "plug." If he borrows money off you He will say he bite your "lug." And to "shake it" is to steal it, And to "strike it" is to beg, And a jest is "poking borac" And the jester "pulls your leg." | Worker (Brisbane), 3/10/1896, p. 5 | Verse called 'Colonial Slanguage', attributed only to Orange Leader. |
| bosker | 1912 | When the tribe of pommies, jimmy grants, and unregistered lime-juice lickers hears a native of the soil who is a groper—refer to them in any of the following terms, a "boshter," "bontodger," "bonza," "boshtering" or "bosker" bloke, he need not go sour and agitate his Lancashire clogs with the intention of kicking the spruiker of this chat in the "darby kell" because all these expressions represent the dead limit of admiration. If, on the other hand, the same person were to refer to him as "a dead nark," "Noah's Ark," "backer-and filler," "twister," or "purple-imp (pimp), he would be perfectly justified in getting in early with his brogans, or skate in with the hobnail express, which is another way of saying that he ought to bog his "daisy roots," otherwise his "crabs" or "John Hunters" into the frame of the blighter that "poked mullock" at him. | Sunday Times (Perth), 10/3/1912, p. 9 | A discussion on slang for new arrivals. |
| bowyangs | 1892 | I had to gang through a wee bit track not owre muckle wider than mysel', and carry a load on ma back eneuch to foonder a horse, and mud owre my boot tops; aye, and oft to ma bow-yangs, | Warragul Guardian and Buln Buln and Narracan Shire Advocate, 20/9/1892, p. 3 | Scots accent is being represented. |
| bowyangs | 1901 | One of the latest fashions for ladies' wear, a product of the Jingo craze, is the Baden Powell girdle, which is of the leather bandolier variety, but instead of being slung shoulderwise, takes the place of an ordinary belt; but is worn extremely low, the effect of the foolish idea being to considerably impede the wearer's locomotion. Thereupon a yarn. The wife of a prominent St. George's Terrace stockbroker had just returned from the Melbourne celebrations, and arrived in Perth wearing one of the circlets mentioned. Just as she alighted from the train an old battler from the Nor-west spotted her. "S'truth!" he gasped to his equally amazed mate. "What price her sircingle?" The other guffawed. "That ain't a sircingle," he said. "Well" demanded the first speaker, "what is it?" His mate took another gaze at the impeding girdle under discussion. "If it ain't a bowyang," he remarked reflectively, "then it's one of her HOBBLES."!! | West Australian Sunday Times, 16/6/1901, p. 5 | In 1901, Baden-Powell was the hero of the Boer War, but six years away from founding the Boy Scouts movement. |
| bowyangs | 1901 | I met an old navvy cobber of mine one. morning last week. He was fully accoutred in moleskins, bowyangs, tucker bag, billy, and shovel. He was heading out West End way. The clatter of his heavy watertight boots on the pavement proclaimed his hurry. He was at the same, time energetically reducing an old clay pipefull of cheap working-class tobacco to smoke, which hung in his wake dispensing an odour strong enough, I observed, to alter the course of a few non-smokers immediately behind him. | Worker (Brisbane), 3/8/1901, p. 22 | Adam Tramp Spins a Yarn. |
| brass razoo | 1927 | Mr. Gully said that the reason that half of the foreigners came was because of relations here who said to the-bosses, on the mines: "Me pusha one truck, you give my brother in Italy a job and he pusha two trucks." . He added that the W.I.U. collected hundreds of pounds a year and sent it to Newcastle. Now that the unemployed wanted money there was not a brass razoo in the place to get. | Barrier Miner, 4/10/1927, p. 1 | Mr. Gully demands that southern Europeans not be employed in Broken Hill in a time of troubles. |
| brass razoo | 1931 | Officer Name ? Applicant-.John James Brown. Officer-What is your total income since last here ? Applicant -Nothing, not a brass razoo. | Border Watch, 22/8/1931, p. 2 | That Ration Ticket', Relief Office conversation. |
| brickfielder | 1830 | Every body looked out anxiously for a good dusting, hoping that each successive hour would bring along with it a hearty "Brickfielder"-far better be pelted with dust than burnt to a cinder. But all in vain. Up to the hour at which we noted down this poor bill of particulars, no relief had come. No sea-breeze kissed the burning cheek; no south-wester bellowed consolation; no thunder-storm had chastised the pestiferous atmosphere; no weeping clouds had shed their compassions upon the torrid ground! | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 16/2/1830, p. 2 | An early name for a southerly buster. |
| brickfielder | 1835 | . . .proximity to all the principal places of business and public resort are not the slightest, and yet at the same time possessing all the advantages of a rural situation, free from that inconvenience so justly and universally complained of in the Town during the summer months, when "Brickfielders" are of such continual occurrence, and affording the purchaser the site for a residence where the invigorating sea breezes may be enjoyed uninterrupted by clouds of dust. | The Sydney Monitor, 6/5/1835, p. 1 | Sale of land on Macquarie Street, Sydney. |
| brum (penny) | 1861 | Bright, newly issued Victorian coppers mixed with the dull yellow coins of the Sailor King; pennies of Gentleman George, looking like miserable starvelings beside the greasy "butcher's pennies" of Georgius Tertius - stout servants that, after 63 years' hard service, beat all younger competitors in size and plumpness. Then we have diminutive Irish halfpence and Irish "thirteens" bearing the unmistakable profile of the Iron Duke, and the national motto "Erin-go-bragh;" to say nothing of the three-legged Manx half-pennies, French sous, American cents, Brummagem tokens, and smooth clumps defying any attempt at recognition, which make up that heterogeneous metallic currency called, by a stretch of courtesy, small change. | The Mercury (Hobart), 9/3/1861, p. 3 | A discussion of small change reveals a probable derivation for the term. |
| budgerigar | 1845 | J.W. ROACH begs to intimate to the residents in the interior that he is a purchaser of LIVE BIRDS, in any quantity, as follows: Plyctolophus Eos, or Kilaw of the Aborigines ; the Rose Parrot of the colonists. Platycercus Novai Hollandiæ, or Cook's Crested Parrot of the colonists. Nanodus Undulatus, or Budgerigor of the Aborigines; the Shell Parrot of the colonists. Mensura Superba, or Mountain Pheasant of the colonists. Alectura Lathami, or Bush Turkey of the Colonists. Also, the Eggs of all the above-named Birds. J. W. R. wishes to inform Captains of vessels and Gentlemen about to leave these shores for Europe, India, or the neighbouring colonies, that he has always on hand Black Swans, Emus, Kangaroos, and many other varieties of Birds and Animals, for sale at his Repository, Hunter-street, Sydney. | Sydney Morning Herald, 23/1/1845, p. 3 | Advertisement. |
| budgerigar | 1865 | The poecil beauty of the budgeree-gha, the metallic brilliance of the bronzewing, and the quaint head-dress of the crested dove, also awoke thoughts of auld lang syne. The wonga wonga, I find, has bred in the gardens: so have the crested dove, the budgeree-gha (of which thousands of pairs have been brought to England since Mr. Gould first imported it), the red-backed, the turquoisine, and the crested grass parrakeets. To Mr. George Macleay the gardens are chiefly indebted for their wonga-wongas. | Sydney Morning Herald, 23/5/1865, p. 5 | This is 'Peter Possum', writing from Regent's Park zoo in London. The word poecil probably means 'variegated'. PP wrote a lot like that. |
| bunya bunya | 1841 | At certain seasons the fruit of certain trees, especially a nut called bunya bunya, of the size of a large walnut, and at other times wild honey, which is very plentiful in the mountains, serve them for food; but as they are only the children of chance, they have plenty of food at one time, and grow quite fat upon it, while at other times they are half starving ; and then, in want of anything better between their teeth, they will chew and suck the cloth with which they have wiped their hands and caught up drops of honey, when revelling in this luxury. | Sydney Morning Herald, 5/5/1841, p. 2 | Report of the German Mission to the Aborigines. Possibly from Queensland? |
| burrawang | 1831 | And beauteous things around are spread; The burwan, with its graceful bend And cone of nuts, and o'er my head The flowering vines their fragrance lend. The grass-tree, too, is waving there, The fern-tree sweeping o'er the stream, The fan-palm, curious as rare. And warretaws with crimson beam. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 16/7/1831, p. 4 | Poem, 'The Gin', by "Hugo". Macrozamia communis |
| bush | 1803 | Upon perusing a paragraph in one of your Papers, which suggested the propriety of converting the Rocks into an Academy for TUMBLERS, I rather conceived that you might, with an equal promise of success, recommend some parts of the bush for an improvement in the talent of DANCING, as there much instruction might be expected from the assistance of the accomplished KANGAROO. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 17/4/1803, p. 3 | This is one of the earliest surviving newspapers. |
| bushed | 1847 | It is well known that scarcely a week passes that some traveller is not bushed for more or less longer periods, in some instances for several days together, and there is much reason to fear that in a country extended as this is, where men are constantly travelling long distances from one part of it to the other, having neither tie nor connexion, any friends to ask or enquire, that many perish who have never been heard of or even missed. It sometimes happens that a shepherd, or stock-keeper, will fall across the bones of some unfortunate traveller, who has thus met with an untimely fate, when an examination takes place at some settler's station or bush public-house, but seldom any particulars are obtained respecting the discovery. | The Moreton Bay Courier, 17/7/1847, p. 4 | Hints for the guidance of travellers on how not to get lost, said to be inspired by the case of one Owen Davis, lost for three days. |
| bushed | 1851 | You've mistaken a few points of misty resemblance, and lost yourself in the ranges of fancy; you're bushed Jack. What say you, if we cut the shop for the nonce, and have a quiet yarn, just as if the ninth of August last had never been, and Ballarat never heard of. | Moreton Bay Courier, 19/6/1852, p. 4 | Dialogue in a story. |
| bushed | 1851 | Luckily the wethers, auld sonsie chields, had mair sense than their shepherd, and at sunset they turned and went home. My good master, when he saw them alone, ordered two men to mount and look for me; they soon found me, and when I came home and told him how I had employed myself, I thought he would have died laughing, at the idea af a 'sticket minister' getting bushed. | South Australian Register, 12/3/1851, p. 4 | Written in Scots dialect (for comic effect?). |
| bushfire | 1831 | Fruit. —The late tempestuous winds have done great damage in the orchard, shaking the young fruit off the trees by bushels. At Baulkham Hills and Kissing Point serious mischief has also been done by the bush-fires. It is feared that, from those combined disasters, fruit this season will be both scarce and dear. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 24/12/1831, p. 2 | This appears to be the earliest use of the expression. |
| bushfire | 1832 | There is a fire in the bush at Lane Cove, which has been burning above a week. It has destroyed one settler's dwelling. The weather is indeed parching, and is not rendered cooler: by these fires in the bush. Another fire burnt a field of hay at Home Bush, on the Parramatta Road, and another large bush fire has been very destructive in the neighbourhood of Windsor. It will be well if we hear of no fields of wheat being burnt. | The Sydney Monitor, 1/12/1832, p. 2 | An early case of Homebush? |
| bushfire | 1834 | A BUSH-FIRE,-the dread of which has long haunted us-occasioned by the natives, but not with any malicious intent, on Thursday last, communicated with a flat loaded with hay, which had been left secured in the rushes a short distance above the flats; in a few seconds the whole of the property in the flat was destroyed; which consisted of half a ton of flour, and 3 tons of hay, belonging to Mr. Gresswell, of Fremantle. The loss is considerable. The flat was the property of Mr. Tanner, known as his large flat, and was worth at least 60l. The flour at the present market price, may be estimated at 25l., and the hay, if delivered at Fremantle, at 36l, making a total loss of 121l. This is a serious calamity, but happily, by the active exertions of a detachment of the 21st Fusiliers, ordered out immediately an intimation was given to his Honor the Lieutenant Governor of the impending danger, the fire, which was spreading its destructive ravages, was got under at a short distance from Mr. Collins' house. | The Perth Gazette and Western Australian Journal, 15/3/1834, p. 251 | Clearly the term was common across the colonies. |
| bushfire | 1843 | 431. But, as respects country that will burn, supposing it was previously infected, would it not become purified from infection, wherever the fire had taken place ?— Yes, it would, in my opinion. 432. Then are you of opinion, that when bushfires are taking place in the country generally, such is an important and favourable time for any fresh adjustment of the runs of clean and infected sheep? — Yes, I think it is. | South Australian Register, 1/11/1843, p. 3-4 | Evidence given to the South Australian Scab in Sheep Committee. Somebody sees value in bush fires, though no South Australian bushfires had been reported up to that time. |
| bushfire | 1854 | FIRE.-One of those, dreadful and sometimes destructive conflagrations, called Bush Fires, occurred on Sunday last in the neighbourhood of South Head. The day was exceedingly sultry, and about 11 o'clock in the forenoon a hot "southerly buster" began to blow, lifting clouds of dust into the air, which, for the remainder of the day, hung like a dark pall above the city. Many pleasure seekers who had gone at an early hour down the bay were constrained from the violence of the gale to take shelter in the nearest spot, and there remain throughout the night. Soon after the hot wind began to blow, (between 11 and 12 o'clock), dark clouds of smoke were seen to ascend from the high bush ranges overlooking Double Bay. To persons at a distance, those clouds appeared at first to be formed of dust, but they gradually became heavier, and sudden bright flashes occasionally breaking through the dark wreaths, told plainly that the bush was on fire. | The Empire, 20/9/1854, p. 5 | The description of the fire continues in some detail. It was a major spectacle, but no homes or lives were lost. The same report was carried also in The Argus, September 26. |
| bushman | 1832 | I cannot close this letter without recommending to those, who feel an interest in the subject, to re-peruse the letters which appeared in the Gazettes of February and March, 1830; and also the book written by Mr. Dawson, late agent to the Australian Agricultural Company at Port Stephens-a work into which, although sometimes led astray by an overkind heart and sanguine temperament, he has condensed much valuable and accurate information upon the private feelings and character of the aborigines, I am, Gentlemen, your most obedient Servant, A BUSHMAN. | The Sydney Herald, 13/2/1832, p. 4 | A curious view of relations with the original inhabitants, with some understanding, but not a lot. |
| bushranger | 1805 | On Tuesday last a cart was stopped between this settlement and Hawkesbury, by three men whose appearance sanctioned the suspicion of their being bush-rangers. They had been previously observed lurking about the Ponds by a carrier, who passed unmolested, owing perhaps to his having another man in company: they did not, however, take any thing out of the cart they did stop; nor at this time has any account been received of their offering violence to either passengers or other persons; from whence it may be hoped they prefer the prospect of being restored to society to any momentary relief that might be obtained from acts of additional imprudence that could at best but render their condition hopeless. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 17/2/1805, p. 2 | The sense of bushrangers as thieves. |
| bushranger | 1805 | Among other depredations committed by the bush rangers lately absent we hear of two boats, one a large one belonging to Richard Knight, a settler, and the other a small one, to A. Snowden, a carpenter. The building of J. HARRIS Esq. at the swamp was robbed on Friday and one of the delinquents seen on a small island in the channel, the measures adopted by the Officer of Police will we trust soon bring to a conclusion a system of depredation which can not at all events be possibly of long continuance. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 29/12/1805, p. 2 | By now, the sense of bushrangers as thieves is clear. |
| bushranger | 1824 | Dispatches were received this morning from New Norfolk, stating that the bush rangers had visited a sawyer's hut yesterday morning, at the back of Mr. Cook's farm at the River Plenty. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 30/9/1824, p. 2 | These events had taken place in Van Diemen's Land. |
| bushranger | 1835 | His firmness of character, and steadiness of purpose, under all the trying vicissitudes to which he has been exposed, is far beyond any feeble praise I can bestow. His paternal kindness and consideration for every class of settler, has deservedly secured him the confidence and esteem both of high and low, and he possesses at the same time so sanguine a spirit of enterprize, and so great a love of bushranging, that it is impossible to come within his ken, and not feel excited by his influence. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 19/12/1835, p. 2 | This is Colonel Hanson's assessment of Captain Stirling of the Swan River colony, using the old, non-criminal sense of the word. |
| bushwoman | 1869 | This was my plan, which I detailed to Harry as we went along. I was a capital bushwoman, and knew the country well for sixty miles round; often and often had I been out with Uncle after cattle and horses. | South Australian Register, 26/6/1869, p. 3 | From a short story. |
| cabbage tree hat | 1836 | John Williams, stood, indicted for stealing on the 28th June last, one cabbage tree hat, the property of James M'Cam. It appeared that on the evening of the day in question, prosecutor was walking up George Street, prisoner came up behind, took off prosecutor's good Cabbage-tree, and clapped on an old straw hat in its place; prosecutor immediately turned round and seized him He was then given into custody, - Guilty - Sentence, 3 months House of Correction. Prisoner was mistaken, if he supposed an exchange was no robbery. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 14/7/1836, p. 3 | This style of hat was soon to become a symbol. |
| cabbage tree hat | 1841 | We do not think there were less than ten thousand people present; and, oh! what a contrast to a London mob! A new jacket, a pair of snow white trowsers, and a cabbagetree hat, and shirts of every colour but a dirty one, were the prevailing order, of the day; and as for "swell mobs" and "take care of your pockets," they had no more influence upon the feelings of the assembly than if such things, had never been. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 25/5/1841, p. 2 | The day after the Queen's birthday. |
| cabbage tree hat | 1846 | Jackets, superfine blue cloth Ditto pilot ditto Ditto drab moleskin Ditto millers' ditto Ditto white ditto Ditto cord Ditto jean Ditto drill and duck Stockmen's boots Cabbage-tree hats Duck frocks Guernsey frocks Yarn ditto Lambswool vests and drawers Worsted ditto Merino ditto and drawers Royal ribbed ditto Flannel ditto and drawers Jim Crow and wide-awake hats Scotch and Kilmarnock caps Scarlet caps and comforters Macintosh and boat cloaks Drab, doe, and buckskin gloves | The Sydney Morning Herald, 30/3/1846, p. 3 | David Jones' advertisement. |
| cabbage tree mob | 1840 | the Misses Winstanley, their parents, and several friends were repairing to their residence in Clarence-street, when after they had gone along King street a number of boys and youths, covered with cabbage tree hats, and calling themselves natives of the Colony, began annoying and insulting the party, and carried their impertinence so far as to pull off each others' hats and fling them at the females, using such language as it was repeatedly sworn was unfit to be named in court; one of their hats lighting before the younger lady, the sister, lest she should tread on it, kicked it off the path, on which an urchin named Charles Davis, a well known leader of the gang, not more than four feet and a few inches high, and who had repeatedly before insulted the complainant, walked up and coolly told the young lady he had a good mind to give her a kicking, for attempting to tread on the cabbage tree. Miss Winstanley also stated, that she had been repeatedly insulted by the same gang. | The Sydney Herald, 31/12/1840, p. 2 | Now the hat is a gang symbol, and also a symbol of the native-born. |
| cabbage tree mob | 1841 | Several blackguards wearing cabbage tree hats are in the habit of congregating together in the pit of the theatre, and conducting themselves in a most disorderly manner. We thought, that the tribe of the cabbage trees had migrated, for we were told that forty of the mob had gone bay whaling, another nest, however, seems to have sprung up, and we venture to prophecy, that if some of them do not speedily proceed "over the water," that they will be provided with a passage at her Majesty's expense. | The Australian (Sydney), 15/5/1841, p. 2 | Now they are identified as rowdies of a more adult age. |
| cabbage tree mob | 1841 | It is also but fair to state, that their conduct on the field was such as to prove that none of them belonged to the cabbage tree hat mob, who have annoyed the audience at the theatre and other public places. It gives us great pleasure to state that the cabbage tree conduct lately exposed at the Police Office, is repudiated and condemned by every respectable native of the colony. It is strongly suspect[e]d that they are connected with a fraternity of thieves, chiefly of the seafaring class, who get up rows in order to hustle those from whom they hope to obtain booty. | The Sydney Herald, 2/1/1841, p. 2 | The comparison is with a cricket team. |
| canary | 1853 | For the sake of the uninitiated, I must explain that, in digger's slang, a "canary" and half-a-sovereign are synonymous. | A Lady's Visit to the Gold Diggings of Australia in 1852-53, c. 1852-3, p. ch. X | Mrs Charles (Ellen) Clacy |
| caser (5 shillings) | 1892 | His autobiography is worth quoting as a specimen of thieves' English. Take this passage, in which he describes what he did when funds began to get low, and stock was dear - he was a costermonger:- "I went on all straight until things got very dear at the market. I had been down three or four days running, and could not buy anything to earn a deaner (shilling) out of. So one morning I found I had no more than a caser (five shillings) for stock pieces (stock money)." | The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser, 2/8/1892, p. 6 | The term is thus seen to be English. |
| Catherine Hayes | 1859 | ...the following are a few of the names of the favorite beverages : A stonefence, gingerbeer and brandy; a spider, lemonade and brandy; a sensation, half-a-glass of sherry; a constitutional, glass of gin and bitters; a cocktail, brandy, bitters, and sugar; a smash, ice, brandy, and water; a julip, brandy, sugar, and peppermint; a maiden, peppermint or cloves; a Catherine Hayes, claret, sugar, and orange; a Madame Bishop, port, sugar, and nutmeg; a Lola Montes, old tom, ginger, lemon, and hot water; a land of hope, lemon syrup. | The South Australian Advertiser, 31/3/1859, p. 2 | Quoting Frank Fowler's Southern Light, published in 1859. |
| celestials | 1856 | John Chinaman had, even at this early day, visited our shores, and one or two had found their way to Ballarat by the time the first rush took place to Mount Alexander, and the celestial diggers were not wanting in powers of adaptation to the circumstances in which they found themselves | The Star (Ballarat), 11/10/1856, p. 1s | An early goldfields use of a far older term. |
| chap | 1898 | For instance, the word "cove," or "covey," has pretty well died out, but the average user of slang clings to "bloke," or "blokey," with affectionate enthusiasm. "Chap," too, may be said to have been tacitly received into the language. There are curious variations in the argot of different classes. | The Broadford Courier and Reedy Creek Times, 25/2/1898, p. 5 | An article denouncing new slang as debasing the philological currency of the English tongue. |
| chooks | 1895 | Construction of Fowlhouses "Chooks" (Forbes) : An article on this subject will appear in an early issue next week, if possible. | Australian Town and Country Journal, 7/9/1895, p. 10 | An enquirer has used "Chooks" as a pseudonym. |
| chooks | 1899 | FOWL PLAY, OR A STORY OF A BAKER AND THE CHOOKS | Morning Post (Cairns), 11/1/1899, p. 3 | Headline to a story of poultry theft. |
| chooks | 1899 | It is a wise child that knows its own father, and, by the same token, it is a knowing woman that can recognise her own rooster by his voice. A Carlton lady lost her fowls the other night, and subsequently, when passing along a neighbouring street, she was agreeably surprised to hear the familiar crow of her lost chanticleer, 'Old Hen.' Two lessons are to be learned from this good lady's experience. If you keep your own fowls, get a rooster with a voice you can remember. If you go in for acquiring other people's 'chooks,' be careful to gag or otherwise suppress the tuneful notes of the 'herald of morn.' | Sunbury News and Bulla and Melton Advertiser, 19/8/1899, p. 3 | In a section headed Notes and Comments. Clearly the word chook was not yet standard in Victoria: note the quotation marks. |
| chow | 1899 | The Trades and Labour Council of New Zealand is very anxious to get legislation to prevent the individual acquisition of wealth... A law to prohibit the individual acquisition of marbles would prevent the "muckers" of the school—such is the term by which the crack marble players are known—gathering in the "chows" and "stonys" and "aggys" of his schoolmates | The Queenslander, 15/4/1899, p. 673 | Column 'Jottings by the Way' |
| Christmas Bush | 1861 | The genus Ceratopetalum is so called from the horn-like petals of some species. C. gummiferum is the Christmas bush of the colonists, and is well worthy of the name. Dr Bennett, in his "Gatherings of a Naturalist," remarks that "in every instance in which an attempt has been made to remove it, the tree has perished, nor have seeds succeeded except such as have been self sown." | Sydney Morning Herald, 20/12/1861, p. 8 | The writer was the Rev. William Woolls, an excellent but now little-known colonial botanist. He wrote extensively for the SMH, and many of his articles in Trove are now tagged with his name. |
| Circular Quay | 1836 | CIRCULAR WHARF. From Captain Barney, Royal Engineers, on the subject of the projected Quay at the Head of Sydney Cove. Sydney, July 16th, 1836, Sir, — I have the honor to return herewith, the Documents which accompanied your letter of the 29th ultimo relative to the proposed Quay at the Head of the Sydney Cove. In obedience to the order of His Excellency the Governor, I have given the subject attentive consideration. I have also examined the Cove and Tank Stream, and submit the following observations:— | The Australian (Sydney), 16/9/1836, p. 2 | This gives the lie to the tradition that lazy Sydneysiders contracted "Semi-Circular Quay" to the current puzzling name. |
| clear out | 1898 | The man who used to "cut his stick" now "hooks it," or "clears out." | The Broadford Courier and Reedy Creek Times, 25/2/1898, p. 5 | An article denouncing new slang as debasing the philological currency of the English tongue. |
| clobber | 1896 | Things are "crook" when they go wrongly In the language of the "push," But when things go as he wants 'em He declares it is "all cush." When he's bright he's "got a napper," But he's "ratty" when he's daft, And when looking for employment He is "out o' blooming graft." And his clothes he calls his "clobber" Or his "togs," but what of that When a "castor" or a "kady" Is the name he gives his hat ! And our undiluted English Is a fad to which we cling, But the great Australian language Is a truly awful thing. | Worker (Brisbane), 3/10/1896, p. 5 | Verse called 'Colonial Slanguage', attributed only to Orange Leader. |
| cobber | 1890 | 'Nock off the tid"—from what standard moralist of the mother-land was this epigrammatic succinctness stolen? "Be cobbers till I come back"—is that but a result of foreign culture ? If Australian Police Courts would only go on exhuming such specimens as this they would soon redeem our united country from the charge of having no literature of our own. | The Queenslander, 16/8/1890, p. 298 | Part of an essay on language |
| cobber | 1899 | Bill's cobber then proposed a joke, And none of them objecting, They took an iron bar and cut A big hole in his sinciput The tecs, are still detecting My oath! | West Australian Sunday Times, 24/9/1899, p. 7 | A poem, originally from 'The Truth', Sydney, by 'The Warrigal'. |
| cobbler's pegs | 1864 | (1.) Asteraceae.-The species of Introduced plants belonging to the Composites, are rather numerous, some of them being very troublesome weeds, and increasing with the greatest rapidity, owing to the easy manner in which the seeds of many species are wafted from place to place, Erigeron Canadense and E. linifolium are of this character, and are well-known pests to the agriculturist under the name of cobbler's pegs, Gnaphalium luteo album and G. Indicum grow almost everywhere in waste places, and are apparently of little use to man. | Sydney Morning Herald, 23/6/1864, p. 2 | William Woolls refers here to another species given this same common name, but not the one known by that name today, Bidens pilosa. |
| cobbler's pegs | 1879 | It is somewhat doubtful whether the following thirteen may not really be indigenous : —Silene gallica, Linn., or French catchfly ; Stellaria media, Linn.; Xanthium spinosum, Linn., or Bathurst burr ; Bidens pilosa Linn., or cobbler's pegs; Galinsoga parviflora, Cav. ; Tagetes glandulifera, Schranck ; Physalis peruviana, Linn., or Cape gooseberry ; Rumex acetosella, Linn.', or; sheep's sorrel ; Chenopodium ambrosoides, Linn. Sisyrinchium micranthum, Cav. ; Cynodon dactylon, Pers., or common couch grass ; Holcus lanatus, Linn., or meadow soft grass; Lipocarpha argentea, R. Brown. | The Darling Downs Gazette and General Advertiser (Toowoomba), 18/7/1879, p. 3 | On Some of the Introduced Plants of Queensland', F. M. Bailey. Earlier references to "cobbler's pegs" appear to refer to other species. |
| cobbler's pegs | 1901 | A yellow and white dog, evidently a companion of the boys, starts to sniff and growl as the boys are going past a log, around which grew in a thick clump thistles and cobbler's pegs. "A snake, a snake; shake him Rover. There he goes under the log," said Bobby. " See him Jack ?" "Yes, ain't he a whopper; catch him Rover, you silly coot. Rover doesn't seem to think it altogether healthy to venture among the weeds, so stays where he is and barks." "Wait till I get a stick and poke him from the other side," says Bob. "You can watch and sool Rover on him when he comes out." | Clarence and Richmond Examiner (Grafton), 19/2/1901, p. 2 | One a Cockie's Farm', short story by 'Scribbler'. |
| cock-eye bob | 1884 | There is another kind of storm known as Cock-eye Bob. It usually comes on at noonday and lasts till midnight. The first warning you have of its approach is a violent dust storm. This is succeeded by reports of thunder and frequent flashes of lightning. Finally, the rain sets in steadily for some hours. When it ceases all is so calm and tranquil that you can scarcely believe such a boisterous affair had taken place. These storms are of frequent occurrence during the rainy season, there being sometimes as many as two or three in a week. The wet season is not without its injurious effects on the settlers. | The Inquirer & Commercial News, 6/8/1884, p. 4 | This does not appear to be the later accepted sense of the term. |
| cock-eye bob | 1885 | The weather on Friday last was intensely and unbearably hot, while the glass showed a downward tendency. A 'cock eye bob,' or better known as a 'willy willy,' is looked for at any time from now to March, and the low glass of Friday last led many to think that the elements were working up on the North-west coast. | The Inquirer & Commercial News, 16/12/1885, p. 5 | This equates willy-willy and cock-eye bob, previously distinguished from each other. |
| cock-eye bob | 1886 | We left Derby accompanied by the best wishes of its inhabitants and proceeded on our voyage, two days afterwards encountering a "Cock-eyed-Bob," though not one of a very serious nature. These "Cock-eyed Bobs " are sort of hurricanes accompanied by pouring rain, alternating with calms. On the 13th April we sighted Lacrosse Island and entered the mouth of the Gulf passing some extraordinary hills of striking geological formation, and reaching View Hill, where we came to an anchor at 2 p.m. Messrs. Forrest and Price and others went ashore at once and visited the two stores, run respectively by Messrs. Durack and Lucanas. These stores are placed at the base of View Hill which is a mount 600 feet high sparsely covered with vegetation. This locality did not impress the Chiefs as an eligible site for the township of Wyndham. The storekeepers have been here six months and state that they have not yet been molested by natives. | The West Australian, 13/5/1886, p. 5 | Clearly not the same as a 'willy-willy'. Report of the Cambridge Gulf Expedition. |
| cock-eye bob | 1888 | From the Southern Cross good news is to hand. Messrs. Saw, Courthope and Mason have discovered a reef about four miles from the present workings, which shows gold freely, and crushes good results. At present we are well supplied with water at the Government tanks, but it will take more than one respectable day's rain to settle the water difficulty; in fact a disreputable old "Willy-Willy" or two, with-several "Cock-eyed-Bobs" every now and again would not settle it. At present there is not a great amount of stone at grass, for a crushing plant to work on, but, by the time one was erected here, I am of opinion that it would be kept going for some time and with a payable result. | The West Australian, 9/10/1888, p. 3 | Clearly, this writer saw the cock-eyed bob and a willy-willy as different. |
| cock-eye bob | 1908 | No occupants of premises facing the north dared to keep their doors open. No tornado, Nor'-West "cockeyed bob," southerly-buster, or goldfields willy-willy has ever blown with more force than did this storm. Unlike the previous gale, which concentrated its fury rather upon the western end of Kalgoorlie, this storm took in the whole municipality, as much damage being done by it in the east end of the town as in the west. It raged with a fierceness that drove everyone in the streets at the time to seek the nearest shelter, yet it had spent its force locally in less then a quarter of an hour. After the lapse of that time the sun shone out upon a scene of widespread damage. | The West Australian, 26/2/1908, p. 7 | These three terms (willy-willy, cock-eye bob and southerly buster) are seen hers as almost-synonyms. |
| coffee tent | 1852 | THE undersigned are purchasers of Gold. CLEVE, BROTHERS & CO.. Elizabeth street, behind the Escort Company's Office. 23rd November, 1852. A WHALEBOAT, for sale, with sail and oars complete. Enquire for Mr Huckell, coffee tent, Liardet's Beach. Also two experienced rowers wanted. Apply as above. | The Argus, 30/11/1852, p. 3 | Classified advertisements. |
| coffee tent | 1853 | The assemblage of light-fingered gentry was amazing— if I were to say they amounted to five thousand in number there would be no over-rating. They had their tents upon the road and their tents upon the diggings, all with distinguishing flags best known to themselves. There were sham coffee-houses; but to these I apply too mild a term, for they were places of resort for all the worst of the vagabonds living upon the spoils of the genuine diggers. If all the quick and the dead of Norfolk Island could have been assembled to match some lots that we saw, it would have been a hopeless task. | South Australian Register, 3/3/1853, p. 3 | A report of a rush at the Ovens. |
| coffee tent | 1853 | IF Mr. JOHN AMBROSE, cabinetmaker, from Cardiff, in Wales, will come to the Wesleyan Immigrants' Home, he will there find his friend David Jones from the same town. H CHAPLIN.-Your Brother is in town; you will find him at Hubbard's Coffee Tent, Beach Road. | The Argus, 20/1/1853, p. 1 | Under the heading "New Advertisements". |
| coffee tent | 1853 | HIGHLY RESPECTABLE PERSON, lately arrived from England, is desirous for a situation as Housekeeper, or a Companion to a lady; she perfectly understands every description of needlework, and should be happy to make herself generally useful: address, A. B., Mr. Bennett's, No. 60, Collins-street. FOR SALE.-A splendid Rifle, by Mortimer, of London: will carry either shot or ball, with bullet-mould complete; apply at the Thorwalsden Coffee Tent, Canvass Town. | The Argus, 26/1/1853, p. 8 | Under the heading "New Advertisements". |
| concertina | 1892 | Much surprise was felt at the time, but it has since transpired that the cook was daily in the habit of striding up and down the kitchen, and roaring out "Bold Jack Donohoo," as he ground out his own accompaniment on the concertina. This considerably annoyed Mr. Ireland, and he frequently cautioned his cook-ship to moderate the transports, as he dossed in the adjoining chamber, and could not bear the dulcet strains of the gentle instrument. No notice being taken, one morning, in a moment of sudden and ungovernable fury, the only, only "George" leaped from his bunk, and dashing through the doorway, hurled himself upon the cook like a catapult. Bearing the astonished songster to the ground, he wrenched the concertina from his grasp and tore the bellows asunder. "You scoundrel," roared the now thoroughly-enraged Mr. Ireland, "if I were only a J.P. I'd sentence you to 3 months in a cook's shop with your mouth sewn up." That's why cookie left. | Windsor and Richmond Gazette, 12/3/1892, p. 10 | The story of a cook who, as cooks go, went (thankyou, 'Saki'!). (see wallaby stew for the prequel) |
| cooee | 1826 | Evening was approaching, our provisions were gone— the servant had been despatched to announce us and prepare for dinner, and the struggling through the rich luxuriant vegetation had wearied us more than all the open country, we were nearly exhausted; the freshest of our party was despatched in the right direction, according to the sun, while we rested ourselves anxiously waiting the concerted signal of "coo-ey," as soon as the path was found. | The Australian (Sydney), 20/12/1826, p. 3 | This was during a trip, by foot and by boat, to Brisbane Water, via Manly and Pittwater, somewhere near Terrigal? |
| cooee | 1828 | They unloaded the dray, put the contents into a vehicle of their own, and carried all clear off. The two drivers were then released, and allowed to proceed on their way with their empty dray. On hearing the news, a settler at Mittigong of the name of Cutter and two of the Police, set off in the direction of the bushrangers, and after scouring the country all about, towards evening they heard a coo-ee. They galloped towards the voice, but saw nothing. After searching a little further however, they were attracted by a distant light. On drawing near they saw a fine large mare beside a fine large fire. On the mare was detected Mr. Cutters, saddle, and close, to the fire, a razor belonging to the same person, a bag belonging to Mr. Justice Atkinson, and a half quarter of beef belonging to some one of Hus Majesty's Mittagong lieges, dangling on a cord of stringy bark. | The Monitor (Sydney), 28/7/1828, p. 8 | Settlers and police were out around Mittagoong, seeking bushrangers who had pillaged a dray. |
| cooee | 1834 | . . . on Monday morning we found the horse in the paddock; I saw where the fire arms was, there was a gunya near it; the body was found about 11 o'clock, the fire was in the same paddock the body was found; it was about half-a-mile from where the fire was, that the body was found; I found it, the deceased was lying on a tree on his back with the left leg downwards, and the righ[t] leg stretched out, and his thumb in the fall of his trowsers, he had on a white jacket. I cooed, and Mr. Johnstone and Mr. Hearne came up; I did not touch the body until Mr. Johnstone came up. | The Australian (Sydney), 11/11/1834, p. 2 | Evidence of Patrick Burns, assigned servant (convict) on the discovery of the murder of Dr, Wardell. |
| cooee | 1841 | . . . shortly after the three left the house, bearing away some property contained in a bag, and one had the musket in his hand; witness coo-eed to her husband, who hastened home with his mate, at the time the prisoners were hurrying off with their booty; M'Bean was identified as the one who had the stick. Henry Wright, husband of the former witness, stated that whilst at his work he heard his wife coo-ee; he ran home and saw the four prisoners at the bar running away at full speed; | The Courier (Hobart, Tas.), 26/10/1841, p. 2 | Evidence in the trial of Samuel Brown, Joseph Hawk, John Hull, and Patrick M'Bean, absconders from a road party, for robbery. |
| Coogee | 1831 | THE GIN. [FOR THE SYDNEY GAZETTE.] Where spreads the sloping shaded turf By Coodge's smooth and sandy bay, And roars the ever-ceaseless surf, I've built my gunya for to-day. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 16/7/1831, p. 4 | Poem, 'The Gin', by "Hugo". |
| coolamon | 1881 | Ducks and other water fowl of all kinds rise up at our approach; the smoke of a native camp is visible on the other side, and as we ride round, to it some of the occupants clamour loudly, and hold up both bands empty in a sign or peace. It is a miserable camp, a few boughs heaped up on the windward side form the shelter, and piles of fresh water mussels, stacked at the foot of a larger tree than the generality, seem the only store of food the denizens possess, Huge "coolamon" (vessels chopped out of soft wood for water-carrying purposes) are scattered about the camp, telling of many a dry tramp from one waterhole to the another. | Border Watch (Mount Gambier), 26/1/1881, p. 4 | Ernest Favenc on 'The Great Austral Plain'. Note the quotation marks: all the rest of the first 40 instances are to a geographical location. |
| cronk | 1900 | "Bli-me! I rolls me portfolio. Pads the hoof with a cronk pin. The old slush was on fire. I had crook optics. I spars up to the bludger. Cracks graft. He skied his rockets and cracked a deaf 'un. I guyed a whack. Pads it back, and 'ere I am dead flat without a bean." The translation of this very hideous talk is given as follows:-"I rolled my swag up. Walked out with a sprained foot. The sun was very hot, and I had sore eyes. I walks up to the manager, and asks for work. He put his hands in his pockets, and wouldn't listen to me. I turned away from him, walked back, and here I am without money, not even a penny." Little wonder at anybody's "cracking a deaf 'un" to a request couched in such terms ... Australia has no distinctive slang amongst her country people, such as obtains, for instance, in the United States. But better far be without anything of the kind, which, after all, is useful mainly to the romance-maker, than possess such a degraded spec[i]men as that g[i]ven above. | Australian Town and Country Journal, 12/5/1900, p. 21 | A quotation from an unidentified "Queensland contemporary" (i.e., newspaper). |
| crook | 1896 | Things are "crook" when they go wrongly In the language of the "push," But when things go as he wants 'em He declares it is "all cush." When he's bright he's "got a napper," But he's "ratty" when he's daft, And when looking for employment He is "out o' blooming graft." And his clothes he calls his "clobber" Or his "togs," but what of that When a "castor" or a "kady" Is the name he gives his hat ! And our undiluted English Is a fad to which we cling, But the great Australian language Is a truly awful thing. | Worker (Brisbane), 3/10/1896, p. 5 | Verse called 'Colonial Slanguage', attributed only to Orange Leader. |
| crook | 1898 | No one is ever ill only "a trifle off color," or, in more severe cases, "feel cronk," or "crook!' or even "shicker." In a word, whatever things people do in the course of their daily existence they seem determined on one salient fact, and that is that they shan't do them in English. | The Broadford Courier and Reedy Creek Times, 25/2/1898, p. 5 | An article denouncing new slang as debasing the philological currency of the English tongue. |
| crook | 1900 | 'Bli-me! I rolls me portfolio. Pads the hoof with a cronk pin. The old slush was on fire. I had crook optics. I spars up to the bludger. Cracks graft. He skied his rockets and cracked a deaf 'un. I guyed a whack. Pads it back, and 'ere I am dead flat without a bean." The translation of this very hideous talk is given as follows:-"I rolled my swag up. Walked out with a sprained foot. The sun was very hot, and I had sore eyes. I walks up to the manager, and asks for work. He put his hands in his pockets, and wouldn't listen to me. I turned away from him, walked back, and here I am without money, not even a penny." Little wonder at anybody's "cracking a deaf 'un" to a request couched in such terms ... Australia has no distinctive slang amongst her country people, such as obtains, for instance, in the United States. But better far be without anything of the kind, which, after all, is useful mainly to the romance-maker, than possess such a degraded spec[i]men as that g[i]ven above. | Australian Town and Country Journal, 12/5/1900, p. 21 | A quotation from an unidentified "Queensland contemporary" (i.e., newspaper). |
| currency | 1825 | So much, for Australian gallantry!—but entre nous, Mr. Editor, I will tell you the cause it was not published?—it was because I wrote some nonsense about, their big wigs and ugly black gowns, without the slightest intention of offending them. And surely, Sir, lawyers; who themselves say such impudent things to poor witnesses who are called before them, ought not to be angry at a joke. I shall not notice master Coachee further than by wishing I was a man for his sake (if so, I should have given him a parading on the Race Course, to improve his manners); but will beg to draw your attention to a matter of much more consequence, I mean the situation of us currency spinsters. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 13/1/1825, p. 5 | Ostensibly, a letter from a girl to the editor, attacking the editor of the "Australian". |
| damper | 1825 | 'Never mind, I shall put him on one side myself.' "How can you," said the other "as you have no tools ? "His companion answered, "I have a good knife and a steel, and I will go to Town and buy a tomahawk. I will return next Friday and lie in wait all Saturday, and if I cannot do it then I will do it on Sunday and whether I catch him standing up or asleep (I would rather catch him asleep), I will first hit him on the head with a tomahawk, and then stick him like a sheep. I will kill that man, Hunt, if ever there was a man killed in the world (throwing down a piece of damper he held in his hand, as if in a passion); by this day week Hunt shall be a dead man." | Hobart Town Gazette, 10/9/1825, p. 4 | Account of the evidence given against John Godalming, later hanged for the murder of Samuel Hunt. |
| damper | 1825 | It certainly is not what we could have wished to see, so abundant that our involved Settlers might afford to pay off all their tradesmen's accounts; and we consequently hope that our liberal Merchants will grant them a further respite. It is certainly not calculated to allow much rum or tobacco, or even tea and sugar. But are such things absolutely requisite? No. Then notwithstanding it is so limited as to forbid the enjoyment of superfluities, we have no doubt that it will give the working family a rasher of good bacon, an excellent damper, and a copious draft of new milk, which, we are presumptuous enough to assert, do not appear indicative of famine. | Hobart Town Gazette and Van Diemen’s Land Advertiser, 28/1/1825, p. 2 | A report on the harvest. |
| damper | 1826 | It appears, that they came to Grimes's hut on Friday morning, and remained nearly all the day. Grimes gave them all the bread he had baked; they eat it, and remained quiet about two hours, when Black Tom accosted Grimes, and said, "you white b--r, give me some more bread, and fry some mutton for us." Grimes being afraid of them, commenced, and (baked a peck or more of flour into bread for them, and cooked three-fourths of a sheep; they devoured the whole, and, in the afternoon, went out to catch opposums [sic].-On their return from the hunt, Tom came to the hut by himself, and ordered Grimes to get some more bread and mutton ready for them by next morning (Saturday). Grimes had another damper ready; but Mr. Black Tom was deprived of partaking of it, as Mr. Laing and the Military happened to call upon him before breakfast, and his next meal was eaten in the cell of Sorell Gaol. | Colonial Times and Tasmanian Advertiser, 15/12/1826, p. 3 | A footnote was considered necessary, explaining damper as "A Colonial term for an unleavened cake, baked under the wood ashes." |
| damper | 1828 | CAMPBELL TOWN.-Your plan of tracing the black natives by means of Sydney blacks, is, in the opinion of the most intelligent here, the only effectual method yet suggested of getting at the black murderers, compared to whom bushrangers were innocent beings. They have acquired such a fondness for our blankets, dampers, flour, sugar, knives etc. that for the sake of them they will continue to rob and murder, until we exterminate them or they us, unless for the sake of humanity they are sent off the island. | The Hobart Town Courier , 12/4/1828, p. 2 | Did anybody mention genocide? |
| dead flat | 1900 | 'Bli-me! I rolls me portfolio. Pads the hoof with a cronk pin. The old slush was on fire. I had crook optics. I spars up to the bludger. Cracks graft. He skied his rockets and cracked a deaf 'un. I guyed a whack. Pads it back, and 'ere I am dead flat without a bean." The translation of this very hideous talk is given as follows:-"I rolled my swag up. Walked out with a sprained foot. The sun was very hot, and I had sore eyes. I walks up to the manager, and asks for work. He put his hands in his pockets, and wouldn't listen to me. I turned away from him, walked back, and here I am without money, not even a penny." Little wonder at anybody's "cracking a deaf 'un" to a request couched in such terms ... Australia has no distinctive slang amongst her country people, such as obtains, for instance, in the United States. But better far be without anything of.\ the kind, which, after all, is useful mainly to the romance-maker, than possess such a degraded spec[i]men as that g[i]ven above. | Australian Town and Country Journal, 12/5/1900, p. 21 | A quotation from an unidentified "Queensland contemporary" (i.e., newspaper). |
| deaf adder | 1832 | And when the sound of the church-going bell is heard in the stillness of the Sabbath morn, swelling its note of tuneful invitation upon the breeze to your homes embosomed in the vast forest, whose long silent echoes that sacred minstrelsy never awoke before, O! be not ye as the deaf adder which stoppeth her ears against the charmer, charm he never so wisely; and O! be well assured, the voice which will then be lifted up in this place, fraught with the message of reconciliation, will move in perfect unison with so harmonious and hallowed a tone, when it also calls on the passers-by in such words as these . . . | The Sydney Herald, 13/12/1832, p. 2 | This gives the lie to the theory that "deaf adder" is a corruption of "death adder": in fact, it is the other way around! |
| deaf adder | 1848 | The reptile upon being trod upon gave a sort of short shrill cry, that was generally supposed by the friends of the deceased to have emanated from a cat. The deceased, however, stoutly maintained that she had trod upon a death adder, whereupon search was made, and the venomous reptile was caught and destroyed. . . As the symptoms apparent upon a human being, after the sting from a death adder, have never been fully described, the following may not be uninteresting:-The deceased trod on the death, or deaf, adder, as it is generally designated, late in the evening, near the steps of a kitchen door; she wore a shoe and thick worsted stocking; she trod on, or so near to the head of the reptile, that little doubt seems to be entertained of the fatal wound having been caused by the sting in its tail. The anomalous fact of a sting in the adder's tail has often been doubted, but is generally supposed to be the case. | The Sydney Morning Herald, 31/3/1848, p. 3 | The death of Mrs. Ann Morrissy at Dundudemore near Wellington. |
| deaner (shilling) | 1892 | His autobiography is worth quoting as a specimen of thieves' English. Take this passage, in which he describes what he did when funds began to get low, and stock was dear - he was a costermonger:-'I went on all straight until things got very dear at the market. I had been down three or four days running, and could not buy anything to earn a deaner (shilling) out of. So one morning I found I had no more than a caser (five shillings) for stock pieces (stock money)." | The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser, 2/8/1892, p. 6 | The term is thus seen to be English. |
| deaner (shilling) | 1896 | 'Tis the everyday Australian Has a language of his own, Has a language, or a slanguage, Which can simply stand alone, And "a dicken push to kid us," Is a synonym for "lie," And to "nark"' means to stop it And to "nib it" means to fly! And a bosom friend's a "cobber," While a casual acquaintance Is a "joker" or a "bloke," And his love's his "donah" Or his "clinah" or his "tart" Or his "little bit o' muslin." As it used to be his "bart." And his naming of the coinage Is a mystery to some, With his "quid" and "half a caser" And his "deener" and his "scrum!" And a "tin-back" is a party Who's remarkable for luck, And his food is called his "tucker" Or his "panem" or his "chuck." | Worker (Brisbane), 3/10/1896, p. 5 | Verse called 'Colonial Slanguage', attributed only to Orange Leader. |
| death adder | 1845 | The Death Adder. This hideous reptile is of a dusky hue, seldom more than two feet and a half long, but immensely thick in proportion to its length. At the extremity of its tail is a small pointed, hardened process, with which the sawyers and labourers fancy that it can inflict a sting like a scorpion. The Death Adder, perhaps, possesses the most intense venom of any Australian serpent, for many persons have, at various periods, died in consequence of its bite, which is most rapidly fatal. Dogs expire in a very few minutes after they are bitten. . . . The Death Adder is extremely sluggish in its habits, and rarely moves out of the way of persons approaching it; I am therefore inclined to think, that the original popular name assigned to this reptile, must have been the Deaf Adder, instead of the Death Adder. | The Sydney Morning Herald, 21/4/1845, p. 3 | This gives the lie to the theory that "deaf adder" is a corruption of "death adder": in fact, it is the other way around! |
| death adder | 1848 | The reptile upon being trod upon gave a sort of short shrill cry, that was generally supposed by the friends of the deceased to have emanated from a cat. The deceased, however, stoutly maintained that she had trod upon a death adder, whereupon search was made, and the venomous reptile was caught and destroyed. . . As the symptoms apparent upon a human being, after the sting from a death adder, have never been fully described, the following may not be uninteresting:-- The deceased trod on the death, or deaf, adder, as it is generally designated, late in the evening, near the steps of a kitchen door; she wore a shoe and thick worsted stocking; she trod on, or so near to the head of the reptile, that little doubt seems to be entertained of the fatal wound having been caused by the sting in its tail. The anomalous fact of a sting in the adder's tail has often been doubted, but is generally supposed to be the case. | The Sydney Morning Herald, 31/3/1848, p. 3 | The death of Mrs. Ann Morrissy at Dundudemore near Wellington. |
| digger | 1849 | SPADES FOR GOLD DIGGERS IN CALIFORNIA. MR. SAMUEL LYONS has for sale by private contract, 20 DOZEN SPADES, most suitable for, the purpose. | The Sydney Morning Herald, 18/1/1849, p. 1 | Advertisement. |
| digging | 1849 | . . .the great 'placer' of the Sacramento valley, where the digging and washing of one man that does not produce 100 troy ounces of gold, from the size of a half spangle to one pound in a month, set the digger to 'prospecting,' that is looking for better grounds. | Colonial Times (Hobart), 12/6/1849, p. 2 | News story: 'The Californian Gold Finders'. |
| diggings | 1848 | The road leads from this to the San Joaquin, which we forded and travelled on to Sutter's Fort, through a country of great richness, and apparently capable of supporting an immense population. But not a human being was now to be seen; rancherias and all had been deserted, and Americans, Californians, and Indians, had all gone to the 'gold diggings.' On arriving at Sutter's, however, we found at the fort a young Manchester. The blacksmith, the turner, the carpenter, and indeed mechanics of every trade actively engaged in their various callings, and all aiming at one grand object, viz., the means of washing the gold at the mines, which are some 40 miles above the fort. | The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser, 27/12/1848, p. 4 | A later entry will show a use of 'diggins' dating back to about 1811—in the USA. |
| diggings, digger | 1817 | When they come to the rock, or to such a depth that it is no longer convenient to throw the dirt out of the hole, they quit, and perhaps commence a new digging, as they term it, within a few feet of that which they have previously abandoned. Each digger works separately for himself, and sells the ore to the proprietor of the soil, at two dollars per 100 lbs. [This was in the southern USA.] | Travels in the Interior of America, 1817, p. 251 | John Bradbury |
| dilly bag | 1829 | On examining the contents of this depot, I found it to consist of a kangaroo net 50 feet long and 5 and a half in width, made of as good twine as any European net, but much stronger and put together in a manner which would do credit to any professed netmaker. A fishing net of the finest material stained black, forming, when in the water, an inverted cone about 7 feet long ; a dilly (a luggage bag which the females carry), this is formed of the leaves of a species of Xanthorhea, strong enough to hold any thing; two ellemans or shields, made of the wood of Urtica Gigas or Gigantic Nettle, as light as cork; two chisels edged with flint, and an iron wedge, evidently stolen from Brisbane Town. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 24/9/1829, p. 2 | Extract from the 1828 journal of Charles Fraser, Colonial Botanist. Note that he says 'dilly', not 'dilly bag'. |
| dilly bag | 1841 | Skins, and sometimes blankets, serve for their covering at night; but in want of these they keep themselves warm, if necessary, by lying close together. Spears, shields, nets, water-utensils, and bags called dilly, are generally stuck or hung up on branches of trees around the hut, or like the waddies and womerahs, deposited in it; but their most formidable, weapon-a stone knife or blade of steel carried about in the girdle, or in a small dilly under the arm—is scarcely ever laid aside. | Sydney Morning Herald, 5/5/1841, p. 2 | Report of the German Mission to the Aborigines. Possibly from Queensland? |
| dilly bag | 1860 | The aborigines of the Kennedy have certainly appeared to me to have more intellect than their southern neighbours, although this varies with the locality ; and I have no doubt that they may ultimately be made more useful when the advantages of submission to the whiteman [sic] have become apparent to them. In their weapons and in every other respect they are very similar to the rest of their countrymen, excepting that the workmanship and ingenuity displayed in the erection of their huts, and formation of their canoes, nets, fishing lines, dilly-bags, clubs, and weapons, is superior to anything I have seen elsewhere in Australia. | The Moreton Bay Courier, 15/12/1860, p. 6 | Report on the Burdekin Expedition. |
| dilly bag | 1864 | The men were puzzled what to think of it, but fearing some trickery from a hostile tribe, they armed themselves and went to see the sleeping stranger. They also, had a difficulty in rousing him. At last, while they were debating whether it would not be better to knock him on the head with a tomahawk and bury him. The stranger gave a yawn and woke, much to their astonishment. They then enquired where he had come from-how he came there, &c., but could not understand his language. He was then adopted by the tribe, and the two gins who found him were given to him for wives. My black boy says the supposition is that the boy was bathing in the sea, when a shark swallowed him ; but as he had his charm on or myall dilly-bag, he disagreed with the shark, which vomited him on the shore near the Richmond, where he still lives with his two preservers. | Clarence and Richmond Examiner and New England Advertiser, 5/4/1864, p. 2 | Legend supposedly told to a station owner. |
| dingbat | 1887 | A dead-house, "dingbats" ward, and the most "competent local architects" are deliciously mixed up in our hospital report. | Cairns Post, 13/7/1887, p. 2 | Meaning "lunatics"? |
| dingbat | 1887 | A HORSE race will take place on the Athletic Reserve this afternoon at 4 o'clock between Mr. Kent's "Dingbats" and Mr. McCourt's Nimblefoot, distance half a mile, catch weights. The betting last night was slightly in favor of Nimblefoot. | The Northern Miner (Charters Towers), 16/4/1887, p. 3 | Earlier instances are almost all misreadings of "druggist". |
| dingbat | 1897 | The Pastoral Produce Company Limited still owns Dingbat. It has owned it for many years. It obtained it as part of a grant from the Crown under a quaintly and loosely-worded charter ages and ages before the railway ran through twenty miles of it; before the company's general manager represented in Parliament the district in which it lies. Ill-natured people have connected the membership of the manager with the coming of the line through Dingbat, and the existence of a very convenient trucking siding one-half mile from the head station. But there are always evil minds ready to twist coincidence into design, and the influential member manager, who could pull wires long before wire fences came into vogue, is dead now, so it would be a kindness to let him rest. | Clarence and Richmond Examiner (Grafton), 9/11/1897, p. 6 | The name of a station. |
| dingbat | 1898 | Ford's team defended the south goal. They turned out well—bags, top-boots, and white "sweaters." The Provisional Committee not having found a suitable name so far, Ford for this day dubbed them the "Dingbats". | Clarence and Richmond Examiner (Grafton), 2/4/1898, p. 6 | A polo story. |
| dingo | 1833 | The account which Captain Sturt gives of the country is of the most melancholy description, for, in consequence of the severe drought, it was scarcely habitable. The natives were wandering about, and, from the badness of the water which they were obliged to drink, were suffering from cutaneous diseases, which were gradually lessening their number. Even the birds were distressed by the drought. The wild dog, or Dingo, was seen prowling about, unable from debility to avoid the party; and while the minor vegetation was altogether burnt up, the trees were drooping from the want of moisture below the surface. Several of the party were effected by opthalmia, produced by the heat from the plains, where the thermometer stood in the shade, at 3 p. m. at 122, and from 98 to 102, at sunset. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 4/4/1833, p. 4 | Captain Sturt in the NW of New South Wales. |
| dingo | 1835 | . . . why seek the mantle of a vote of thanks to cast a gleam of illusory sunshine on his conduct? It is in fact to console Mr, Stephen when so boldly defeated as his attorney. It is our impression that Mr. Hardy requires one also; and we do verily believe that Messrs. George Jelf, George Cavanagh, E. W. O'Shaughnessy, Major Mudie, Messrs. Webber, Dr. Lang, Stephens and Stokes, and Old Towler and Growler, and Dingo, and the whole canine fraternity will condole with him on the whipping we have callously and unfeelingly administered. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 8/8/1835, p. 2 | The lumped-together names, including assorted dogs and "Major" Mudie (a complete cad to most of Sydney), suggests that those humans listed are not approved of, and that must go for the dingo as well. |
| dinkum | 1917 | But th' chaplain 'e mags w'en we're on church parade, 'Ow the bloke 'oo won't fight is base renegade; An' 'e mentions th' pathway o' dooty is clear, An' ses justice an' honor is things to revere, An' 'e kids us we're men. 'oo's been put to the test Until, dinkum, 'e makes a bloke chuck out 'is chest An' be glad 'e's a dinky-di-soldier! | Cairns Post, 16/11/1917, p. 7 | Poem, 'The Dinky-Di Soldier', marked "sole property of Ernest Lauri". |
| dinky di | 1914 | LADIES' BRACELET, 4 furlongs.-Dorganthus, 12.7: Trifus, 12 0; Strawn, 11.7; Oliver, 11.5; Kite, 11.3; Poliley, 11.0; Sir Elf, 10.11; Little Primrose, 10.11: Dinky Di, 10.9; The Fifer, 10.9; The Cannon, 10.9; Halborn, 10.7; Sinoda, 10.7. | The Brisbane Courier, 20/6/1914, p. 11 | Horses entered in a race at Mount Perry, to run on June 27, with weights (in stone and pounds). |
| dinky di | 1917 | But th' chaplain 'e mags w'en we're on church parade, 'Ow the bloke 'oo won't fight is base renegade; An' 'e mentions th' pathway o' dooty is clear, An' ses justice an' honor is things to revere, An' 'e kids us we're men. 'oo's been put to the test Until, dinkum, 'e makes a bloke chuck out 'is chest An' be glad 'e's a dinky-di-soldier! | Cairns Post, 16/11/1917, p. 7 | Poem, 'The Dinky-Di Soldier', marked "sole property of Ernest Lauri". |
| dispersal | 1805 | Last Monday a party composed of the settlers of the Northern Boundary and Baulkham Hills joined by the constables of Parramatta went in quest of the natives in the neighbourhood of Pendant Hills, in order to disperse them, and prevent any ravages in that quarter, having previously driven off a number secreted in the Northern Rocks, who being alarmed by their dogs, escaped, many of the dogs being killed by the settlers. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 19/5/1805, p. 2 | Commonly used as a euphemism for an armed attack on Aborigines, with or without murder. |
| donah | 1898 | The "donah" has developed into the "tart." | The Broadford Courier and Reedy Creek Times, 25/2/1898, p. 5 | An article denouncing new slang as debasing the philological currency of the English tongue. |
| doover | 1945 | The famous "doover" began as a synonym for "thingamebob," but is now used mainly for a dugout, sangar, or jungle shelter. | The West Australian, 24/11/1945, p. 5 | Article 'Brave New Words'. |
| dowak | 1848 | A shower of spears, stones, kylies, and dowaks followed, and although we moved to a more open spot, the natives were only kept off by firing at any that exposed themselves. At this moment a spear struck the Governor in the leg, just above the knee, with such force as to cause it to protrude two feet on the other side, which was so far fortunate, as it enabled me to break off the barb, and withdraw the shaft; the Governor, notwithstanding his wound, continued to direct the party, and although the natives made many attempts to approach close enough to reach us with their spears, we were enabled, by keeping on the most open ground, and checking them by an occasional shot, to avoid their attacks in crossing the gullies. | The Perth Gazette and Independent Journal of Politics and News, 30/12/1848, p. 2 | A. C. Gregory describes the spearing of Governor FitzGerald near what is now Geraldton. |
| down under | 1907 | Later on another gentleman from "down under" named Seaton turns up who had formerly been a close friend of Wynne in Australia, and, believing that Wynne has been guilty of grossly dishonourable conduct towards him, he is about to denounce him in the presence of Madge. Dickie is, however, on the alert, and without giving Seaton time to state the facts, he takes the ignominious burden upon his own shoulders and leaves the Orange. Subsequently, however, he cables to Australia and ascertains the truth, and as this fully exculpates Wynne—who has previously confessed his supposed laches to Madge—the lovers are reunited. | Sydney Morning Herald, 29/4/1907, p. 3 | Review/synopsis of "What Would a Gentleman Do?" |
| down under | 1907 | 'Sundowner" is the pseudonym of a pleasant writer down under, and has been applied to Australians generally. Really the term is not complimentary, for it describes the professional tramp who arrives at sundown and departs at sun-up, without having worked for his bed and board. | The Daily News (Perth), 5/8/1907, p. 3 | Gossip column, quoting an unnamed English newspaper. |
| down under | 1926 | All we Londoners find the journey to Paris too easy and so quick these days that a visit there is looked upon as merely that of a few hours each way, and the rest of a week-end in seeing what novelties are in store for us. I, in common with hundreds, have just made the trip, and I am telling all my London friends about the novelties I encountered, and incidentally you, of my friends, down under. I think my Parisienne sisters have gone back to the schoolroom again. not for educational purposes of course, but I did notice deportment was a leading feature, and this is borrowed from the schoolroom, for the idea of walking and standing properly, as taught by our governesses, has come back as a craze, and all French women think more of deportment than pretty faces even. They argue, lovely clothes can't look chic on a bad figure, and I think they are right, and that we English could easily borrow some good ideas from them. | The Queenslander, 29/5/1926, p. 5 | Women's Realm: London Gossip. |
| drongo | 1943 | Probably, there is more unsolicited thrill per inch of the humdrum of a flying instructor's life than in most others in the R.A.A.F. In a manner of speaking, he takes his life in his hands every time he ventures aloft with a drongo. It is not this that worries him. He would gladly offer his life if it would help his country. He would rather, it is true, be shot down by a Japanese than be crashed by a dumb pupil, but what he has he offers. | Cairns Post, 26/6/1943, p. 3 | An account of the realities of being a wartime flying instructor. |
| drongo | 1944 | The Air Force and Navy boys speak a different language from us. We've borrowed "browned off" from the fliers, to imply we're fed up, and "flat spin" too, although our own word, "panic," for dithering, is even better. But when the "drongoes" start "shooting a line" we're a bit bewildered. | The Argus, 15/1/1944, p. 2S | A good source for other services slang of World War II. |
| drongo | 1945 | The Air Force, to the envy of the Army, invented the "gremlin" -a good bet as a future dictionary word. The Army accepted the word as an alternative to the not inexpressive "drongo." | The West Australian, 24/11/1945, p. 5 | Article 'Brave New Words'. |
| duffer | 1853 | During a fortnight's sojourn there, our party felt satisfied that the deposit of gold was confined to a few gullies, and was not generally distributed as at the other gold fields; such was the opinion of thousands more, who, after remaining awhile, and sinking numerous "duffers," and expending their capital, betook themselves to their old localities where a little could be ensured, until something better turned up. I may here state that upwards of 50,000 people are located on the M'Ivor, so that there is no doubt it will be well tried during the winter. Should it prove what diggers term a "shicer," and nothing better turn up, there is every reason to hope that the Sydney district will in turn receive a thorough overhauling, and it is not unlikely that a great portion of the miners will yet be found on the Sydney gold fields, more particularly as their expenses will be so trifling there in comparison with the Port Phillip, district. | The Moreton Bay Courier, 23/7/1853, p. 4 | A report on the Bendigo diggings, appearing originally in The Empire (Sydney). |
| duffing | 1856 | There are stockmen on the river who in the last few years have made a small fortune by "duffing." One method they have of duffing is, when a buyer purchases a mob of fat cattle from a station, the stockman, knowing the buyer is not well acquainted with the various brands of the different herds, can without any difficulty sell two or three head of fat cattle, their brands being illegible, disfigured, or they may belong to some person who will not prosecute him if detected. | The Argus, 8/8/1856, p. 6 | The letter to the editor is headed "DUFFERS". |
| duffing | 1857 | DUFFING.-A charge of "Duffing" according the colonial phraseology, but in common English, "Cattle Stealing," came-on for hearing at the Deniliquin Police Office, before the P.M on Monday. John Norton, in the employ of Messrs. Hervey and Cockburn of the Wenbercan Stations, was charged by Mr R. G. Mead, late Lieutenant of the Victorian Mounted Police Force, with stealing a yearling filly under the following circumstances. | The Argus, 17/3/1857, p. 5 | Norton was bailed. |
| duffing | 1857 | POLICE MATTERS.-Our police magistrate has been absent on leave for five weeks. Police matters have been rather in abeyance, and drunkenness more common in Deniliquin and the other small townships. Mr. Cockburn, the most active of our honorary magistrates, and who, resides close to Deniliquin, is also absent as a witness in Goulburn on a duffing case, the particulars of which have been forwarded in previous communications; the police are, however getting better organised and better clothed ; they have always been pretty well fed; they are thus gaining the confidence of the public, and I only hope, for the sake of the district, that officers and men may continue to rise in public favour. | The Sydney Morning Herald, 23/4/1857, p. 2 | The first NSW use. |
| ecology | 1905 | It has been not only agreeable but profitable. I have obtained for myself plant specimens which have been preserved in formaldehyde, and which will give me material for morphological investigation for four or five years to come. Then I have secured a very good collection of specimens, exhibiting points in the somewhat new science known as Ecology, or the Study of Environment or Habitat. In addition to these. I have got some most interesting illustrations of animal mimicry—of caterpillars and the like, which have surrounded themselves with twigs and leaves, in order to deceive their enemies. Some of these, I might tell you, are going to the Natural History Department of the British Museum. Yes, my visit to Western Australia has been a wonderful education to me, not only botanically, but in all respects. | The West Australian, 12/8/1905, p. 9 | Professor Bottomley on his scientific visit to Western Australia. |
| exclusionists | 1826 | ON Friday last, Mr. Paul entertained a large party of friends at his new residence in George-street. There were we calculate, about sixty present. Music, and Singing, and Dancing, were the order of the night. Good humour and happiness were universally predominant, owing to the real welcome, unostentatious liberality, and old English cheer, with which the guests were treated. We much rejoice to see the respectable inhabitants of' Sydney, thus enjoying themselves; we rejoice that the big wigs are not the only persons in New South Wales, who are able to discuss the merits of a well loaded table, and can trip it in the ball room on the light fantastic toe; we rejoice that the impotent folks, yclept "The Exclusionists," are not the only persons who can live in the style and adopt the manners of gentlemen. Not that we would infer that the Exclusionists are definitively gentlemen—for our experience would induce us to be somewhat sceptical on this point. But let that pass—at least, for the present. | The Monitor, 30/6/1826, p. 5 | Headed "A Correspondent Writes". |
| fair dinkum | 1880 | True Blue gives promise of doing something this meeting, as he put Lowlander through on Saturday morning over a mile, doing the fair " dinkum" with whip and spur. Vesper was a bit above herself on Monday morning, as she unceremoniously landed the plump little light-weight soon after she started. | The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser, 15/1/1880, p. 4 | Turf Notes by 'Volunteer'. Do the quotes indicate that the word is little-known in 1880? See also dinkum and dinky di. |
| fair dinkum | 1880 | Elos has been in town a few days, and has done some good work on Maitland course, according to the opinion of a well-known tout. On Saturday morning I made all possible haste to get to Rutherford in time to see some swallow-catching, but I was too late to catch some of the " birds," who had winged their flight at half-past three. The Swan had finished her work, and to me she appeared jaded. I was just in time to see Soothsayer and True Blue doing the fair "dinkum" over a mile and a quarter. That cleverest of horsemen, Hinks, piloted Soothsayer, who was not asked to extend himself by the brown Kelpie, and came away quite comfortably at the finish. | The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser, 20/1/1880, p. 2 | Turf Notes by 'Volunteer'. Do the quotes indicate that the word is little-known in 1880? See also dinkum and dinky di. |
| fair dinkum | 1881 | Second Race Canvas dingies not to exceed 15 feet overall, to be sailed and manned by crews under 21. Time allowance 1 minute to the foot. Course: From moorings in Johnston's Bay, round flagship, round hulk Golden South, round Pinchgut, and back to flagship. Daisy, 13 feet, A Roderick, 1; Latona, 14 feet, H. Stephens, 2; Olivette, 14 feet, H Harding, 3, Ena 14 feet, W. Kethel, 0; Maggie, 14 feet, E. Hayes, 0; Torment, 14 feet, G. Stephens, 0; Elvina, 14 feet, F. Hunt, 0; Fair Dinkum, 14 foot, 0; H. Bedford, 0; Grand Flaneur, 14 feet, J. Ross, 0. Daisy appeared to have it all her own way throughout, and won easily. | The Sydney Morning Herald, 27/12/1881, p. 6 | Results of a sailing race. |
| first fleet | 1817 | DIED, at Kangaroo Point, on Sunday last, after a severe illness of nine months, Mary Brown, wife of Richard Brown, gardener, aged 76 years. She arrived in the first fleet with the late Governor Phillips, and was generally respected. | The Hobart Town Gazette and Southern Reporter, 18/10/1817, p. 1 | It is possible that the term was in use earlier than this, but the fact of two uses in 1817 may be against that. |
| first fleet | 1817 | DEATHS. ... On Monday morning last, after a lingering consumption, Mrs. Martha Jones, wife of Edward Jones, baker. They both arrived in the first fleet, and were the first couple married in this Colony; which ceremony was performed on the 23d of March, 1788, under a marquee;-The deceased was always much esteemed as an honest and industrious woman. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 6/9/1817, p. 3 | It is possible that the term was in use earlier than this, but the fact of two uses in 1817 may be against that. |
| first fleet | 1818 | DIED-This evening, at his house in Collins-street, in his 63d year, Richard Coleman, baker, who came out in the first fleet in 1803 with the late Lieut.-Governor COLLINS. | The Hobart Town Gazette and Southern Reporter, 21/3/1818, p. 2 | Note that this is a different first fleet, the one sent to Tasmania in 1803. |
| floater (pie) | 1923 | Ever tasted a floater? — No. Do you know what a floater is? — No. Well, in this case it certainly has no connection with a fisherman's accoutrement. One of these nights just pop alongside one of the street pasty stalls, and listen to the requests from customers. Watch closely the serving, and you will be inducted into the secret. At the command the aproned waiter produces a soup plate, ladles out a supply of hot peas, and then a hot pie is added to the menu. There's the floater, all ready for dissection. Some may have a saveloy added, but the pie and pea stunt is considered the popular victual in the street stall environs. | The Mail, 10/11/1923, p. 2 | Diary of a Man About Town'. |
| floater (pie) | 1927 | RICH AND POOR, PARSON AND THIEF, gather round the piestalls of Adelaide and indulge in tasty pasty, or savoury peas, with their mysterious "floater." | The Mail, 6/8/1927, p. 1 | Includes a great deal of piestall lore. |
| flying fox (bat) | 1805 | The Aeolus, during her stay in the Cove, took in many specimens of natural production, animal and vegetable. Among the former were several of the largest flying foxes remembered to have been seen. The ligneous specimen consists chiefly of a beautiful sample of oak, pear tree, &c. the feathered tribe chiefly confined to the rich and variegated plumage of the parrot. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 10/2/1805, p. 2 | The ship was bound for Canton. |
| flying fox (bat) | 1811 | From the best information we can collect, so intense a drought at this time of the year has not been witnessed since the year 1789, when the new colonists suffered a parching thirst; for several months, the springs from which they had been before supplied either failing totally, or yielding scarcely a sufficiency to support nature: numbers of flying foxes and squirrels, parrots, and birds of all the various species, flocked from the interior to the sea-coast, and perished as they flew. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 19/10/1811, p. 3 | No rain had fallen since August 27. |
| fossick | 1852 | . . . the same law obtains here as in trade or commerce, the honest and industrious do not always obtain wealth, while the ' lucky vagabond ' is daily adding to his store. Why these things are, the Theologian can perhaps say. There are many here who have realized considerable sums by 'Fossicking,' as the phrase is, that is, they do not dig, but they peep about and get ' stuff ' from good holes, which they wash; but the scarcity of water has reduced the profits of the 'Fossicker.' | South Australian Register, 23/3/1852, p. 3 | Article: 'From the Diggings'. |
| fossick | 1852 | Besides the ordinary 'Diggers' there are hundreds that do nothing but 'fossick,' — a term of which I cannot for the life of me make out the origin. 'Fossicking' — the accent is on the first syllable; — has various meanings; first, picking gold out of the hole, or off the rock, with a knife, called "fossicker;" secondly, hunting for gold in old deserted holes, without taking the trouble, or risking the chance of sinking; and thirdly, stealing gold or auriferous soil from the holes of other parties at night, or on Sundays, when the holes are often left unguarded. The felony represented by the last meaning, has been very extensively carried on at some parts of the diggings, especially the Golden Gully, and Friar's Creek; but the diggers are now generally more on their guard, and any 'fossicker,' in this sense, can follow his mean vocation only at the imminent risk of being shot, or having a pike driven through his brains, as all the good holes are generally well guarded until they are worked out. | South Australian Register, 7/4/1852, p. 3 | Letter From The Diggings. |
| fossick | 1852 | If, on the contrary, they find this kind of work will not suit their constitutions, and exceeds in point of labour their expectations on leaving their more congenial employments in town, let them immediately return, or commence what is called surface-washing or fossicking, the first of these methods is attended with far less labour than digging, so long us they can find water; the latter employment, however, struck me as being a kind of robbery. These fossickers are a race of people, resembling drones in a community of bees, collecting their soil from the cells or holes which have been dug, and abandoned by the more industrious workmen, and occasionally as my eyes have witnessed, stealing from other holes during the temporary absence of their industrious proprietors. | The Argus, 14/1/1852, p. 2 | Two meanings are given. |
| fossick | 1852 | Then the watching-shooting-catching 'Fossickers' so villainous, Who drink and fight, and then at night by robbery live well on us- Or, round our tent with ill intent, at midnight they are sneaking; But soon they beat a quick retreat, when they hear the pistols clicking. | The Argus, 18/3/52, p. 3 | SONGS FROM THE DIGGINGS! Air - "Oh! what a row," &c. |
| fossick | 1852 | It is by no means rare there, to see a man setting off to work in his hole, the only tool or implement he carries with him being a large and pointed knife, known in diggers parlance as a "fossicking knife." The mode of proceeding is by no means uninteresting. Arrived at the hole. which, by the way, may have taken him and his mates a week or more to sink, he descends, and lighting a candle and his pipe, he lays himself out at full length on the rock which forms the bottom of his hole, and whilst he blows out the fragrant wreaths from his dudeen, he quietly amuses himself, at the same time, by digging out with the point of his knife, such nuggets of the precious metal as may offer themselves to his view. Of course, in this operation, the small specks of gold are not collected, as this would be too troublesome a process; but the earth containing them is gathered up in a pocket handkerchief, and I have more than once seen two ounces washed out from a handkerchief full of stuff . . . | The Argus, 29/4/1852, p. 4 | This was from Mount Alexander. |
| fossick | 1852 | Prospecting pans, with rims and handles Shovels, round and square pointed Spades, best double strapped Cradle plates, hoop iron Tin pint and quart pots Camp kettles Tin dishes, round and oval Cradle trowels, fossicking knives Picks, maul rings, wood wedges Horse and bullock hobbles Leather dog collars and neck straps | The Argus, 7/5/1852, p. 1 | Symons and Perry advertisement. |
| fossick | 1852 | A Thief Captured. Yesterday, a man was apprehended near the Bank of New South Wales, under the following circumstances. It appeared that he had just returned from the Diggings with a considerable sum of money, which he had obtained by successfully "fossicking" in another main's pocket. The robbed one, not thinking exactly with Iago, that in losing his purse he lost merely "trash," followed the thief, and was fortunate enough to overtake him in town before he had had time to get rid of his ill acquired wealth. The fellow will be brought up for examination at the City Police Court, this morning. | The Argus, 8/5/1852, p. 5 | Under the heading 'Domestic Intelligence' |
| funnelweb | 1927 | Mr. Anthony Musgrave, entomologist at the Australian Museum, who shows that at least two other native spiders must be considered as dangerously poisonous. This is certainly not an alarming state of things, when we remember that more, than 2000 species of spiders are listed from, this country. The two spiders referred to are both trap-door spiders. One, Atrax robustus, caused the death of a child at Thornleigh, in New South Wales, early this year, and this big spider is found about Brisbane. It is over an inch long, with legs about one and a half inches long, and it has a shining black body. The female is larger, and has a smooth reddish body. This spider is very vicious in disposition. The other is Atrax formidabilis, a much larger trap-door spider with a shining reddish brown body, and legs about one and three-quarter inches long. The bite causes great pain and acute vomiting, accompanied by profuse perspiration, violent cramps, and delirium. | Brisbane Courier, 19/11/1927, p. 23 | At this time, the name 'funnelweb' was not used for this spider, although the Americans applied the name to spiders in the family Agelenidae. The 'Sydney funnelweb' is in the Hexathelidae, which is in a different sub-order. |
| funnelweb | 1931 | The 'Australian Museum Magazine' is an at[t]ractively prepared and popular natural history periodical which circulates generally throughout Australia, and the January-March number, which has been received at this office, maintains the general excellence of past issues. Several interesting articles deal with spiders and insects, and one on 'Some Common Spiders of the Sydney District' gives an account of many well-known Australian spiders, with clear photographs and diagrams of their appearance and structure, mention being made of the only two Australian spiders whose bite has been proved as fatal to human beings — the funnel web spiders (Atrax) and the red spot spiders [spireds in the original] (Latrodectus). Miss Nancy B. Adams gives instructive hints on the preservation of insects and spiders . . . | The West Australian, 13/3/1931, p. 12 | Now the genus Atrax is identified as 'funnel web'. |
| funnelweb | 1933 | 'People should be on the watch for spiders which are evidently common on the north side of the harbour, and should be careful not to sit on the ground after dark," said the City Coroner (Mr Farrington) yesterday at the conclusion of an inquest on Lucy Frances Russell 26 of Mann's-avenue Neutral Bay Evidence was given that Miss Russell was in Taronga Park near the Aquarium on the night of January 7 when she complained that something had bitten her. She was taken to the Royal North Shore Hospital where she died next morning Anthony Musgrave entomologist at the Australian Museum said that he captured two funnel-web spiders (atrax robustus) near the Aquarium. They were vicious and would attack without provocation. They were known to have caused three deaths ... Mr Farrington found that Miss Russell had died of toxaemia which was probably caused by a funnel-web spider. | Sydney Morning Herald, 19/1/1933, p. 10 | Could there have been more early deaths that may have been attributed to snakes? |
| gaff | 1901 | The next difficulty was a statement that the prisoner had won a cheque at "gaffing," and this upon inquiry his Honor ascertained meant "gambling." | Australian Town and Country Journal, 14/9/1901, p. 7 | A case before Justice Power in an unspecified Supreme Court, but as the story appeared in 'Queensland Notes', this is probably an indication. |
| galah | 1861 | BALMAIN.-The Party that found my Rose Gala PARROT is requested to return the same at once. W. F. PLANT, Snail's Bay. | Sydney Morning Herald, 22/5/1861, p. 1 | Lost and Found Advertisement. |
| galah | 1861 | THIS DAY, at the Old Bank of Australasia. Bull Terriers Scotch Terriers White Cockatoo Galah Parrot Imported Spanish Fowls Singing Birds, &c. MESSRS. WALTER BRADLEY and CO. will sell by auction, at their Rooms, THIS DAY, at 12 o'clock, The above. Parties wishing to read the pedigrees of the bull terriers before sale time, are requested to call very early this morning. | Sydney Morning Herald, 5/10/1861, p. 7 | Advertisement. |
| gammon | 1874 | Being asked if she had any reason for leaving, with the most charming naivete she answered the bench with drooping mein, that "she didn't like to say," and mademoiselle could not be cajoled or commanded to give the why or the wherefore. At this crisis, Host Fuller was "boxed," and having shoved his nose into Jeremiah he explained that he had no fault to find with the "gal." She was a stunner and no gammon. He liked her much. He had hired her in Sydney as cook at fourteen bob a week, and the "run of her Dover," and she had pleased him mightily these four months, but the other evening she skedaddled, and left them potluck, and he didn't think that according to Cocker. She had ten pounds odd coming as wages. | The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser, 19/2/1874, p. 2 | A charge under the Masters and Servants Act, heard at Walgett. |
| g'day | 1904 | But Joyce did not appear to be listening. "G'-day. Dick." Joyce strode off. For a moment Dick stood watching his retreating figure. He was wondering what Joyce was really up to. Something in the man's manner made him have doubts about his interest in Tom. | Western Mail, 25/12/1904, p. 8 | Short story by Edward Coulter. |
| g'day | 1906 | For one who so greeted us, five passed, sullenly. This would never do. The next one we fixed with expectant eyes He saw no escape, and surrendered "G'day," he said. One we passed who would not be forced to courtesy, so we passed him in volley, loudly, and he turned as one who meditates assault. But there were two of us, unshaven of face, creased as to garments in which we had slept - and we carried large sticks. He swallowed our courteous rudeness, and faded round the curve of the road glumly. | The Sydney Morning Herald, 24/3/1906, p. 5 | Two hikers on the Illawarra escarpment making a game of winning greetings from men heading to the coal mines in the early morning. |
| gee-gee | 1898 | A horse, by a curious reversion to the language of the nursery, is technically referred to as a "gee-gee." | The Broadford Courier and Reedy Creek Times, 25/2/1898, p. 5 | An article denouncing new slang as debasing the philological currency of the English tongue. |
| gibber | 1853 | One mile and a half from the old Goodeman Station, on the east side of the creek, are some singular sandstone "gibbers." They consist of coarse with fine-grained sandstone, much of which is excellent for building purposes, and is greatly dislocated and thrown about-large masses having rolled down to the flat land below, and many may be seen also in the creek, upon clay slate. Having been much resorted to formerly by the aborigines, for the purpose of grinding and shaping their mogos (stone tomahawks), the sandstone is furrowed in various directions, and might in many instances deceive a person into the belief that they were natural impressions of footprints. The "gibbers" are remarkable, from having evidently been thrown up together with the clay slates upon which they rest. | The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser, 2/7/1853, p. 4 | Geological report. |
| gibber | 1854 | The whole of the main creek is being well sluiced by a number of parties. Every available piece of sluicing ground in this creek is taken up, and those situations which were formerly considered incapable of being worked, on account of the rocks and gibbers presenting so formidable an appearance, are now being successfully worked by sluicing parties. | The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser, 21/1/1854, p. 2 | Rocky River: the Hanging Rock field. |
| gilgai | 1868 | Ledknappa is a pretty little spot, bounded on the south and east by low sand ridges of pine and box. Water is obtainable during the greater part of the year in small gilgais, filled after heavy rains, and apparently originally formed from the overflow of the Warrego at Belalie, about forty miles distant. Messrs. Rutherford, Colless, and some other residents upon these rivers, went to the expense of sinking a well at Ledknappa for the public convenience but the salt water was tapped just as the fresh water in the gilgais was drying up, and after sinking about forty feet, the well was abandoned. Mr. Colless, however, afterwards constructed a tank (10 by 10) which held the water in excellent condition during the late dry season. | The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser, 28/7/1868, p. 2 | The Macquarie says the word is of Aboriginal origin |
| gin | 1831 | THE GIN. [FOR THE SYDNEY GAZETTE.] Where spreads the sloping shaded turf By Coodge's smooth and sandy bay, And roars the ever-ceaseless surf, I've built my gunya for to-day. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 16/7/1831, p. 4 | Poem, 'The Gin', by "Hugo". |
| goanna | 1832 | The tree in which it was deposited was a white gum, which had at some former period been hollowed by fire, and was situate about half a mile from the road at Iron Cove bridge. At a distance of some twenty yards from the body, was a black hat containing a pass, dated 19th September last, giving a description corresponding with the deceased, stating the bearer's name to be James Cunningham, late a private of H. M. 50th regiment of foot, and that he had permission to pass from Sydney to the interior in search of work; it was signed by Colonel Snodgrass. In the bundle was a dirty shirt, the collar of which bore marks of blood, though not saturated, and on the body was one apparently clean, as if they had been charged just previous to death. Four goannas ran up the tree, and the animals of the bush had preyed so very lavishly on the remains of mortality that the thorax and other parts of the neck, together with various portions of flesh from the rest of the body, were missing. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 15/11/1832, p. 3 | A coroner's jury investigates the body of Thomas Cunningham. |
| goanna | 1836 | The best batsmen among the losing party were evidently Messrs J. R. Hardy and O'Reilly and had the rest of the players of their side, at all resembled them and also exerted themselves a trifle more in fielding, they might have had a chance of winning ; as it was the odds against them were, the British Empire, to a Blackfellow's goanna. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 2/1/1836, p. 2 | Cricket match report: presumably the goanna was not highly regarded as food. |
| goanna | 1849 | "Yes," continued he, half musingly, half communicatively, "things do run large in this country ; very large. Hollo ! there's a goanna; that's a good sized one ; but nothing to the one that I tumbled over when I was coming from, the Big River. I spied him lying under a tree basking in the sun ; I jumped off my horse and managed to get hold of him by the tail. Up he jumps, Sir, and lugs me along two hundred yards at a rare bat ; till he brought me to a big black-butt, and ran me nine feet up the trunk before I would let go. The very first branch he came to, he turned round and looked at me, as much as to say, " you're taken in this time, are you ?" And then he empties his craw of nineteen magpies and throws them down at me, one by one. By my say so, his body was as big round as a sheep, it measured nine feet long, and his tail sixteen..." | Bell’s Life in Sydney and Sporting Reviewer, 21/4/1849, p. 2 | There is more to this early example of bushmen's tall tales |
| goat (act the) | 1881 | A friend to-day informed me that one of the senseless rascals who are "acting the goat" (or fool) by endeavouring to frighten females and person of weak nerves with the appearance of ghosts (?) and other supernatural beings is in the habit of using a sheet with a coffin painted on it, As no one in Mount Gambier excepting members of a certain body, uses a sheet with this figure painted on it, I am of opinion that it should not be a matter of difficulty to trace the offender before referred to. Will some of the persons who are acquainted with the use of this sheet try and bring the matter to light? | Border Watch (Mount Gambier), 6/7/1881, p. 2 | From the Beachport correspondent |
| goat (act the) | 1884 | The pathos of the "pome" is rivalled only by its weird rhyming. Let me try my hand at banging up "Hotspur's" Hyperion locks :— It's sad to see you act the goat, With such a frenzied moan; Dear "Hotspur," you are not a "poat," In head you must be "goan." Your rhyming helplessness would pierce, The sternest heart of stone, 'Twould send a softer man to tears, Like grief on errand gone. ^l | Queensland Figaro, 23/8/1884, p. 11s | A parody of a poet called "Hotspur", published in Yje Australian. |
| goonack | 1873 | The crayfish, which abounds on the reefs and islands . from the A?????? southward, is the only representative, we believe, of the lobster species indigenous to our waters, except the fresh-water jilgy or goonack, but neither of them can compare in flavor with its European congener the lobster proper. We have little doubt that, were a trial made, we should find that the latter Crustacea would live here as well as their less worthy relatives, to the great delight of all who can appreciate a fresh lobster salad. In America we find that our cousins have begun to construct lobster farms. One upon the coast of Massachusetts, we are told, covers an area of thirty acres of flats in an arm of the sea, and is enclosed by a dyke, having a gateway for the ingress and egress of the tide, and a railing across to prevent the escape of the fish. | The Inquirer & Commercial News, 31/12/1873, p. 2 | A look at the prospects for the new year. |
| grass-tree | 1831 | And beauteous things around are spread; The burwan, with its graceful bend And cone of nuts, and o'er my head The flowering vines their fragrance lend. The grass-tree, too, is waving there, The fern-tree sweeping o'er the stream, The fan-palm, curious as rare. And warretaws with crimson beam. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 16/7/1831, p. 4 | Poem, 'The Gin', by "Hugo". Xanthorrhoea sp. |
| greenhide | 1836 | It appeared from the evidence of the prosecutrix that she is a widow, and lives at Stoney Creek; she was at home with her family on the night of the day laid in the indictment; between the hours of nine and ten o'clock the door was slapped in and two men entered with their faces blackened; they asked who was in the bed-room, when prosecutrix told them her children were there; they then went into another room where a man employed by prosecutrix as a stockman, and a schoolmaster employed to teach her children, were sleeping, and ordered them to get up, when they tied the stockman and schoolmaster together; there was also an aged man in the house, whom they tied with a piece of green hide to a little girl, the daughter of the prosecutrix whom they also secured to another of her daughters, all the persons in the house were then secured two and two. | The Sydney Monitor, 7/5/1836, p. 2 | News report: "Terence Level and James Friel, stood indicted for breaking and entering the dwelling house of Honoria Daley, at Stoney Creek; in the district of Williams River". |
| greenhide | 1846 | The plain of the Condamine is here 20 miles broad. The rain has rendered it extremely boggy, and my mules are so heavily laden (230 to 280 lbs. each) that I am afraid of straining them by such a distressing stage. We have succeeded in making them sufficiently quiet to be easily handled, and we catch them out of the stockyard by green-hide ropes, which we attach to their necks and allow to trail behind them this is a dangerous practice, but we saw no other means of getting hold of the cunning rogues. The two little chesnuts, one of which kicked me at Stroud, I broke in by riding them all over New England, and I succeeded tolerably well, though the same little wretch which lamed my arm gave me a severe and dangerous spill before he fairly gave in. The mules are all in excellent condition, and generally admired. | The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser, 2/1/1847, p. 4 | Letter from Dr. Leichhardt, dated 28/11/1846. This seems to be the earliest use of "greenhide rope". |
| gremlins | 1942 | . . .the mysterious race of the Gremlins, the malicious spirits that inhabit the upper air. Gremlins possess the faculty of sitting motionless on the wings of an aircraft until it is close to the British coast. They then rush off ahead and reach the aerodrome before the aircraft, where they jerk the runway from under the landing wheels so that the pilot is unable to tell where he is. Gremlins have also been known to incite seagulls to attack aircraft, sometimes with serious consequences to the latter and always to the former. It is probably not too much to say that whenever a seagull docs attack an aircraft, a Gremlin is at the bottom of it. In this form of indirect attack, the Gremlin sits cross-legged between the seagull's wings until a collision becomes inevitable when it abandons the seagull, gains cloud cover, and, chuckling throatily, sets, course for base. All air crews are advised to keep a sharp look-out for seagulls suspected of having the Gremlins. | The Argus, 16/5/1942, p. 3 | Described as an RAF invention. |
| gremlins | 1945 | The Air Force, to the envy of the Army, invented the "gremlin" -a good bet as a future dictionary word. The Army accepted the word as an alternative to the not inexpressive "drongo." | The West Australian, 24/11/1945, p. 5 | Article 'Brave New Words'. |
| gunya | 1831 | THE GIN. [FOR THE SYDNEY GAZETTE.] Where spreads the sloping shaded turf By Coodge's smooth and sandy bay, And roars the ever-ceaseless surf, I've built my gunya for to-day. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 16/7/1831, p. 4 | Poem, 'The Gin', by "Hugo". Note the instance of 'Coogee'. |
| gunya | 1834 | . . . on Monday morning we found the horse in the paddock ; I saw where the fire arms was, there was a gunya near it; the body was found about 11 o'clock, the fire was in the same paddock the body was found; it was about half-a-mile from where the fire was, that the body was found; I found it, the deceased was lying on a tree on his back with the left leg downwards, and the righ[t] leg stretched out, and his thumb in the fall of his trowsers, he had on a white jacket. I cooed, and Mr. Johnstone and Mr. Hearne came up; I did not touch the body until Mr. Johnstone came up. | The Australian (Sydney), 11/11/1834, p. 2 | Evidence of Patrick Burns, assigned servant (convict) on the discovery of the murder of Dr, Wardell. |
| gunya | 1834 | But it is within the memory of man that the shores of Port Jackson first re-echoed to European accents; and there are living in the Colony in the present day, those who saw upon their landing, perhaps on the very spot where the hum of men is now busiest, no trace of man or of his works, other than the gunya of astonished savages, and where no other sign of life re-assured his sinking heart, than the kangaroo which bounded, or the serpent which glided from a vicinity which instinct too surely whispered them was not for their advantage; a pathless brush covered with a mantle impervious to any hand but that of civilization, the now laden streets and crowded thoroughfares; and where not a solitary head of cattle browsed upon Nature's carpet, are now flocks and herds which reduce Job, in his most prosperous hour, to the rank of a very second rate grazier. | The Australian (Sydney), 11/11/1834, p. 2 | Theme: Sydney will one day be a great city like London. |
| had it | 1945 | A hazardous operation in variably provokes the comment: "There's no future in it." Anything or anybody which is worn-out materially, physically or mentally has "had it." When you've had it, you "give the game away," though, oddly enough, this phrase is seldom used in a condemnatory sense. Anything satisfactorily arranged or done is sometimes "sewn up" but more frequently: "she's apples" or "she's caster." The roots of both phrases are unknown. | The West Australian, 24/11/1945, p. 5 | Article 'Brave New Words'. |
| hatter | 1923 | Here he lives, the Bush Titan, a man of splendid physique and great mental power. What does he do all day, living alone, save for a few dogs, far from civilisation and the company of his kind? Down by the creek he is working, dressed in a Jackie Howe shirt, open throated and short sleeved, bronzed and sweating, with an indefinable air of freedom, and the largeness about him could be the model of any illustrated magazine of industry. This man's work is immense. The creek is well over a man's head; it is 12ft wide, yet because it interfered with his tin mine, which he works alone, he moved the course of the creek a quarter of a mile, alone and unaided. Stupendous task! This man is a Hatter, peculiar to Australia, a dreamer, a worker, a philosopher, a voluntary outcast from the great gregarious human family. | Sunday Times (Sydney), 27/5/1923, p. 1S | Article signed Nelle Tritton. |
| Hyde Park Barracks | 1829 | In the valley beneath on the other side is a large verandah cottage with dormer windows, and a row of Norfolk Island pines, each exactly tapering as if cut to resemble a pyramid and in front, is the little bay, called by the blacks Woolamoola. The aboriginal language is certainly beautiful and highly expressive, much, more so, we conceive, than an European tongue. Where did they get it? Gogaga is their name of the bird we call the Laughing Jackass, and Gogaga repeated quick is part of the chuckling notes, which distinguish that ludicrous forester. Here we have several public buildings close at hand. The Prisoners' Barracks, called by courtesy Hyde-Park Barracks, a neat brick building, in which are lodged and fed five and six hundred men, and in Macquarie's time double that number. | The Sydney Monitor, 9/3/1829, p. 2 | Perhaps an early use? |
| inexpressibles | 1824 | Let us fancy the Australian youth clothed in his blanket jacket and leathern inexpressibles; sealed at his log table in his bark hut, "barbarizing" over one of the Company's "smoked hams," with a bottle of their best Bell's ale, a cup of their real Glenlivet whiskey, a cool megrim of claret, and a bottle of true London particular Madeira, and reciting to his blanket backed and leather-bottomed companions (be it remembered where there are to be no schoolmasters) an impassioned stanza of "The Lay of the Last Minstrel!" | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 11/3/1824, p. 4 | Letter to the editor. |
| inexpressibles | 1827 | Wearing the Breeches. It is no new thing for ladies to assume the breeches when they would escape from servitude and throw off its yoke: moreover it is oftentimes a very successful plan. Now Margaret Donnally, not liking a far-away up-country life, determined to try this plan ; Achilles' petticoats thought she, are upon record, why not Margaret Donnally's inexpressibles. Accordingly have arrayed herself in true blue, with white cravat and beaver castor, she set out for Sydney. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 27/3/1827, p. 3 | Police Report. She got six months in the female factory for her pains. |
| ironbark | 1803 | On Wednesday last the following statement of Timber, &c. sent on board the Glatton on account of Government was concluded, viz. 162 Pieces of crooked and straight Timber, from 41 and a half feet to 10 feet in length, and from 10 to 20 inches in Diameter: The species consist of Mahogany, Stringy-bark, iron-bark, Black and Blue Gum, and Box; most of which are fit for Ship-building; the number of solid Feet is estimated at 4,700. 55 Pieces of a Wood resembling Lignum Vitae, lately found; it dyes a light yellow, and may be useful for that purpose, as well as for the Pins and Sheaves of blocks. 30 Casks of Blue Gum Bark, which has been so successfully used in this Colony for tanning Leather. Some Grindstones. 2 Casks of Iron Ore, as a Specimen. Exclusive of the above, 113 Plank and Logs of She-oak have been sent to different individuals. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 15/5/1803, p. 2 | News report. |
| ironbark | 1816 | . . . the first thing to be attended to is, looking out if any of the timber is fit for posts, rails, &c. either for building or fencing After the logs are cross burnt, I lay open the roots of the large stumps, roll the logs against them, and there make the fires. If the first logs are not sufficient, I roll more, till the whole of the stump is destroyed The lateral roots which run too near the surface I grub, and raise, with levers. Where there is not much timber, I find it best to burn from one side, as it requires the greatest quantity of timber, as well as the longest time to burn through the sap. It is very essential to spread all the ashes, particularly of the red gum and iron bark, as they contain the greatest quantity of pot ash. After the stumps are burnt so low as to require no more fire, I burn the remaining timber any where. If I have any she oaks, I take them out by splitting with wedges, and twisting them out with a lever about 14 feet long, shod with iron. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 7/9/1816, p. 2 | Letter by Agricola, detailing the methods used to clear land for farming. The term "cross burnt" refers to the writer's trick of cutting logs into manageable lengths by setting small fires along them. |
| jackeroo | 1845 | 'For tho' as you know, when a shepherd we kill "The Jackeroo's all smoke their pipes, and sit still; "Yet they'd turn out like madmen, and boldly give battle, "If they think we've been spearing their sheep or their cattle." | Bell’s Life in Sydney and Sporting Reviewer, 4/1/1845, p. 1 | A ballad enttled 'THE RAID OF THE ABORIGINES' which seems to compare them with Scottish cattle raiders. The meaning of 'jackeroo' appears to be different. |
| jackeroo | 1848 | SECOND RACE. For four-oared gigs, pulled by Amateurs. Prize £4. Entrance 10s. each—added. Flying Fish.. Cannan.. Red white and red.... 1 Pirate.............disqualified. The Flying Fish, manned by squatters, came to the scratch, but although her opponent, the Pirate, was also "to the fore," no crew could be found for her but blacks, who, how ever, seemed determined to, try the mettle of the jackeroos. | The Moreton Bay Courier, 29/1/1848, p. 2 | This still apppears to be a different sense of the word. |
| jackeroo | 1855 | ... in September, 1840, my partner at that time, the late Mr. Gilbert Elliot, and myself were the first squatters to visit Brisbane, then a penal settlement; and although we had been four months on the road from Maitland to the Downs with our stock, we brought here one month's later intelligence than had been previously received. This will give you some idea what an Ultima Thule Brisbane was in those days. I need not describe to you the great kindness and hospitality which greeted us upon our arrival, and during our stay here; the whole of Brisbane turned out to look at us, and to pass their remarks on the newly-arrived "Jackeroos," as we were then called. | The Sydney Morning Herald, 7/2/1855, p. 2 | Note that this mentions the term being used in 1840. |
| jackeroo | 1860 | It seems that there has lately been some rare sport in the squatting districts. According to a southern paper, the district of Warnambool has been the scene of a barbarous attack upon about a thousand jackeroos, who were driven in from the wilds by mobs of radicals on horseback; and having been bailed up between two spurs of a lofty range, were attacked right and left by the radicals, who left hundreds of them dead upon the field ... The best of the fun is that the Warrnambool joke was too subtle to be understood by our usually wide-awake contemporaries the sporting journals, both of whom swallowed the bait held out, took the hunted land-grabbers to be veritable kangaroos, and favoured their readers with indignant denunciations of this barbarous battue, flavoured with a strong expression of desire to "walk into" the cruel huntsmen. | The Empire, 9/2/1860, p. 8 | The term still lacks its modern meaning? |
| jackeroo | 1864 | The following may be of use to your Jackeroo friends if they don't know it already "We have received intimation to-day from Messrs Clark, Hoffman and Co of the Australian Chemical Works that they have after many experiments discovered a solvent for the burr in wool-the object of desire to the Messrs. Winter and so many other squatters but as it will take some time to make the needful inquiries we can say nothing more on the subject at present." | The Brisbane Courier, 18/5/1864, p. 4 | Clearly, jackeroos and squatters are synonymous. |
| jackeroo | 1907 | We borrow many phrases from America and some from the colonies, remarks an English paper. In many cases the American productions are but modifications of old English terms. With the colonial figures of speech it is different. Australia has a slang vocabulary which is as foreign as Russian to the Briton at home. Sir Robert Reid spoke, in the Commonwealth Parliament of an opponent as a "political smoodger." The term came over to England. It had an unpleasant sound, and seemed useful for the political platform. But few people here know what a "smoodger" was. It is Australian for a sneak or servile member of the gang upon a squatter's ranch. From the same quarter comes "jackeroo," a raw hand now from the Old World; and there is "rouseabout" for the gentlemen in caps and aprons whom we are advised to employ in our houses in place of maidservants. | The Daily News (Perth), 5/8/1907, p. 3 | Gossip column, quoting an unnamed English newspaper. |
| Jacky Howe | 1900 | What a sight they present:—Bill Adams with a Jacky Howe singlet on (it's something like a lady's evening dress jacket); Frenchy with dry paste in his hair looks like a porcupine; O'Hooligan with his head tied up with an old green handkerchief; Ah Boo with the aforesaid unmentionables, the front of his shirt wide open; and here the reader has a picture of some of the individuals who suffer from the tired feeling excessively, and will tell you without provocation what Lord Roberts ought to have done, and what ought to be done for the next six months. | The Western Champion and General Advertiser for the Central-Western Districts (Barcaldine), 6/3/1900, p. 11 | A piece written partly in assorted dialects and relating to the Boer War. |
| Jacky Howe | 1923 | Here he lives, the Bush Titan, a man of splendid physique and great mental power. What does he do all day, living alone, save for a few dogs, far from civilisation and the company of his kind? Down by the creek he is working, dressed in a Jackie Howe shirt, open throated and short sleeved, bronzed and sweating, with an indefinable air of freedom, and the largeness about him could be the model of any illustrated magazine of industry. This man's work is immense. The creek is well over a man's head; it is 12ft wide, yet because it interfered with his tin mine, which he works alone, he moved the course of the creek a quarter of a mile, alone and unaided. Stupendous task! This man is a Hatter, peculiar to Australia, a dreamer, a worker, a philosopher, a voluntary outcast from the great gregarious human family. | Sunday Times (Sydney), 27/5/1923, p. 1S | Article signed Nelle Tritton. |
| Jacky Howe | 1923 | "Well it's not everybody that I drink with," said the hard-faced chap with the Jackie Howe flannel and faded mole- skin trousers, 'but seeing that you are this 'ere "Bowyang," I don't mind if I do acept your hospitality, and while we are climbing outside of our respective pints I'll tell you a yarn which might suit "On the Track." It happend in '85 when 1 was carrying the "curse" up the Gulf way. I had a couple of mates with me named Tom Pavey and Dick Rosier, and they had been carrying the swag for years, in fact I don't think either of them ever did anything else, for they were about as useless a pair of blokes as one could meet in the bush. | Townsville Daily Bulletin, 26/1/1923, p. 6 | A long gap from the first use! |
| jilgie | 1873 | The crayfish, which abounds on the reefs and islands . from the A?????? southward, is the only representative, we believe, of the lobster species indigenous to our waters, except the fresh-water jilgy or goonack, but neither of them can compare in flavor with its European congener the lobster proper. We have little doubt that, were a trial made, we should find that the latter Crustacea would live here as well as their less worthy relatives, to the great delight of all who can appreciate a fresh lobster salad. In America we find that our cousins have begun to construct lobster farms. One upon the coast of Massachusetts, we are told, covers an area of thirty acres of flats in an arm of the sea, and is enclosed by a dyke, having a gateway for the ingress and egress of the tide, and a railing across to prevent the escape of the fish. | The Inquirer & Commercial News, 31/12/1873, p. 2 | A look at the prospects for the new year. |
| jilgie | 1896 | I am staying in the country; and to-day we went jilgie fishing. Have you ever been jilgie fishing ? or do you even know what it is ? A jilgie is the native name for a fresh water shellfish, which in everything but size exactly resembles a crayfish. When the river begins to dry up into muddy-looking pools, as it does at this time of year, then is the time par excellence for catching these table dainties, for I assure you they are very delicious, and to my idea much superior to the crayfish ... The nets were simply pieces of bagging stretched, not too tight, over a small hoop, and with a junk of raw meat sewn into the middle, three strings are fastened to the outside edge, which when tied to a long stick causes the net to hang evenly, this is lowered on to the bottom of the shallow pool, and the angler proceeds to watch events. | The West Australian, 8/12/1896, p. 10 | Women's Chats, by 'Sigma'. |
| jilgie | 1898 | The aborigines form the subject of a very lengthy chapter the third and is fairly accurate. Those who are acquainted with West Australian native superstitions will, however, be astounded to learn that "the Jilgi is a deity which frequents certain localities, and whose haunts are most carefully avoided by the aborigines." Here the historian, owing to ignorance of the native language, has confused the evil spirit Jingeh with the jilgie, a species of lobster found in fresh-water brooks and in swamps, as much sought after by the aborigines as the evil Jinjeh [sic] is avoided. The writer has also fallen into the error of employing the word "boomerang" as an alternative Western Australian name for the native kylie. | The West Australian, 20/4/1898, p. 3 | Review of History of West Australia : A Narrative of Her Past, together with Biographies of her Leading Men. Compiled by W. B. Kimberley. F. W. Niven and Co., Melbourne and Ballarat, Victoria, 1897. |
| John Chinaman | 1839 | The following extracts, which we take from late Sydney journals, shew plainly enough that if the tea trade must be continued, it will be necessary to bring John Chinaman to his senses in rather a rough way. The indignities which the European nations have suffered from the authorities of China, for the sake of this enervating drug, have been no less numerous than disgraceful; but we think it is pretty evident that matters are now arrived at that crisis, when it becomes absolutely necessary on the part of traders to China either to relinquish the trade altogether, or to compel the Chinese into reason. | Southern Australian, 11/9/1839, p. 3 | The political situation in China, tea trade and war. |
| John Chinaman | 1839 | The reverse of this, however, is the more probable; as a reference to official documents rather justifies the presumption that John Chinaman would he infinitely more inconvenienced by a cessation of the trade . . . | The Sydney Monitor and Commercial Advertiser, 15/5/1839, p. 2 | The political situation in China, embargoes and opium. |
| John Chinaman | 1840 | Tell all the Captains you meet to transport their ships to Melbourne, and convert them into inns or hotels, it will be a better spec. than sailing them in such infernal times as these. John Chinaman is playing the devil with us shipmasters of the Engl[i]sh nation. Is this to be tolerated! | The Colonist, 25/3/1840, p. 2 | Letter from Captain Dawson in the Batavia Roads. |
| John Chinaman | 1856 | John Chinaman had, even at this early day, visited our shores, and one or two had found their way to Ballarat by the time the first rush took place to Mount Alexander | The Star (Ballarat), 11/10/1856, p. 1s | An early goldfields use of a far older term. |
| Johnny cake | 1827 | Dinner differed in nothing from breakfast, nor supper from dinner all the year round, unless a windfall come in their way, which in this district of wild cows and bulls was not unfrequent. Dependent upon their rations, they had to be economists who wished to eat meat after Wednesday; and two out of three would be without bread by Thursday night. A wild cow would sometimes stray into the paddocks, and although to kill and eat it was felony, it was not to be supposed that so great a temptation as a fresh fat beef-steak would be resisted by hungry prisoners in the bush. The carcase divided, gave each a good share, and "a screech in the pan," "a pot of soup" "a fat cake," "a johnny-cake," or "fritters," alias "pancakes," were the delicacies which such a God-send would plentifully afford. | The Monitor, 12/7/1827, p. 3 | Description of a "Government camp" where convicts lived. This is the earliest instance in an Austraian newspaper, but is the term derived from the USA? |
| Johnny cake | 1843 | To make Johnny Cakes.-Scald a quart of Indian meal with a sufficient quantity of water to make it into a thick batter; stir in two or three spoonfuls of salt; mould it in the hand into small cakes, rubbing a good deal of flour in the hand to prevent them sticking. These cakes are fried in lard ; when browned on one side, turn the other. They take about 20 minutes in baking. Eat them hot, with treacle. | The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser, 13/7/1846, p. 4 | There are earlier references than this, but they appear to refer to an American product which may or may not be the same. This recipe appears in many other 1846 papers. |
| jumbuck | 1841 | . . . we found that the whole of the sheep had long before been slaughtered, as we saw their carcases and bones thrown about in vast heaps in various places where the blacks had formed large encampments, and had folded the sheep; and though we saw and chased thirteen natives, (the only number seen on our side of the river, though numerous enough, on the other), they were ever too closer to the water's edge to admit of our securing them, for they took to the river when driven through the high reeds on its banks, and which rose above our heads when on horseback, and. thus, from the want of boats, escaped us, though only a few yards distant. They might, all with certainty have been shot, but when they found we would not fire, the villains laughed at and mocked us, roaring out "plenty sheepy," " plenty jumbuck," (another name of theirs for sheep) . . . | Southern Australian, 6/7/1841, p. 2 | Report from Major O'Halloran after 'The Murray Expedition', during which Aborigines made off with sheep. |
| jumbuck | 1847 | Seymour.-The weather has been extremely close and unhealthy during the past week, and that scourge, the influenza, is still in the ascendant. A male child, in arms, the son of Mr. Peacock, on the other side the river, died from its effects on Wednesday last. The aborigines have taken the alarm, and removed their mia-mias, remarking, "White fellow too much sick, patter too much jumbuck."-Correspondent of the Argus. | The Argus, 27/10/1847, p. 4 | Story carried in The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser, assumes the Aboriginal terms are known to readers? |
| kangaroo dog | 1806 | Shortly before the Estramina left the River Derwent, two men unfortunately perished by a whale boat upsetting in which they were transporting four valuable kangaroo dogs to the opposite side, neither of which ever reached the shore. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 4/5/1806, p. 4 | This is 12 years before the next use. |
| kangaroo dog | 1818 | That great murderer Michael Howe, with whose enormities our Readers are so well ac- quainted, within these few days made his appearance to the stock-keepers of Mr. G. W. Evans, Deputy Surveyor General, at a place called Blinkworth's Hunting ground. He took what provisions the men had, and two fine Kangaroo dogs. What is astonishing, he had plenty of ammunition, and was well armed. His beard is of a great length, and his appearance, connected with the idea of his horrid crimes, is altogether terrific. | The Hobart Town Gazette and Southern Reporter , 13/6/1818, p. 2 | Note that the first two uses are from Tasmania. |
| kangaroo dog | 1818 | During their stay at this place, they went a second time to Big Swan Port, for the purpose of increasing their number of seal skins, leaving behind John Kemp in care of the live swans, 4 kangaroo dogs, 3 muskets some ammunition, sealing knives, and the various skins, etc. they had procured. After having obtained more seal skins, they returned the same day to Grindstone Bay; and when near the shore, the first object which attracted their sight was the corpse of their unfortunate companion Kemp lying at the water's edge, cut and mangled in a manner too shocking to relate. | The Hobart Town Gazette and Southern Reporter , 28/11/1818, p. 1 | And once again, from Tasmania, as are almost all of the first twenty instances, directly or indirectly. |
| kangaroo dog | 1827 | For laying down in the canvas tent, in preference to the thing of bark, I found myself surrounded by about fourteen or fifteen large kangaroo dogs, which had been starved out of the hut, and one by one taken shelter in the tent. Twas a wretched night, and but for the fortunate visitation of these warm bed fellows, I must have, been almost a mummy by the morning. With nothing but my saddle for my pillow, and a single blanket for covering, worn thread-bare enough for a fishing net, I shall long remember this as the coldest night I have felt in New South Wales. | The Australian (Sydney), 14/9/1827, p. 2 | A traveller's tale of an "inn" at Wollombi. Perhaps the first recorded 14-dog night? |
| kangaroo feathers | 1900 | They don't bother about taking the Tommies captive, generally letting them go again if taken in small numbers, as they say they can catch Tommy just when they like, and I don't doubt it, for a great many of them get lost if they leave the main road and are just as likely as not to wander into the Boer camp as their own. But the Boers say that the men with the ostrich feathers (emu feathers) and the men with kangaroo feathers are the ones they want; they are frightened of the Australians, who can beat them at their own game, and they will show us little mercy if they catch us. | The North Western Advocate and the Emu Bay Times, 16/10/1900, p. 2 | 'Letters from Tasmanians. Another interesting letter has been received from Trooper R. M'Innes, of Nook, by his relatives, The following are extracts." |
| kangaroo feathers | 1901 | Another bit of Johnny come marching home from the war on Wednesday. There were really 35 bits in all, and some of them very big bits, too. They represented all that remains of the first bushmen, whom Captain Riggall took into the fighting line after landing at Biera over 12 months ago. The day being fine, and all business closed for the usual half holiday, there was a very large muster of people to welcome the return of the swaddies ... Though many people thronged the streets to see the bushies with "kangaroo feathers" in their hats pass, no one felt warm enough to raise a cheer. From several top windows a towel and a colored garment or two were waved, but beyond that the procession was of a rather solemn aspect. In the evening a smoke and beer social was held, and a splendid time was had with songs, recitations, band items, broken crockery, and dented furniture. Ditto Hobart. | The Clipper (Hobart), 15/6/1901, p. 7 | Boer War news. |
| kangaroo feathers | 1901 | Having been working at the Kimberley mine, where the Dublin Fusiliers are stationed, he came often in contact with them, and relates incidents of their Irish wit, one item of which is worth noting. He says : One morning during breakfast, the usual soldier ration being partaken of, I said to one of the Dubs, "What are you having for breakfast, ham and eggs?" and received the amusing reply, "No, bejabers! The only ones that gets ham and eggs are the Austhralian Bushrangers—thim fellows wid the kangaroo feathers in their hats." | The Mercury (Hobart), 22/4/1901, p. 2 | Boer War snippets. |
| kangaroo feathers | 1915 | Turks won't stand and fight, although their bayonets are three or four inches longer than ours. I haven't had a chance to color my bayonet with Turkey red yet, but hope to when I get back to the front again. We had very hard work for the first fortnight, fighting and digging trenches day and night, for the Turks trenches were very poor ones. But are we downhearted? No! Do we like the trenches? Yes! I have to laugh! One English Tommy told me that it was easy to tell the Queenslanders by the Kangaroo feathers in their hats! Queensland L.H. wear Emu feathers. Our trenches are now about 10 foot deep, with ledges to get on when shooting. We must have them deep for the shrapnel, and they now have to lob them right into the trenches before they can do any harm. | The Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers Advocate (Parramatta), 31/7/1915, p. 4 | This account does not ring true at a number of points, and may be propaganda written at a distance. |
| kangaroo feathers | 1915 | The Australians Abroad. I understand various reports have already reached the front as to what the Australians are like (says a Tasmanian writer). Some of these are what Artemus Ward would have termed "pecooliar." One is to the effect that Australians are all daring horseman of the Broncho Bill type; another says that all Australians are huge fellows, well over 6 ft. in height, and very fierce, the "Tasmanian Devils" being the fiercest of the lot. Reminds me of the tales that went about at the time of the South African war. 'Which are the Australians?' an English officer asked an Irish corporal, as he cast his eyes in the direction of a number of men exercising. "Tis the Australians you're looking for?" the corporal replied. "Well, I dunno for shure, but I belave 'tis thim chaps beyant there wid the kangaroo feathers in their hats." | The Register, 9/4/1915, p. 7 | Great War filler news. Note the continued links to Irish and Tasmanian sources. |
| kangaroo tail soup | 1837 | I have engaged one of the sealers from Kangaroo Island, with his two native wives, and find them very useful; the women are the hunters, and we have already been the better for their exertions with the tail and hind quarters of an enormous kangaroo, which is fine food; and to those who are fond of ox-tail soup I should recommend a trip to South Australia to eat Kangaroo tail soup, which, if made with all the skill that soups in England are, would as far surpass the ox as turtle does the French potage. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 18/7/1837, p. 4 | Colonel Light's report from Kangaroo Island, where he considered settling before moving to Adelaide. |
| kangaroo tail soup | 1856 | OX AND KANGAROO TAIL SOUP DAILY, From 11 O'Clock a.m. till 1 p.m, AT OTTAWAY'S FAMILY HOTEL. May 24th 1856 | The Hobarton Mercury, 26/5/1856, p. 3 | This may not have been a success. After ads on May 30, June 4, and June 9, the Ottaways seem to have lost interest in offering the delicacy (or perhaps they no longer needed to advertise?) |
| kangaroo tail soup | 1859 | The flesh of the larger kangaroo, as well as that of the wallaby, a smaller animal, averaging about 12 or 14 lbs., is often hashed, and with a little seasoning and skill in preparation, it is excellent. The wallaby is commonly stewed for soup. The best part of the kangaroo is its tail. Talk of ox-tail soup, ye metropolitan gourmands! Commend us to the superb kangaroo-tail soup of Australia, made from the tail, weighing some 10 or 12 lbs., if a full-grown forester. | The Curiosities of Food, or the Dainties and Delicacies of Different Nations, Obtained from the Animal Kingdom, Peter Lund Simmonds, F. R. G. S., F. S. S., p. 58-9 | London: Richard Bentley |
| kibosh | 1835 | 'Ah!" said Smith, as he left the office, "this here haet vos the vork of the 'Vigs,' and now the Duke of Vellington as put the "Kibosh' on 'm, vich they never would have got, if they hadn't pass'd it: that's vot's floor'd them." | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 2/7/1835, p. 4 | This appears to have been lifted from The Observer [London], Sunday Nov. 30, 1834, p. 4 col. 4. (i.e., not Dickens). |
| koala | 1804 | 1 stuffed squirrel, 1 ditto koolah, 3 parrots, warranted to talk in six weeks, 1 bandycoot, 2 native cats, and 1 tame kangaroo. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 30/9/1804, p. 2 | Were these items to be shipped to England? The context does not make this clear. |
| koala | 1808 | A male wombat was brought from the islands in Basse's Straits, by Mr Brown, the naturalist attached to Captain Flinders's voyage of discovery. It was entrusted to may care, and lived in a domesticated state for two years, which gave me opportunities of attending to its habits...The koala is another species of the wombat, which partakes of its peculiarities. The following account of it was sent to me some years ago by Lieut. Colonel Paterson, Lieutenant-Governor of new South Wales. The natives call it the koala wombat... | An Account of some Peculiarities in the anatomical structure of the Wombat, with Observations on the female Organs of Generation. Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London, Volume 98, Everard Home, p. 304 | London: Royal Society |
| Kokoda track | 1908 | In the Senate to-day Senator Pearce asked whether the Government had received any report as to the alleged massacres of upwards of 40 natives at different times during the last six months at Cloudy Bay, on the South Coast of Papua-of massacres of natives on the Gulf of Papua, and on the track from Port Moresby to Kokoda. | The Sydney Morning Herald, 20/3/1908, p. 6 | The use of "Kokoda Trail" by the Douglas MacArthur publicity machine in World War II is clearly invalid. |
| Kokoda track | 1942 | Buna.-Allied fighters attacking up and down the Kokoda track set fire to an enemy Zero fighter and a supply dump at Buna aerodrome, and silenced an anti-aircraft position. Buildings, huts, and sheds along the track were heavily strafed with cannon and machine-gun fire. | Cairns Post, 21/9/1942, p. 5 | Earliest use of the phrase "Kokoda Track". It was clearly an official communiqué which had not been through the American filters, and appeared in many newspapers. The first use of "Kokoda trail" was the next day. |
| Kokoda track | 1942 | Gona is an Anglican Mission and its buildings include a small hospital. It is connected by a jungle track across the formidable Owen Stanley Ranges, the only means of land connection between Buna and Port Moresby. The track is not sufficiently wide nor level to permit the passing of heavy army transport vehicles as in Malaya. The track, which passes through a gap in the Owen Stanley Ranges known as "Hell's Gap," is well known by Allied patrols. | Canberra Times, 24/7/1942, p. 1 | No author is identified. "Hell's Gap" would appear to be a journalistic frill. |
| Kokoda track | 1942 | Roaring Betting Trade Along Kokoda Track On Cup. An AIF sergeant is doing a roaring betting trade in his spare time along the Kokoda track on the Melbourne Cup. Bets totalling hundreds of pounds are pouring in from points as far forward as the front line. The bets range fr[o]m 10/each way to £20 straightout. Many bets are made on the IOU basis, but these are only accepted from troops known to the sergeant. | Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton), 3/11/1942, p. 1 | Anonymous report, clearly not from MacArthur's HQ. |
| Kokoda track | 1942 | The track along which the Japanese have advanced to Kokoda is almost a road. The country is relatively low-lying, fertile, and rich in natural foodstuffs. Between Kokoda and Port Moresby is the tremendously formidable Owen Stanley Range, traversed only by a tangle of native pads. | The Courier-Mail, 31/7/1942, p. 3 | Osmar White wrote this. |
| Kokoda track | 1942 | THIS new enemy move represents the most serious threat yet to the security of thc Allied advance garrison at Port Moresby, and is much graver than the landings at Lae and Salamaua on March 8, because Buna is the northern terminus of the only good track linking the north coast of the territory with the south coast. The track, although useless for heavy equipment or mechanised transport, is negotiable for men on foot with moderate equipment. The track from Buna leads inland to the mountain village of Kokoda, which shelters beneath the 30,000ft. peak of the Owen Stanley Range, near the only negotiable path—a 7,000ft. gorge called "The Gap." The track from that point, although difficult, leads to Port Moresby. | The Mercury (Hobart), 24/7/1942, p. 1 | The author, George Johnston, knew his stuff, but whever edited the figures made an awful mess—and "The Gap" was no gorge at all, just a saddle. |
| Kokoda trail | 1942 | Fighters and attack bombers again gave excellent support to our ground troops yesterday morning. While the attack bombers struck at Buna the fighter force, which included Kittyhawks, strafed heavily along the Kokoda trail, using cannon and machine-gun fire against huts, bridges and supply dumps. | West Australian, 22/9/1942, p. 3 | This is the earliest use of "Kokoda trail", and is repeated in many papers. It uses the American term for "track". It loses by a day! |
| kookaburra | 1829 | In the valley beneath on the other side is a large verandah cottage with dormer windows, and a row of Norfolk Island pines, each exactly tapering as if cut to resemble a pyramid and in front, is the little bay, called by the blacks Woolamoola. The aboriginal language is certainly beautiful and highly expressive, much, more so, we conceive, than an European tongue. Where did they get it? Gogaga is their name of the bird we call the Laughing Jackass, and Gogaga repeated quick is part of the chuckling notes, which distinguish that ludicrous forester. Here we have several public buildings close at hand. The Prisoners' Barracks, called by courtesy Hyde-Park Barracks, a neat brick building, in which are lodged and fed five and six hundred men, and in Macquarie's time double that number. | The Sydney Monitor, 9/3/1829, p. 2 | Some poetic licence is needed to recognise this bird for what it is. |
| kookaburra | 1834 | The natives at Yas called the bird "Gogera," or "Gogobera," probably from its peculiar note, which has some resemblance to the sound of the word. It is said that one seldom laughs without being accompanied by a second, forming a very harmonious duet. This bird, from its devouring mice and venomous reptiles, deserves protection . . . A gentleman told me that he was perfectly aware of the birds destroying snakes, as he had often seen them carry the reptiles to a tree, and break their heads to pieces with their strong sharp beaks; he also said that he had known them destroy chickens . . . | Wanderings in New South Wales, vol. 1, George Bennett, p. 222 | London: Richard Bentley |
| kookaburra | 1871 | A strong glare in the direction of Market-street gave some hint as to the locality of the fire, and in a few minutes a large number of persons had congregated in the neighbourhood. By this time it was noticed that the fire had broken out in some wooden buildings at the rear of the shops of Messrs Swyny and Son, of 417, George street, and of Mrs Holt, a dressmaker, adjoining. The flames spread with great rapidity, and in about a quarter of an hour from the time the fire was first observed (7 pm), they had been communicated to the back store of Messrs Beaumont and Sons, painters and paperhangers, of 419, George-street, and, through the direction of the wind, then blowing from the N E , to a back kitchen two stories in height, at the back of the Kookaburra Inn in York-street. | The Sydney Morning Herald, 27/3/1871, p. 5 | But how long had 'kookaburra' been about in the name of an inn? |
| kookaburra | 1871 | 'A sable countryman of mine was seen carrying a kookaburra in his hand. A kookaburra, I must tell you, gentleman, is a bird, not by any means handsome looking, better known in the colony as the Laughing Jackass. A friend of mine accosted him, and asked him what he was going to do with it. 'All right.' said the black, 'Me sell him.' 'Sell him,' answered my friend, in astonishment, 'You will not get any one to buy him.' 'Oh, yes. All right,' replied the aboriginal ; 'I'll mix him up along of a rosella, then I'll sell him.' The 'rosella' is another of the feathered tribe. It discourses excellent music, and is easily taught to talk. Well, I can just fancy the hon. and learned Premier wending his way up to Lord Belmore with his five kookaburras mixed up with the one rosella-the Robertson rosella making the rest acceptable." | The Sydney Morning Herald, 30/1/1871, p. 5 | Clearly not assumed to be well-known at this point. |
| kookaburra | 1871 | PUNCH. PUNCH. PUNCH. CARTOON-THE BODY-SNATCHERS The Body-snatchers-Praise of the "Cuckooburra"-A Political Rip Van Winkle--Mr. D. Buchanan on the Divorce Bill-Ministerial Statement-Corns, Corns-Premium Poema-Going to the Front-Buy it, Read it-Slippery Charley, Kookaburra-Bilious Essays -Sketches from the Seat of War-Avoid hard words in future-Counting Out-Sketches from Real Life in Sydney-Kookaburras for sale-Toilers of the Antipodes, Chap VII, &.c., &c. GIBBS, SHALLARD, and CO , General Steam Printers &c , 108 Pitt-street. GORDON and GOTCH George-street. | The Sydney Morning Herald, 3/2/1871, p. 1 | Suddenly the word is everywhere. |
| kylie | 1842 | With regard to arts and ingenuity, I leave the miro or throwing-board, and the kyli, to speak for themselves. | Inquirer (Perth), 11/5/1842, p. 4 | This was a response in a letter to the editor concerning Mr. Henry Landor's observations on the Australian Native. |
| kylie | 1848 | A shower of spears, stones, kylies, and dowaks followed, and although we moved to a more open spot, the natives were only kept off by firing at any that exposed themselves. At this moment a spear struck the Governor in the leg, just above the knee, with such force as to cause it to protrude two feet on the other side, which was so far fortunate, as it enabled me to break off the barb, and withdraw the shaft ; the Governor, notwithstanding his wound, continued to direct the party, and although the natives made many attempts to approach close enough to reach us with their spears, we were enabled, by keeping on the most open ground, and checking them by an occasional shot, to avoid their attacks in crossing the gullies. | The Perth Gazette and Independent Journal of Politics and News, 30/12/1848, p. 2 | A. C. Gregory describes the spearing of Governor FitzGerald near what is now Geraldton. |
| kylie | 1898 | The aborigines form the subject of a very lengthy chapter the third and is fairly accurate. Those who are acquainted with West Australian native superstitions will, however, be astounded to learn that "the Jilgi is a deity which frequents certain localities, and whose haunts are most carefully avoided by the aborigines." Here the historian, owing to ignorance of the native language, has confused the evil spirit Jingeh with the jilgie, a species of lobster found in fresh-water brooks and in swamps, as much sought after by the aborigines as the evil Jinjeh [sic] is avoided. The writer has also fallen into the error of employing the word "boomerang" as an alternative Western Australian name for the native kylie. | The West Australian, 20/4/1898, p. 3 | Review of History of West Australia : A Narrative of Her Past, together with Biographies of her Leading Men. Compiled by W. B. Kimberley. F. W. Niven and Co., Melbourne and Ballarat, Victoria, 1897. |
| lamb down | 1838 | JOINT STOCK SHEEP COMPANY, consisting of about 350 fine fat Wethers, and about 450 high-bred Merino Ewes, of the finest wool, now lambing down. The above Sheep have been selected regardless of expence; and such an opportunity is not likely for sometime, if ever, to occur again. | South Australian Gazette and Colonial Register, 30/6/1838, p. 2 | This appears to be an earlier usage. |
| lamb down | 1865 | Not long ago, and at an hotel not far from this, two shearers entered the bar and took up their abode there, determined to have a spree, in the enjoyment of which they were of course to be lambed down in the usual manner. The money was duly lodged with the landlord, who is justly regarded as being a scrupulously honest man in his dealings, and the "enjoyment" commenced. Swags were pitched on one side, shears and sheds were forgotten in the luxury of drinking and shouting, and so the time passed in the alternate enjoyment of cementing sudden friendships in the flowing bowl, or in sleeping when not in a mood favorable to that lively intercourse which the flowing bowl begets. | The Ballarat Star, 8/11/1865, p. 2 | By now the term appears to be treated as common. |
| lamb down | 1867 | It is true that some of the inns have good accommodation for respectable travellers, but there, also, provision is made for the reception and entertainment of the infatuated spreer and drunkard by having the bar well removed from the other apartments, and a "dead house" attached for the regular "topers" while having their spree out, and although "hocussing " may not be practised in these inns, as it is in some of the low-class houses, still their victim, once he begins to drink, is as surely in their power as if he had been "hocussed" at first, for he is, in the expressive phraseology of the bush, carefully "shepherded" and "lambed down," till his money is all spent, by some of these "droughty" individuals who are always to be found hanging about every public-house, and who may or may not be acting under the directions of the innkeeper. | The Sydney Morning Herald, 3/4/1867, p. 2 | It is still a novel term to the SMH. |
| Lamington (cake) | 1901 | NATIVE BORN.—Have not heard of a recipe for "Lamington cake." Can you give some clue to the appearance and ingredients of the cake? | The Queenslander, 14/12/1901, p. 1139 | This was in the 'Mutual Help' column. |
| Lamington (cake) | 1902 | Lamington Cake (from a Subscriber). The weight of two eggs in butter, sugar, and flour, two eggs, half-teaspoonful baking powder. Beat the butter to a cream, add the sugar and yolks of eggs, one by one, then the whites beaten stiff, lastly add gradually flour and baking powder. Bake in a moderate oven. When cold cut the cake like a sandwich and put the white mixture between, then cut into small pieces and cover on all sides with the chocolate mixture. Dip the cakes into grated cocoanut and put in a cool place. The Mixture.—2oz. butter, 6oz. icing sugar, beat to a cream, and divide equally in two basins, and to one half add one and a half teaspoonful cocoa (to be had in small tins) dissolved in three teaspoons boiling water. Beat well. | The Queenslander, 4/1/1902, p. 30S | Under the heading 'Cookery', but presumably in response to an enquiry, three weeks earlier. |
| Lamington (cake) | 1902 | Lamington Cake. Take one cup butter, three cups flour, two cups sugar, five eggs, leaving out the whites of two for icing, one small cup of milk, one small teaspoonful of carbonate of soda, two small teaspoonfuls cream of tartar. Rub the butter and sugar together; add the eggs and the milk with the flour, in which the soda has been mixed. Bake for twenty minutes in long flat tins, and when cold cut into small blocks, and ice all over with an icing made as follows : —¼lb. butter, 1lb. icing sugar, beaten well together. Add the whipped whites of two eggs with three large tablespoonfuls of grated chocolate (or cocoa of a dark colour), essence of vanilla to taste. Cover the blocks all over, and immediately roll them in desiccated cocoanut. | The Western Mail, 1/11/1902, p. 39 | By now, the idea was known as far away as Perth. |
| larrikin | 1870 | To us with our newspapers besieged with letters on the lack of practically educated clerks and foremen, and our police sheets daily filled with fresh accounts of "larrikin" exploits and " colonial cad" outrages these statements should have a very grave significance. To suddenly and violently alter the whole system of education at present obtaining would be perilous and we think unnecessary, but the establishment of industrial and technological schools is comparatively easy, and is, as we understand, the peculiar function of the commission. | The Argus, 21/3/1870, p. 4 | This appears to be the earliest appearance. |
| larrikin | 1870 | Three youngsters, of the species now known as "larrikins," named James M'Donald, aged 15, David Roberts, aged 16, and James White, aged 13, were brought up charged with stealing a scent-bottle, the property of S. Kelly, storekeeper, Smith-street. The boys were shown to have gone into the shop ostensibly to buy some paltry article, and one of them purloined the scent-bottle. The Bench remanded the prisoners until next week in order that inquiries might be made respecting their parents. Nothing was known to the police of the parents of M'Donald and Roberts, but White's father, who keeps Mac's Hotel, in Smith-street, sent word to the Bench that he could not manage his son, and would pay for his maintenance if the Bench sent him to tho Reformatory Schools. Bail was allowed for each prisoner in the sum of £10, but none was forthcoming for any of them and they were removed to gaol. | The Argus, 28/4/70, p. 6 | Worth reading in full. Imagine how the public would react to Mr M'Donald's response today! |
| larrikin | 1870 | Two young men, named Hamilton and Johnson, of the class known as "larrikins," the members of which are now becoming such constant frequenters of the docks of the police courts of Melbourne and the suburbs, were yesterday charged at the Sandridge Police Court with stealing two silver watches from the house of Mr. McKeevor, of Station place, Sandridge. Hamilton pleaded "Guilty," and was sentenced to nine months' imprisonment, with hard labour ; and Johnson, who pleaded "Not Guilty," was committed for trial. | The Argus, 29/4/1870, p. 5 | The first three instances all appear in the same organ, in the same city. Does this pinpoint an origin? |
| lingo | 1825 | Dealer.—Don't comprehend you. Dandy.—Sorry for it.—Suppose I shall be used to your Botany Bay lingo, buy and buy— hey day, what are these broken 'bacco pipes for? Dealer.—They are lozenges, Sir. Dandy.—Very well indeed—law-singers—most people that go to law, singe their fingers,— he, he, he!—and these? | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 22/12/1825, p. 4 | This conversiation involves a "newly imported" dandy, suggesting that "lingo" is not of Australian origin. |
| lubra | 1838 | About one o'clock his Excellency, accompanied by Mrs. Gawler, the members of his family, and a numerous assembly of ladies and gentlemen, proceeded to the ground appointed for the meeting—a sheltered and picturesque spot in the park eastward of Government-house. Here a plenteous supply of roast beef, tea, sugar, rice, and biscuit was provided. In a short time, a band of about of 200 of our friendly natives were seen approaching, accompanied by their lubras and wak-waks, (wives and children) headed by Onkaparinga Jack, Captain Jack, both native constables, and numerous other natives well known to the people; Mr. Wyatt, the Protector, also attended, and was assisted on the occasion by James Cronk, the interpreter, and William Williams, the deputy storekeeper, both great favorites of the natives, and tolerably versed in their language and customs. | South Australian Gazette and Colonial Register, 3/11/1838, p. 4 | Governor Gawler throws a party and addresses the friendly natives, exhorting them to imitate "good white men", so that they can be happy. |
| lubra | 1840 | On Saturday morning last, the 5th of September, the camp was surrounded by about 270 Blacks, and in this number there were not more than 12 women and children. The first demonstration of their intentions was made in demanding flour, rice, meat. &c., and upon being refused; they threatened to spear the survey officer, Mr Giles, his wife, and children. Up to this time no fire-arms had been exhibited. ... The number of the Blacks appeared to increase from all quarters, and nothing else was expected but a general slaughter. It was now considered prudent to load the guns, which was instantly done, and a guard stationed at each tent; this movement had a good effect, as it caused the Natives to draw off to the distance of a quarter of a mile, where they halted, and after a long consultation, their lubras and children were sent off, and the men appeared preparing for action, by trying the points of their spears, and by yelling and threatening gestures. | South Australian, 18/9/1840, p. 4 | A confrontation in the Lyndoch valley, where there were some injuries, but no deaths. |
| lubra | 1841 | We arrived at the place-Nooogong-about five o'clock, and having chosen a secure place for remaining the night, walked over the point to a small creek beyond, where, in the midst of a a small plain, under a prominent rock, perforated in a singular way, there were four European bodies, three men and one woman ; one of the men was drowned, the rest had fallen victims to the natives. The remains of the woman were dried, and presented the appearance of a mummy. I covered them up in a more decent manner. Whilst this was doing, there were about twenty natives with their families at a gun shot distance. The natives who were with me, were very much shocked, and did nothing but cry "poor white man-poor white lubra!" and begged me to shoot at these people, and they were very angry that I would not do it. | Southern Australian, 23/4/1841, p. 3 | Story headed 'The Milmenrura Murders'. The excerpt is from a report by Dr. Richard Penny. Note that all three early instances are from South Australia. |
| making wages | 1851 | The intelligence which was received in Sydney yesterday must have convinced the most sceptical that gold does exist in considerable quantities in the vicinity of the Summer Hill Creek, about one hundred and fifty miles from Sydney, and although hundreds of persons were not obtaining more than ordinary wages, many were getting above an ounce a day, which is worth about £3. | The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser, 28/5/1851, p. 4 | While not the exact form that later became common, clearly the concept was there from the earliest days of gold. |
| making wages | 1868 | As the party have not yet retorted any of the amalgam, they can only judge its value from appearance, which seems to inspire them with considerable hopes of success. They express a confidence, however, of making "good wages" at the work, and the time and expense which they are spending on the prospect certainly go far to prove the sincerity of their statements. | The Sydney Morning Herald, 3/9/1868, p. 2 | This was a gold-mining operation at a beach near Shellharbour. |
| mia-mia | 1847 | Seymour.-The weather has been extremely close and unhealthy during the past week, and that scourge, the influenza, is still in the ascendant. A male child, in arms, the son of Mr. Peacock, on the other side the river, died from its effects on Wednesday last. The aborigines have taken the alarm, and removed their mia-mias, remarking, "White fellow too much sick, patter too much jumbuck."-Correspondent of the Argus. | The Argus, 27/10/1847, p. 4 | Story carried in The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser, assumes the Aboriginal terms are known to readers? |
| mob (of animals) | 1834 | Mr. Nicholls, jun., of Clarence Plains, who has a sheep-run near Ellinthorp Hall, whilst seeking his working bullocks, on the Western Tier, behind the village of Auburn and Mr.York's, on Sunday last, fell in with 3 men, each having a knapsack, who were driving a mob of sheep: as they approached, unfortunately, a gun, carried by a man who accompanied Mr. N, accidentally went off, which alarmed the men with the sheep. Mr. N. immediately pursued them, end succeeded in securing two of the men, the third making his escape The two prisoners were safely lodged in the gaol at Ross. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 18/2/1834, p. 3 | Repeated from the Launcestion Advertiser, 23/1/1834, p. 3 |
| mob (of animals) | 1845 | HORSE STOCK.-Mir. J. B. Kirk has cleared out for Launceston per the Swan. The object of his visit is to purchase a superior mob of horse stock in this market.-Standard. | Launceston Examiner, 17/5/1845, p. 4 | News story. |
| mob (of animals) | 1850 | At about eleven o'clock in the evening of that day the attention of these two individuals was arrested by the footstep of a man, without shoes, pacing the roof of the dairy, in which they had taken up. their quarters, which was followed instantaneously by the whole mob of kangaroo dogs, six in number, making a rush upon the sheep, dispersing the little flock in various directions, but all which — less two — were found next day in the adjacent scrub, several being wounded, and others dead. | South Australian Register, 18/3/1850, p. 3 | Story headed 'Fry the Wakefield Murderer'. |
| mob (of animals) | 1851 | A plain, covered with fine green barley-grass, as high as our horses' heads, and sprinkled over with the myal shrub, which cattle and sheep will eat and thrive on, even without grass. Such was the delicious prospect before us. A flood had evidently but lately subsided, for lagoons full of water were scattered all about; a river running at the rate of five miles an hour, serpentined as far as the eye could see, from which the water-fowl fluttered up as we passed; the eagle hawks were sweeping, along after flocks of quail, and mobs of kangaroos hopping about like huge rabbits. There was not a sign of horn or hoof any where, but it was evident the aborigines were numerous, for there were paths worn down where they had been in the habit of travelling, from one angle of the river to another; we could trace their footmarks and of all sizes, and thereupon we unslung our guns and looked at the priming. | Bell’s Life in Sydney and Sporting Reviewer, 1/3/1851, p. 1 | An account. probably fictional but based on experience of finding new country. |
| mob (of animals) | 1869 | We are informed that the goats never reached Mackenzie Island; that most of them were landed on an island near the Heifer Station, on which there is not a drop of water. Others have been landed on the river bank, and there are two mobs of goats in possession of parties down the river. Had the goats been landed at Mackenzie Island they would have had plenty feed and water, and would have multiplied to somebody's profit. | Rockhampton Bulletin and Central Queensland Advertiser, 14/9/1869, p. 2 | Goats had been ejected from an unspecified town. |
| moleskins | 1858 | He had on moleskin trousers, and a sleeve waistcoat, the fronts of which were dark. He had a pair of bushy whiskers, cropped short. One of the men carried a billy, like the one produced. Could not say which carried it. witness could not identify the deceased as one of the two men whom he had seen on Wednesday evening. | The Argus, 25/1/1858, p. 5 | This is the description of two suspects. |
| mucker | 1899 | The Trades and Labour Council of New Zealand is very anxious to get legislation to prevent the individual acquisition of wealth... A law to prohibit the individual acquisition of marbles would prevent the "muckers" of the school—such is the term by which the crack marble players are known—gathering in the "chows" and "stonys" and "aggys" of his schoolmates | The Queenslander, 15/4/1899, p. 673 | Column 'Jottings by the Way' |
| mug lair | 1928 | The following is a list of the fancy costumes worn at Hayseed s "Down on the Farm" dance held in the Parramatta Convent School. Owing to the large crowd present it was impossible to get all the fancy costumes . . . Mrs. Amies, Polly Woop Woop; Miss S. Kane, Persian; Miss H. Diplock, Pingelina; Miss Rollwagen, Musical Girl; P. Hogan, Black Bottom; Miss D. O'Neill, Miss Prim (school teacher); Bert Conroy, Milk Made; A. Hooper, Bow Yangs; E, Olley, Flapper; C. Tyson, Bow Yangs; Grace Hunter,Mug Lair; Jim Browne, Jim the Barman; Chris Richards, Mug Lair . . . | Cairns Post, 9/5/1928, p. 3 | Note also two appearances of bowyangs. |
| mulligrubs | 1832 | 'No case of Asiatic cholera has occurred," say the doctors at Rotherhithe. Ask students to "They must have been cases of cholera, because the internal appearances were those of congestion," say the doctors at Whitehall. "They could not have been eases of cholera because there was no congestion, and the parish never was more healthy," say the doctors at Rotherhithe. "The disease is undoubtedly in London, and as undoubtedly will spread," say one party. "The disease is not in London, and will not spread," reply the other. "The woman died of the real malignant cholera," say the doctors on one side. "The woman died of the mulligrubs," say the doctors on the other. | Colonial Times (Hobart), 25/9/1832, p. 3 | This suggests a non-Australian origin, which is supported by earlier instances cited in the OED. |
| mulligrubs | 1833 | Margaret Nixon ... with a strong esquimaux cut of her jib, and a tongue that blightly followed its occupation, in spite of all the muzzle lashings attempted to be put on by the Bench, was charged with receiving a pass from her mistress on Tuesday week to proceed to hospital, in consequence of being troubled with the mulligrubs, instead of getting a good drench, she pastured at the first sly grog shop, seated herself by a fire quite cozey; called for a can of dog's nose and pipe, then sipped and smoked, and smoked and sipped again; by the time a couple of quarts of the delicious mixture had trickled down her throat, she began to find herself at home, trowled glibly off her tongue "Paddy Carey oh!" and danced round the room, snapping her fingers for castenets. This game went on all very well til Sunday, when she took a lounge to the Domain, and was taken into custody for her pains. The Bench, to teach her the merits of schedule A. on the Reform system, sent her to study under Mrs. Gordon for two months. | The Sydney Herald, 8/8/1833, p. 3 | Possibly Irish? |
| mulligrubs | 1841 | Jack-Well I'll tell you all about it—this here flash un and the chap as she calls her husband, lived in a free woman's house-the cripple lay in the kitchen, on account (as she gammoned,) of the mulligrubs in his inside—as it was more convenient you know, if he was taken ill, in the night. Well, Madam, slept up stairs by herself (Oh! gemini!) in, a fine splendid bed with silk curtains and laced edged sheets-one of these here Victoria turned French polished cedar bedsteads with gilt ornaments as you must, have steps of stairs to get up in to—Well, Ryan, the Inspector, ye know, gets told of the thing—and off he goes to the house, and wants to search for this here lady. The woman as keeps the house refuses to let him search without a warrant—but— | The Sydney Monitor and Commercial Advertiser, 19/11/1841, p. 3 | Is there a class element about the word? |
| mulligrubs | 1851 | A RADICAL COMPLAINT.-It was currently rumoured in the city last evening that Mr. Henry Parkes had got the measles. On enquiry, we ascertained that it was only the mulligrubs, and that he was not the only man in the Empire suffering from acute indisposition. | Bell’s Life in Sydney and Sporting Reviewer, 18/1/1851, p. 1 | There is probably a snide remark buried in this. |
| Norfolk Island pine | 1829 | In the valley beneath on the other side is a large verandah cottage with dormer windows, and a row of Norfolk Island pines, each exactly tapering as if cut to resemble a pyramid and in front, is the little bay, called by the blacks Woolamoola. The aboriginal language is certainly beautiful and highly expressive, much, more so, we conceive, than an European tongue. Where did they get it? Gogaga is their name of the bird we call the Laughing Jackass, and Gogaga repeated quick is part of the chuckling notes, which distinguish that ludicrous forester. Here we have several public buildings close at hand. The Prisoners' Barracks, called by courtesy Hyde-Park Barracks, a neat brick building, in which are lodged and fed five and six hundred men, and in Macquarie's time double that number. | The Sydney Monitor, 9/3/1829, p. 2 | Clearly planted well before this date |
| nulla nulla | 1808 | After travelling together to some distance along the shore, the na- tive shipped his spear, and looked intently on the water, as if designing to strike at a fish that had approached the beach; when suddenly turning his point on Bosh, he passed the weapon through his left arm; and at the same instant assaulted the more unfortunate Spillers, who had an axe in his hand, and might have defended himself, had he been aware of the attack; but the first intimation he received of which was a perhaps deadly stroke with a nulla-nulla on the crown of the head, as be walked leisurely onwards in supposed security. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 6/11/1808, p. 2 | The attack was carrioed out by "Port Stevens Robert", and the nulla nulla is described in detail. |
| nulla nulla | 1811 | Last Thursday, se'nnight Mr. Robert Luttrill died of a blow on the head with a nulla nulla, inflicted by a native about a fortnight before. On Saturday the Coroner assembled an Inquest on the unhappy occasion, which owing to the residence at Hawkesbury of material witnesses, adjourned from Saturday to Monday; when the following verdict was returned; viz. " that the deceased came to his death by means of a blow from a native; which blow was given in consequence of the deceased breaking the spears of the native, and taking away their women. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 16/11/1811, p. 2 | "...so far from countenancing the author of the present unfortunate event, a chief of the name of Mara Mara had pledged himself to give up the offender, if demanded." |
| nulla nulla | 1826 | The blacks surrounded the house, and its inmates, suspecting their intention, spoke civilly to them, but without the appearance of fear, and desired them to "tat tat", or go away, which injunction they refused to obey The two shepherds were standing near the door way, but outside the house, a black cast a spear at one, and struck him in the body. Cottle was the unfortunate man's name, he exclaimed "I'm a dying man" and instantly expired. They speared the other shepherd through the body, and with an instrument described by the name of nulla nulla, struck him a violent blow on the back of the head, and fractured his scull:—this poor man was not heard to speak. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 9/9/1826, p. 3 | The attack was in the upper Hunter, and notably, the nulla nulla now seems unfamiliar to the writer. |
| nulla nulla | 1835 | Particulars have reached the settlement of the murder of one of Major Mitchell's exploring party, by the natives, at Bogan Creek, ninety miles from Boru. A black fellow somewhat civilized, who has occasional intercourse with the "Mial," or wild tribes beyond Bogan, has detailed a very minute account of the transaction. He states that about two moons ago, the expedition halted near the above creek, where a man employed to mark the trees with the surveyor general, came to the creek to water the cattle; that without any provocation, four blacks who were concealed near the creek rushed on him, and tumbled him with their spears; that one named "Warrandurry," struck him on the head with his nulla nulla, or war club, and killed him. The same fellow cut him up, and hoisted his heart on his spear; that they eat part of his flesh, and gave some to the dogs. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 23/7/1835, p. 3 | The term would not be used by the Aborigines in that area, as it was a Sydney word, so by now it has become a word used by the whites. |
| numbat | 1854 | It will require far more active measures; and as we think many of our indigenous products only require to be known to be appreciated, we will mention some that might be procured and forwarded. Among skins, we may mention kangaroo, opossum, manyne, dammar, numbat, and dalgyte; of which also the furs should be sent without the skins. | Inquirer (Perth), 17/9/1854, p. 2 | Materials suggested for display at the Great Exhibition of 1855 in Paris. A dalgyte is a bilby, manyne and dammar are unexplained. |
| numbat | 1882 | In starting for Western Australia; I was informed that the country teemed with game, and so had out my 'Greener' and loaded up a supply of cartridges. Now, I had been laboriously lugging my guncase from Dan to Beersheba without getting a chance to prove my skill, for except a few kangaroo, which I didn't want, some highly odoured musk ducks, and an impertinent little striped beast known as a numbat (which some one wanted to persuade me was a wombat), I had seen nothing to draw trigger on. Folk told me, however, not to miss the chance of a day's shooting at Bunbury, so once more my guncase was lugged along. Same old game. Nothing at all, except the game they made of me. Indeed, were it not that a reputable man, who apparently knew the nature of an oath, made a solemn affidavit before a Justice of the Peace that certain waterfowl existed in the neighbourhood, I would never have believed that there was a duck in the country. | South Australian Register, 21/12/1882, p. 5 | The article is called 'Through Jarrahland', No. VI. This is only the second located reference to the numbat as an animal. |
| on the wallaby | 1858 | WILD CATS ON KANGAROO ISLAND. A gentleman who arrived in the Blanche, from Kangaroo Island, informs us that he shot a magnificent wild cat weighing upwards of 16 lbs., the skin of which he preserved. He states they are very numerous, and are of the domestic species, running perfectly wild and of enormous size. They are supposed to live on the wallaby. | The South Australian Advertiser , 5/8/1858, p. 3 | Is this a play on words, based on the normal sense? |
| on the wallaby | 1865 | I would not for a moment wish to damp the ardour of those gentlemen who seem so anxious to improve the moral condition of a large and much neglected class, but merely suggest as to whether a little of that zeal could not be more efficiently, directed, for it is an undoubted fact that a bush man, when "on the wallaby," forms a higher opinion of a passer-by's benevolence if he invites him to jump up and ride in his dray for a spell than if he simply informed him that there was a station 20 miles further on-a fact, perhaps, of which he might have been before aware of. | The South Australian Advertiser , 30/8/1865, p. 3 | This is the more normal sense as understood today. |
| on the wallaby | 1866 | And many old and well-experienced in the bush, who have been on the wallaby track vainly seeking employment for one, two, or even three months, would, were it not for the large heart and brave hope that support them, fairly give up in despair. | The South Australian Advertiser , 31/7/1866, p. 2 | Note that the three earliest instances come from a single organ. |
| on the wallaby | 1867 | In last Wednesday's Empire there is an article headed "On the Wallaby,"from Dickens' All the Year Round. It is a sketch of mobs of bushmen "on the Wallaby track," or tramping ostensibly in search of employment. There is much truth in the picture, and I recommend bushmen to read it. Perhaps you will give them an opportunity. The writer very fairly distinguishes between mere "loafers" and men sincerely desirous of employment. | The Brisbane Courier, 9/5/1867, p. 3 | The term has started to spread, even to Dickens' London. |
| on the wallaby | 1867 | I FOUND myself one morning on a certain diggings in New South Wales, with five pounds in my pocket and no horse. My mind was soon made up, loafing not being in my creed. I bought a pair of blankets, a blue serge shirt, moleskin trousers, and a billycock hat, and thus arrayed in the unaccustomed but orthodox costume, I bade a long farewell to swelldom, and started on the wallaby in search of any kind of employment, which, as Mr. Micawber has it, might turn up. | The Brisbane Courier, 6/6/1867, p. 3 | The article from 'All the Year Round', mentioned above. |
| onion, to be off | 1898 | We still say that a man is "off his onion," or "gone balmy," or "off his nut," but the still newer expression, "off his napper," seems to have met with no more than a temporary acceptance. | The Broadford Courier and Reedy Creek Times, 25/2/1898, p. 5 | An article denouncing new slang as debasing the philological currency of the English tongue. |
| paddock | 1807 | To be Sold by Private Contract, a valuable Thirty acre Farm delightfully situate at Hawkesbury down the River, the property of and in the present occupation of Mr. Thomas Lewer. All the above is clear, 6 acres fenced in for a paddock, and 4 acres of corn in a flourishing state. For particulars apply to the proprietor, or to W. Baker, No 49, Chapel Row. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 22/3/1807, p. 1 | The earliest use seen so far. |
| paddock | 1807 | NOTICE. — All persons are forbid trespassing with stock or by making a passage across a paddock of 60 acres, situate at Richmond Hill, and fenced in, the property of Jonathan Griffiths, who will prosecute any and every such trespass that may be made hereafter. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 12/4/1807, p. 2 | Advertisement. |
| paddock | 1809 | To be LET For the Term of Three Years, with present Entry, A Capital Fifty-Acre, farm at Prospect, belonging to John Warby ; containing two fine paddocks of 20 acres inclosed ; the whole well supplied with water, and equally admirably adapted both to stock and tillage. Application to be made to the Proprietor, on the Premises or at No. 3, Upper Pitt's Row. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 5/2/1809, p. 1 | Advertisement. |
| paddock | 1828 | Throughout the whole of my neighbourhood, (for the fences that have been hitherto erected have engrossed mere home paddocks for cultivation, and have not extended to our side lines) when a partial intermixture of two flocks occurs, as it will sometimes with every precaution, no shepherd can leave the rest of his flock to collect those that have strayed, without giving notice to his neighbour's shepherds, right and left, to keep a sharp look out, as he will of necessity be absent from his sheep two or three hours on such a day ; pray therefore on this general muster day, who is to prevent a general muster of the sheep also? | Hobart Town Courier, 27/9/1828, p. 3 | This refers specifically to home paddocks. |
| patta | 1803 | An elderly man made Euranabie a present of a waddie, or club, which I supposed was done to shew a particular regard. To my surprise he soon came up to me with evident marks of fear depicted on his countenance. On being asked the cause of his alarm, he solicited permission to go on board rthe vessel, as these natives would kill and patter, that is, eat him. I confess I rather doubted this assertion... | The Narrative of a Voyage of Discovery Performed in His Majesty's Vessel The Lady Nelson., James Grant, p. 108-9 | London: C. Roworth |
| patta | 1818 | JEU d'ESPRIT On Thursday last, at Parramatta, Where the glad Natives met to patta*.... [footnote} * The native term for eating, and alluding to the festival provided for them. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 3/1/1818, p. 3 | A poem either in, or reflecting offensively. The offence is excised in this short sample. |
| patta | 1826 | The native prisoner, now confined in the gaol, on the night of his arrival, when brought to the door of the cell in which he was to sleep, betrayed considerable fear, frequently crying out, "narrang gungeor," mingled with various other exclamations, concluding with a doleful but plaintive song. He was much more calm the next morning, though sullen, when he found himself kindly treated by a few individuals, although previously terrified by the harsh and discordant cries of the prisoners generally. Little could be elicited from him (in the absence of any person who could understand his language), except the denial of causing the death of the white man, which he stated thus:"Baal me him pial, me him patta." "I did not kill, but I eat him." | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 14/6/1826, p. 3 | No other useful details appear in this report. |
| patta | 1844 | Although they appear to treat their children kindly when they can in some measure help themselves, yet infanticide is frequent among the women, who often dislike the trouble of taking care of their babies, and destroy them immediately after birth, saying that "Yahoo" or "Devil-devil" took them. One woman, whom Mr. Meredith saw a day after the birth of her baby, on being asked where it was, replied with perfect nonchalance, "I believe Dingo patta!" — She believed the dog had eaten it! Numbers of hapless little beings are no doubt disposed of by their unnatural mothers in a similar manner. | Notes and Sketches of New South Wales, Louise Ann Meredith (Mrs Charles Meredith),1844. London: John Murray, 1844, and Ringwood: Penguin Books, 1973, p. 95 | The word 'patta' seems now to have disappeared from view, but it seems to have been passably well-known. |
| patta | 1847 | Seymour.-The weather has been extremely close and unhealthy during the past week, and that scourge, the influenza, is still in the ascendant. A male child, in arms, the son of Mr. Peacock, on the other side the river, died from its effects on Wednesday last. The aborigines have taken the alarm, and removed their mia-mias, remarking, "White fellow too much sick, patter too much jumbuck."-Correspondent of the Argus. | The Argus, 27/10/1847, p. 4 | Story carried in The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser, assumes the Aboriginal terms are known to readers? |
| patta | 1873 | The blackfellows often use the leaves and bark of poisonous trees to poison waterholes to stupify the fish contained in them; and it is possible that such poisoned water may prove fatal to cattle if imbibed in sufficient quantity. At any rate we know that in some instances blackfellows have cautioned whitefellows against drinking water so treated:-"Bail patta dat fella: derekly tumble down : murry saucy dat fella," &c. If these cattle were poisoned by eating of any plant the one most likely to have furnished the poison, will have been one of the plants known as the "poison pea," or Swainsonia, one or two species being found in the part of the country where they succumbed in a way so unaccountable, or, at any rate, not yet satisfactorily accounted for. | Australian Town and Country Journal, 7/6/1873, p. 12 | The subject under consideration was the poisoning of cattle owned by William Nowland of Camberwell, who thought the most likely cause was Craspedia chrysantha, which the journal said could not have been the cause. |
| Pavlova | 1929 | Professor Helen Leach, a culinary anthropologist at the University of Otago in New Zealand, said the earliest recipe that uses both the correct recipe and the name ‘Pavlova’ was published in 1929 in a magazine titled New Zealand rural magazine. [Note: this is a direct quote, but apparently it is wrong. Leach identified the source of the first recipe that is definitely a Pavlova, while not called that, a book, Practical Home Cookery Chats and Recipes by Katrine McKay. | New Zealand Rural Magazine (??), 1929, p. — | This is probably a reference to Leach's book The Pavlova Story but this is unconfirmed. |
| Pavlova | 1934 | GOULBURN MERINGUE. Five eggs, 10oz. castor sugar, ¾ pint cream, fruits (bananas, candied cherries, tinned apricots, peaches or fresh strawberries). Beat egg whites to a stiff froth, add castor sugar gradually, beating constantly. Spread this meringue on two pieces of paper about the size of a dinner plate. Bake in the usual way until firm and dry. Whisk the cream. When stiff add the finely chopped tinned fruits, bananas cut into thin slices. Spread the lower meringue to the depth of one inch with this cream mixture and cover lightly with the other meringue. [Note added in Trove by 'brunswicknic': "Goulburn Meringue is a pavlova".] | The Australian Women's Weekly, 25/8/1934, p. 41 | At this time, the recipe already existed, but not the name. |
| Pavlova | 1937 | PAVLOVA CAKE SWEET Whites of 4 eggs, 8oz. castor sugar, 1 dessertspoon cornflour, 2 teaspoons vinegar, strawberries, or fruit in season, whipped cream, pistachio nuts or chopped walnuts. Stiffly beat whites of eggs. Add sugar gradually and beat well, or until stiff and frothy. Fold sifted cornflour in lightly and add the vinegar. Place mixture into an 8in. sandwich tin which has been well greased and lightly dredged with cornflour. Bake in slow oven for 1½ hours. Decorate with whipped cream, strawberries and nuts. Serve as cold summer sweet. | The Australian Women's Weekly, 10/7/1937, p. 39S | New Zealand also lays claim to the invention of The Pav. |
| Peach Melba | 1912 | FARMER'S LUNCHEON HALL... THIS AND EVERY FRIDAY EVENING, FROM 6.30 TO 8.30. TABLE d'HOTE. 4/6. MENU AS FOLLOWS: HORS D'OEUVRE, EGGS ORIENTAL. OYSTERS NATURAL. CONSOMME PAYSANNE. CREAM RIVOLY. FILLETS OF WHITING A LA NORMANDE, SALMI OF TEAL. NOISETTES OF LAMB PRINTAINIERE. ROAST TURKEY. SALAD FRANÇAISE. PEACH MELBA. PINEAPPLE ICE. COFFEE. | Sydney Morning Herald, 11/10/1912, p. 1 | Advertisement for pre-theatre dining. Patrons could phone, as last as 6 p.m. to book a table: " 'Phone Numbers-Central 72, 279, 2659, City 65 and 66." Farmer's occupied the block now held by Myer, on Market Street between George and Pitt. |
| Peach Melba | 1913 | WANTED KNOWN.-Peach Melba to be had To-night at Hall Brothers. | Clarence and Richmond Examiner, 25/11/1913, p. 1 | Peach Melba had now reached The Bush. |
| Peach Melba | 1913 | EGG DRINKS AND SPECIALS-Egg Coffee, Egg Chocolate, Egg Phosphate, Egg Flipp, Egg Lemonade, Egg Malted Milk (Horlick's), 9d. EACH AMERICAN SPECIALS-Iced Asparagus, Canteloupe Sundae, Banana Special, Peach Melba, Strawberry Smash, Pineapple Smash. Iced Coffee, Peaches and Cream, Pears and Cream, Fruit; Salad (special), Canteloupe Iced, 9d. EACH ICED CREAM SODAS, a Delicious and Refreshing Drink-Strawberry, Pineapple, Raspberry, Peach. Passion Fruit (Pure Crushed Fruits), Chocolate, Coffee, Caramel, Lemon, Vanilla, Cherry, Kola, Sarsaparilla, Limejuice, Maple, Nectar, Orange, Malted Milk (Horlick's), 6d. EACH | The Advertiser, 6/10/1913, p. 3 | Advertisement for the new soda fountain at the F. C. Catt store. ("Adelaide's Busiest Drapers.") |
| peppered | 1851 | At Lucky Point a decided case of "peppering" occurred the other day, in which Messrs. Davis and Jones, of Newtown, were victimized to the tune of £55. Another "dodge" is now being carried on, in which science is brought to the aid of knavery. Pieces of chrystalized quartz are procured from the Louisa or elsewhere, and under the action of the blow pipe, gold in a state of fusion is thrown between its prisms, the collectors of specimens is thus easily duped, and exorbitant prices obtained for almost valueless compositions. | The Empire, 21/11/1851, p. 2 | This was a synonym for salting. |
| peppered | 1854 | We may rest assured that the whole affair will be thoroughly sifted, and if the ores have been, what is here technically called "peppered," the delinquent will be brought to justice, for large sums of money must have changed hands in consequence of the alleged discoveries. There can be no doubt but that Mr. Berdan must have made a large sum by the sale of his machines, but it is scarcely probable that he would countenance measures which would sooner or later entail the loss of a high scientific reputation, and all for the sake of a mere temporary addition to the wealth he had already accumulated from other sources. | The Sydney Morning Herald, 25/7/1854, p. 5 | Not long after this date, peppering was replaced by salting>/i> |
| peppered | 1854 | But a fraud of a much more serious character has been discovered-viz., the adulteration of gold with twenty per cent, of copper, or, as it is stated in evidence at the Police Court in Melbourne, with Muntz metal. Advices had previously come out, that spurious nuggets and gold-dust had been extensively manufactured in Birmingham, either to be sold to gold-buyers, or else for the purpose of "peppering" or "salting" claims for fraudulent sale on the diggings. The principals sent out to their agents in the colony the strongest acids and hardest stones to try the gold with ; but the spurious metal was so well and strongly gilded as to resist the usual tests ordinarily applied. The writer, when present at Sir. John Cohen's gold-sales, saw some of the factitious metal, of the form of shot, in which form pure gold is found, with a slight pellicle hanging to it: but it was agreed on by all present, that the imitation was most ingeniously contrived... | The Sydney Morning Herald, 26/1/1854, p. 2 | This appears to be almost a last case of "peppered" and a first case of "salted". |
| peppered | 1872 | In reefing, things are looking very well, and some excellent stone is to grass at several of the claims. I saw a stone this morning from the claim of W. Annett and Co, on the Victoria Reef, which was perfectly peppered with gold through and through; I do not think I ever saw a better specimen... | The Sydney Morning Herald, 24/4/1872, p. 5 | Clearly, the old meaning had been lost by now: there is no suggestion of fraud here. |
| platypus | 1824 | In the Lake are five Islands, mostly covered with a species of cedar (the foilage [sic] of which much resemble the Huon pine), and a vast number of beautiful shrubs. The party landed on some of the Islands. Although the Lake exhibits so great a surface of water, the party were much disappointed in finding its greatest depth not exceeding three fathoms, and generally not deeper than three feet; appearances however existed of the water at times being considerably higher. Few or no birds were seen ; one Platypus Paradoxus was discovered near the boat whilst under weigh, but it could not be caught. | Hobart Town Gazette and Van Diemen’s Land Advertiser, 16/4/1824, p. 2 | An excursion to "the Great Lake, to the north-west of Hobart Town about 90 miles". |
| platypus | 1827 | On Thursday, a Sailing Match took place, for a Dinner for 30 Gentlemen, between Mr. Barker's boat, Platypus, and a cutter belonging to the Sir Charles Forbes, steered by Captain LANGDON, R. N. A boat was moored off Sandy Bay Point, with a flag hoisted; which the boats were to sail round, and return under the ship's stern. At 1 P. M. a signal gun was fired from the vessel, and the boats started with a fine sea breeze; betting nearly equal ; but, on the first tack the cutter weathered so much on the Platypus, that five to one was offered and taken. | Colonial Times and Tasmanian Advertiser, 2/2/1827, p. 3 | Somebody used the name "Platypus Padadoxis" [sic] in 1826 to anonymise a donation to the same journal. |
| platypus | 1828 | Mr. P. J. Knox has communicated to the Royal society a remarkable structure in the knee joint of the platypuss or ornithoryncus paradoxus, and in the echidna hystrix of this country. That peculiar structure in the human knee joint, usually known by the name of ligamentum adiposum, constitutes in these animals a broad double membrane, dividing the joint into two perfectly distinct synovial cavities. In the superior, of these cavities, the articular surfaces are the patilla and a portion of the condyles of the femur; in the lower cavity the articular surfaces are the inferior half of the same condyles and the upper surface of the tibia. | The Hobart Town Courier, 30/12/1838, p. 3 | Already, the name change was known, but nobody cared. |
| poisoner | 1900 | Kalyra Home, Belair. — On Wednesday evening the inmates of the Home had an entertaining lecture delivered to them by Mr. W. Dollman, jun.. on "Bush Fancies." The lecturer dealt with bush life, including some exciting cattle trips the amusements in camp on the arrival of a new chum, his experience with "the poisoner," or the overseer, the new cook, and the peculiar characteristics of some bushmen. | South Australian Register, 10/8/1900, p. 2 | 'Poisoner" was a slang term for a cook. Was that the sense intended here? |
| poisoner | 1905 | "Yes, what about the cooks?" he inquired. You've never mentioned them. Some of them, no doubt, are decent fellows, and good at a 'hand-out,' but most of them are the biggest dodgers we have to encounter. They've got eyes like eagle-hawks, and noses like a Woolloongabba Society damsel. They can see a hungry bagman three miles off on a plain, and smell him two miles off in scrub land. Then away they rush, and the doors, and if they've a bit of meat or a puddin' cooking in a boiler outside, they'll hook it out! When you arrive all is silent, not a soul or a smell of tucker to be seen anywhere. Should, by any chance, you come upon them suddenly to tap, whisper or interview the 'poisoner,' he'll bang the door with a loud, fierce, uncharitable bang! | The Northern Miner (Charters Towers), 20/7/1905, p. 3 | On the Wallaby' by "6x8". |
| poke mullock | 1912 | When the tribe of pommies, jimmy grants, and unregistered lime-juice lickers hears a native of the soil who is a groper—refer to them in any of the following terms, a "boshter," "bontodger," "bonza," "boshtering" or "bosker" bloke, he need not go sour and agitate his Lancashire clogs with the intention of kicking the spruiker of this chat in the "darby kell" because all these expressions represent the dead limit of admiration. If, on the other hand, the same person were to refer to him as "a dead nark," "Noah's Ark," "backer-and filler," "twister," or "purple-imp (pimp), he would be perfectly justified in getting in early with his brogans, or skate in with the hobnail express, which is another way of saying that he ought to bog his "daisy roots," otherwise his "crabs" or "John Hunters" into the frame of the blighter that "poked mullock" at him. | Sunday Times (Perth), 10/3/1912, p. 9 | A discussion on slang for new arrivals. |
| Pommy | 1912 | When the tribe of pommies, jimmy grants, and unregistered lime-juice lickers hears a native of the soil who is a groper—refer to them in any of the following terms, a "boshter," "bontodger," "bonza," "boshtering" or "bosker" bloke, he need not go sour and agitate his Lancashire clogs with the intention of kicking the spruiker of this chat in the "darby kell" because all these expressions represent the dead limit of admiration. If, on the other hand, the same person were to refer to him as "a dead nark," "Noah's Ark," "backer-and filler," "twister," or "purple-imp (pimp), he would be perfectly justified in getting in early with his brogans, or skate in with the hobnail express, which is another way of saying that he ought to bog his "daisy roots," otherwise his "crabs" or "John Hunters" into the frame of the blighter that "poked mullock" at him. | Sunday Times (Perth), 10/3/1912, p. 9 | A discussion on slang for new arrivals. |
| potluck | 1874 | Being asked if she had any reason for leaving, with the most charming naivete she answered the bench with drooping mein, that "she didn't like to say," and mademoiselle could not be cajoled or commanded to give the why or the wherefore. At this crisis, Host Fuller was "boxed," and having shoved his nose into Jeremiah he explained that he had no fault to find with the "gal." She was a stunner and no gammon. He liked her much. He had hired her in Sydney as cook at fourteen bob a week, and the "run of her Dover," and she had pleased him mightily these four months, but the other evening she skedaddled, and left them potluck, and he didn't think that according to Cocker. She had ten pounds odd coming as wages. | The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser, 19/2/1874, p. 2 | A charge under the Masters and Servants Act, heard at Walgett. |
| privy | 1813 | Pearce Conden was always in the habit of having fire-arms with him, such as a gun or huge pistol; she had seen none with him this time, but he had never before come to her house without such, and might have had them now without her knowledge. Here a long pistol, which after the murder had been found in Wright's privy, was shewn to the witness; who declared it to be like the one she had before seen with Conden; and when she told him a man had been murdered on her premises he did not appear to evince any marks of surprise, nor did she recollect his making any reply. Pearce Conden and Eliza Plumb had been in the same room in her house for a whole night together, but witness could not say they slept together. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 27/3/1813, p. 2 | The trial of Thomas Mahony, and Pearce Conden for the wilful murder of Joseph Sutton. |
| privy | 1824 | Of the gaol itself, its buildings, enclosure and site, nothing can be said too expressive of their insufficiency, insecurity, and improper position. Little beyond the presence of armed men, offers itself to oppose the flight of prisoners of athletic frame. In the yard wherein the daring fugitives from Port Macquarie are confined, stands a privy and the shoulder of a chimney, presenting so easy a gang-way of escape, as appears, to the Grand Jurors to give an increasing invitation to the prisoners to overwhelm the watchmen and sally from their durance; and it is the opinion of this Jury, that a watchman armed amidst numbers of powerful desperadoes, must be but a temptation to the commission of outrage. | The Australian, 18/11/1824, p. 2 | Report of the State of Sydney Gaol, delivered by a Grand Jury. |
| prospecting (for gold) | 1849 | . . .the great 'placer' of the Sacramento valley, where the digging and washing of one man that does not produce 100 troy ounces of gold, from the size of a half spangle to one pound in a month, set the digger to 'prospecting,' that is looking for better grounds. | Colonial Times (Hobart), 12/6/1849, p. 2 | News story: 'The Californian Gold Finders'. |
| prospector (gold) | 1849 | In my travels I have, when resting under a tree and staging my horse, seen pieces of pure gold taken from crevices of the rocks or slate where we were stopping. On one occasion, nooning or refreshing on the side of a stream entirely unknown to diggers or 'prospectors,' or rather, if known, not attended to, one of my companions in rolling in the sand, said, "Give me a tin pan; why should we not be cooking in gold sands?" He took a pan, filled it with sand, washed it out, and produced in five minutes two or three dollars' worth of gold, merely saying, as he threw both pan and gold on the sand, "I thought so." | South Australian, 5/6/1849, p. 1s | California context: note the mention of the pan. |
| prospector (gold) | 1851 | THE GOLD PROSPECTORS. We were misinformed as to Mr Davis' party going on to the Gundaroo ranges at the direction of Captain Hovell. We believe that on leaving the Dead Man's Creek, Mr Davis set out to explore Reid's Creek, at the Third Breadalbane Plains, being satisfied that the indications there were favourable to their object, and on last Friday morning, he was fortunate enough to find three grains of gold and two rubies, in the first cradle of earth washed at that place. Mr Davis having to leave for Goulburn, he intends to return again, and is confident that Reid's Creek will prove a gold field. The distance from Goulburn is twenty-two miles, and the spot is about three miles from the great southern road. Mr Davis has been to the Ophir diggings and from experience and observation he fully expects to find the precious metal still nearer Goulburn. | The Sydney Morning Herald, 18/7/1851, p. 3 | Unusual: a prospector working with a cradle: most would only use a pan while testing. |
| push (gang) | 1899 | Bill's push dealt stoush out to a man In Ultimo one Sunday; A gang of crafty, clever traps Went round and gathered up the scraps Sic transit gloria mundi! | West Australian Sunday Times, 24/9/1899, p. 7 | A poem, originally from 'The Truth', Sydney, by 'The Warrigal'. |
| quid | 1866 | Kay showed himself a pleasant companion; what in a higher grade of society is called "quite an acquisition." He told stories of thieves and thieving, and of a certain "silver cup" he had been "put up to," and that he meant to nick it 'afore the end of the week, if he got seven stretch (? seven years) for it. The cup was worth ten quid, (? pounds,) and he knew where to melt it within ten minutes of nicking it. He made this statement without any modulation of his sweet voice, and the others received it as a serious fact. Nor was there any affectation of secrecy in another gentleman, who announced amid great applause that he had stolen a towel from the bath-room ; "And s'help me, it's as good as new; never been washed more'n once!" | Brisbane Courier, 28/3/1866, p. 3 | Reproduced from the Pall Mall Gazette, indicating that 'quid' was originally English. |
| quid | 1874 | It was now evident that the Bench was coming to the "short strokes," as an interlocutory discussion on Jenny's debit and credit account followed, which was adjourned to enable the complainant to make his financial statement. The most profound interest was manifested in court during the progress of this cause celebre the denouement being (I blush to record it) a triumph of Boniface over Beauty, the Bench reducing the exchequer of the weeping handmaid to the tune of five "quid," and the cost of her travelling expenses from Sydney, together with the cancellation of the agreement. | The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser, 19/2/1874, p. 2 | A charge under the Masters and Servants Act, heard at Walgett. The quotation marks suggest that quid was a new arrival in Australia at that time. |
| rabbit-proof fence | 1886 | RABBITS are reported on the increase... "Brer Rabbit," as the southern humorist calls him, is driving one of our best-known native animals out of the country and up north. As he marches that way he will exterminate the poor thing. The bilby, a sort of kangaroo rat, is a small burrowing animal, of no harm, and better eating than the rabbit, if we are to believe the old hands. The rabbit has proved itself adaptive and possessed of a good knowledge of economy; stupid as they say it is. When bunny finds a bilby's hole, it immediately annexes the poor little thing's home, and makes Mr. Bilby seek other quarters. The bilbies are therefore moving northward; either not liking the look of the rabbit, or being unable to cope with it. Presently the rabbits will drive away the great silly four-legged and two legged sheep. One of the questions debated here at present is whether, when the rabbit proof fences are erected, the rabbits will learn to climb them. | Australian Town and Country Journal, 2/10/1886, p. 16 | News from Hay. |
| radium | 1900 | If the alleged new substance, named by its inventor or discoverer "radium" can be cheaply obtained, and if it will go on shining like the sun. practically for ever, alas! for the gas men and the illuminating electricians! It is asserted that Madame Currie (sic!), of the Paris Municipal School of Physics, has had her name enrolled on the books of the French Academy of Sciences, and has received a reward of four thousand francs in recognition of her having discovered radium; and if this be so there is good reason to suppose that at least some fact of genuine scientific interest has been disclosed. Radium is probably a more luminous substance than any which has yet been isolated or compounded by the chemist or physicist; but whether it can take the place of gas or the electric light for household illumination is a question which, for the present, must be held strictly among the things unproved. | South Australian Register, 8/12/1900, p. 6 | How little they knew! |
| radium | 1900 | A new kind of Roentgen ray seems to have been discovered very recently. At the meeting of the Chemical-Physical Society held in Vienna the other day Herr Stefan Meyer and Dr. von Schweidler made some very interesting experiments with the newly-discovered element "radium". That element gives off rays very similar to, but weaker, than the Roentgen rays. The former, like the latter, produce a distinctly discernible fluorescence, and they can even penetrate aluminium and other metals-even rather thick lead. Another important quality of radium is its making the air conductive for electricity. | The Sydney Morning Herald, 8/12/1900, p. 3 | Same date, far better informed. |
| rawhide | 1849 | I saw a man to day making purchases of dry goods, &c, for his family, lay on the counter a bag made of rawhide, well sewed up, containing 100 ounces. I observed, that is a good way to pack gold dust.' He innocently replied, 'all the bags I brought down are that way; I like the size! Five such bags in New York would bring nearly 10,000 dollars. This man left his family last August. Three months' digging and washing, producing four or five bags, of 100 ounces each, is better than being mate of a vessel at 40 dollars per month, as the man formerly was. | Colonial Times (Hobart), 12/6/1849, p. 2 | News story: 'The Californian Gold Finders'. |
| redback | 1883 | Their spears are formed of the toughest wood, jarreen, where it can be obtained, cut in notches, sometimes only at one end and sometimes at both; they carefully scrape them with glass or, before white men came, shells, until they get them smooth; and then rub them until they are polished; when used in a war with an unfriendly tribe, and in the old days against the whites, these, as well as their boomerangs, were smeared with poison. The poison bags of snakes, death adders, the bodies of the deadly red-backed spider, as well as any venomous, creature they could find, were mixed up with the soft resinous gum of the pine tree into a perfect "hell-broth;" when properly assimilated it was smeared over the weapons, where it hardened like varnish; the wound made from a spear thus dressed would be exceedingly painful, if not fatal. | Illustrated Sydney News, 14/4/1883, p. 14 | Written by 'Silverleaf', this purports to be an account of Aboriginal customs, but the inclusion of the red-backed spider, so close on the heels of the first located print reference, must make the veracity questionable. |
| redback | 1883 | Arachnidae : 1 small red-backed spider, Mr. Griffen ; 1 small spider, Mr. Griffen ; 2 spiders, Miss A. F. Spencer. | Sydney Morning Herald, 9/4/1883, p. 6 | Donations to the Australian Museum during March. |
| redback | 1890 | It would appear that the venomous red-backed spiders are getting both numerous and vicious. On Friday last a little son of Mr. W. Rogan was bitten on a very tender part by these little pests, and for a time was in great danger of losing his life, but we are pleased to learn from Dr. Murray that he is on a fair to recovery. On Sunday evening, a man named Charles Spicer was bitten on the forearm by one of the same species, and but for the immediate assistance of Dr. Eagar may have suffered severely. We learn that Spicer has not felt any serious effects from the sting he received. | Bathurst Free Press and Mining Journal, 24/2/1890, p. 2 | News from Parkes. One typo (petss for pests) corrected. |
| redback | 1931 | The 'Australian Museum Magazine' is an at[t]ractively prepared and popular natural history periodical which circulates generally throughout Australia, and the January-March number, which has been received at this office, maintains the general excellence of past issues. Several interesting articles deal with spiders and insects, and one on 'Some Common Spiders of the Sydney District' gives an account of many well-known Australian spiders, with clear photographs and diagrams of their appearance and structure, mention being made of the only two Australian spiders whose bite has been proved as fatal to human beings — the funnel web spiders (Atrax) and the red spot spiders [spireds in the original] (Latrodectus). Miss Nancy B. Adams gives instructive hints on the preservation of insects and spiders . . . | The West Australian, 13/3/1931, p. 12 | Note that the spider, identified by genus and so a redback as we understand it, is not so-called here. |
| redgum | 1816 | . . . the first thing to be attended to is, looking out if any of the timber is fit for posts, rails, &c. either for building or fencing After the logs are cross burnt, I lay open the roots of the large stumps, roll the logs against them, and there make the fires. If the first logs are not sufficient, I roll more, till the whole of the stump is destroyed The lateral rools which run too near the surface I grub, and raise, with levers. Where there is not much timber, I find it best to burn from one side, as it requires the greatest quantity of timber, as well as the longest time to burn through the sap. It is very essential to spread all the ashes, particularly of the red gum and iron bark, as they contain the greatest quantity of pot ash. After the stumps are burnt so low as to require no more fire, I burn the remaining timber any where. If I have any she oaks, I take them out by splitting with wedges, and twisting them out with a lever about 14 feet long, shod with iron. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 7/9/1816, p. 2 | Letter by Agricola, detailing the methods used to clear land for farming. The term "cross burnt" refers to the writer's trick of cutting logs into manageable lengths by setting small fires along them. |
| Reffo | 1945 | 'Then the war broke out, see. Well, I tried to enlist, but they knocked me back like as though I was a leper. So I fell slap bingo into the hands of the Reffo quacks. I figured out that these foreigners ought to know a bit more about skin troubles than our blokes out here because they come from the places where all the plagues are see." | The Sydney Morning Herald Saturday, 7/5/1945, p. 9 | Leon Gellert, 'The Skin Game', an essay which pre-dates the end of World War II. |
| Reffo | 1947 | No decision was made on the suggestion from Britain that "our leaders in England would welcome any encouragement, however small, to the members of the Polish Army in Britain desiring to settle in Australia." Australian immigration policy prefers Mr. Williams' first proposition because the Polish Army in Britain — the men who do not want to return to their own country under its present rule— has political dangers. This is especially so just now, while Arthur Calwell is under Lang fire regularly as the "Minister for Reffos." Lang is accusing Calwell of organising refugee immigration from Shanghai and elsewhere in preference to Britishers. This Calwell denies. State Ministers made sure, however, making it clear they wanted people, skilled pioneering people, from the United Kingdom. | Geraldton Guardian and Express (WA), 28/1/1947, p. 4 | Clearly, the term was now derogatory, though still being short for "refugee". |
| rort | 1901 | The "rorter," too, will come, of course, beneath the iron heel, So "Splinter's" little lurk the "John's" will block,' While the welkin will reverberate a universal squeal When the game of "Murrumbidgee" takes the "knock." "Father Tim's" sad lamentations will reecho far and wide, And his "sweat-wheel" lying idly by will rust When that mug manipulator has to put aside his pride And by heavy, honest yacker score a crust. | West Australian Sunday Times, 16/6/1901, p. 5 | Poem 'Thou Shalt not Bet', by 'Dryblower' (E. G. Murphy). |
| rouseabout | 1907 | We borrow many phrases from America and some from the colonies, remarks an English paper. In many cases the American productions are but modifications of old English terms. With the colonial figures of speech it is different. Australia has a slang vocabulary which is as foreign as Russian to the Briton at home. Sir Robert Reid spoke, in the Commonwealth Parliament of an opponent as a "political smoodger." The term came over to England. It had an unpleasant sound, and seemed useful for the political platform. But few people here know what a "smoodger" was. It is Australian for a sneak or servile member of the gang upon a squatter's ranch. From the same quarter comes "jackeroo," a raw hand now from the Old World; and there is "rouseabout" for the gentlemen in caps and aprons whom we are advised to employ in our houses in place of maidservants. | The Daily News (Perth), 5/8/1907, p. 3 | Gossip column, quoting an unnamed English newspaper. |
| run | 1834 | Mr. Nicholls, jun., of Clarence Plains, who has a sheep-run near Ellinthorp Hall, whilst seeking his working bullocks, on the Western Tier, behind the village of Auburn and Mr.York's, on Sunday last, fell in with 3 men, each having a knapsack, who were driving a mob of sheep: as they approached, unfortunately, a gun, carried by a man who accompanied Mr. N, accidentally went off, which alarmed the men with the sheep. Mr. N. immediately pursued them, end succeeded in securing two of the men, the third making his escape The two prisoners were safely lodged in the gaol at Ross. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 18/2/1834, p. 3 | Repeated from the Launcestion Advertiser, 23/1/1834, p. 3 |
| run | 1845 | I have no doubt that many large and wealthy squatters will avail themselves of the privilege afforded them, by paying to the Crown the license money on a large number of stations, so as to provide for the increase of their sheep for years to come, or probably they will purchase more sheep, stock their run, and sell both sheep and stations at the first favourable opportunity. I am of opinion that some definite limit should be affixed to runs, and the proper and natural limit which suggests itself is, that no squatter should have more land than he has stock to depasture thereon at the period of the promulgation of the regulations-otherwise a new, perhaps a poorer squatter, will be entirely shut out, and the Crown will lose the fund arising from the assessment on the stock which would be placed on the monopolized lands. | Sydney Morning Herald, 2/8/1845, p. 3 | Letter on the Squatting Regulations, addressed to the editor signed E.P. |
| ruthless and toothless | 1945 | Guard units, comprising older men charged with the protection of various headquarters, are known as the "olds and bolds" or the "ruthless and toothless." It is sad to think that the inventor of such phrases should have lapsed into premature oblivion. | The West Australian, 24/11/1945, p. 5 | Article 'Brave New Words'. |
| salted | 1854 | But a fraud of a much more serious character has been discovered-viz., the adulteration of gold with twenty per cent, of copper, or, as it is stated in evidence at the Police Court in Melbourne, with Muntz metal. Advices had previously come out, that spurious nuggets and gold-dust had been extensively manufactured in Birmingham, either to be sold to gold-buyers, or else for the purpose of "peppering" or "salting" claims for fraudulent sale on the diggings. The principals sent out to their agents in the colony the strongest acids and hardest stones to try the gold with ; but the spurious metal was so well and strongly gilded as to resist the usual tests ordinarily applied. The writer, when present at Sir. John Cohen's gold-sales, saw some of the factitious metal, of the form of shot, in which form pure gold is found, with a slight pellicle hanging to it: but it was agreed on by all present, that the imitation was most ingeniously contrived... | The Sydney Morning Herald, 26/1/1854, p. 2 | This appears to be almost a last case of "peppered" and a first case of "salted". |
| salted | 1857 | Bogus GOLD MINE.-A man named Harry Schmidt arrived in this city, on Friday last, from Indian Town, bringing a quantity of what he thought gold dust, dug from his claim, and deposited the same at the Mint. Upon assay, it was found to be entirely worthless, being nothing more than brass spelter. The Chief of Police was informed of the circumstance, and the spelter turned over to his care, and when Schmidt called for his gold, he was referred to Mr. Curtis. He stated that he had bought a claim in Indian Town, which appeared to yield well for two or three days, when it suddenly gave out; and he left it with the dust he had dug, which he brought here to be assayed at the Mint. The former proprietor of the claim had doubtless "salted" it with the spelter in question, by which ruse he succeeded in selling it to Schmidt for a bargain. | The Empire, 7/12/1857, p. 3 | This term hereafter supplants "peppered", last seen in 1854. Sigificantly, this was taken from an unspecified 'Herald', probably the Sonora Herald, but from the context, definitely an American paper. |
| sandgroper | 1881 | When I wrote my chapter about the blacks I knew that the West Australian Aboriginal is a sand-groping vagabond . . . | The Inquirer & Commercial News, 16/11/1881, p. 2s | The rest of the passage is somewhat offensive. |
| sandgroper | 1892 | . . . the disgraceful state of the footpath in Wellington-street, between Hill and Lord-streets. It has been in the state it is at present for the last twelve months, and while other paths are bring repaired which are not nearly so bad as the one I refer to, this particular one is passed over, for what reason I do not know. I may say without the least exaggeration, that it consists of at least twelve inches of beautiful sand, and it is quite a treat to wade ankle deep through this sand three or four times a day, as I have been in the habit of doing for the last twelve months on my way to and return from work. I think if one or two of the East Ward councillors were to visit this part of Wellington-street, and see the present state of the path I refer to, something would be done to place it in good order and not let it any longer an eyesore and a disgrace. Yours, etc, SANDGROPER. Perth, Dec. 9. | The West Australian, 12/12/1892, p. 6 | Letter to the editor. |
| sandgroper | 1893 | Sir,-Some time ago I wrote to your paper complaining about the state of a footpath in Wellington-street, between Hill and Lord streets, but nothing has yet been done in the matter, and it is now in a worse state than ever ; -the black sand is quite ankle deep, and every time one, walks through it one requires a bath, and it is inconvenient for a person like myself to go to the trouble of having to take a bath about four times a day. . . . Yours, etc. STILL A SANDGROPER. Perth, Feb. 8. | The West Australian, 13/2/1893, p. 2 | Letter to the editor. |
| scalper | 1898 | A great contemporary the other day devoted a news paragraph to the doings of certain "scalpers" in the Railway Department. Now, we venture to say that there are thousands of people in the country who are in blissful ignorance of the fact that tickets sold without authority by passengers, who, for some reason, cannot use the return half, are called "'scalps," and that the "scalper" is the agent who deals in this kind of merchandise. But as there was no explanation offered the paragraph must have been absolute Greek to a good few of its readers. | The Broadford Courier and Reedy Creek Times, 25/2/1898, p. 5 | An article denouncing new slang as debasing the philological currency of the English tongue. |
| sea-breeze | 1830 | Every body looked out anxiously for a good dusting, hoping that each successive hour would bring along with it a hearty " Brickfielder"-far better be pelted with dust than burnt to a cinder. But all in vain. Up to the hour at which we noted down this poor bill of particulars, no relief had come. No sea-breeze kissed the burning cheek; no south-wester bellowed consolation; no thunder-storm had chastised the pestiferous atmosphere; no weeping clouds had shed their compassions upon the torrid ground! | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 16/2/1830, p. 2 | Obviously known in some parts of Sydney. |
| sea-breeze | 1835 | . . .proximity to all the principal places of business and public resort are not the slightest, and yet at the same time possessing all the advantages of a rural situation, free from that inconvenience so justly and universally complained of in the Town during the summer months, when "Brickfielders" are of such continual occurrence, and affording the purchaser the site for a residence where the invigorating sea breezes may be enjoyed uninterrupted by clouds of dust. | The Sydney Monitor, 6/5/1835, p. 1 | Sale of land on Macquarie Street, Sydney. |
| sheila | 1923 | Clarrie said to Skank on Saturday afternoon, "I will have to dig up a sheila, for to-night somewhere." Spake Skank: "If I had known you wanted a sheila I could have brought one or two, but it will be hard lines if you have to go to the cemetery to dig one up!" | Mirror (Perth), 20/1/1923, p. 7 | Column called 'Mt. Lawley Lilts'. |
| sheila | 1945 | I had not heard "sort" used as a synonym for "sheilah" until I joined the Army. It still survives, but is less popular than the equally ugly Arabic "bint" which, it is sad to think, because it has nothing to commend it, seems to have come to stay. | The West Australian, 24/11/1945, p. 5 | Article 'Brave New Words'. |
| sheoak | 1803 | On Wednesday last the following statement of Timber, &c. sent on board the Glatton on account of Government was concluded, viz. 162 Pieces of crooked and straight Timber, from 41 and a half feet to 10 feet in length, and from 10 to 20 inches in Diameter: The species consist of Mahogany, Stringy-bark, iron-bark, Black and Blue Gum, and Box; most of which are fit for Ship-building; the number of solid Feet is estimated at 4,700. 55 Pieces of a Wood resembling Lignum Vitae, lately found; it dyes a light yellow, and may be useful for that purpose, as well as for the Pins and Sheaves of blocks. 30 Casks of Blue Gum Bark, which has been so successfully used in this Colony for tanning Leather. Some Grindstones. 2 Casks of Iron Ore, as a Specimen. Exclusive of the above, 113 Plank and Logs of She-oak have been sent to different individuals. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 15/5/1803, p. 2 | News report. |
| sheoak | 1803 | SIR, Amongst the number of erroneous persuasion that have long subsisted, I beg to take notice of the preference given to the She-oak for paling and fencing, and the total exclusion of the Stringy bark for either of those purposes, perhaps because it has been but partially made trial of. From the incessant labour and expence incurred of the present customary mode of fencing and paling with she-oak, which, although valuable for other purposes, I by no means think fit for such uses, I was induced to direct a quantity of pales to be split from the Stringy-bark, but as much as possible to avoid saplings A fence of this kind was erected round my ground two years since, inclosing 59 acres, earthed several inches : the buried part of which, instead of mouldering and incorporating with the earth, as is the case with the She-oak, appears to have rather increased in its firmness. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 3/7/1803, p. 2 | Letter to the editor. |
| sheoak | 1804 | WHEREAS Public Notice has heretofore been duly given, CAUTIONING Persons generally against committing Acts of Trespass upon the Farms known by the names of Watson's, Aicken's, Ikin's and Warner's Farms, lying and situate near to and about Lane Cove, now the property of MR JAMES WILSHIRE; Notwithstanding which, a number of very fine she oak and other trees have been lately felled and removed by persons unauthorised and by whom no previous application for per mission had been made without any regard to the remonstrances of the Overseer in charge of the Grounds and Premises. Notice therefore is hereby given, that should any individual whatever be at any time hereafter detected in the commission of such or any other act of outrage or encroachment upon the above-named Farms, no labour or expence will be spared in putting the Law in force against him, unless authorised by the Proprietor's permission in writing to be produced to the Overseer . . . | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 6/5/1804, p. 1 | Advertisement. |
| sheoak | 1804 | Last week the Coromandel took on board a large quantity of plank, and upwards of 400 valuable she oak logs. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 8/7/1804, p. 2 | The ship sailed on July 19 for China via Norfolk Island. She had arrived in May with 200 convicts and thirty soldiers with two officers. |
| sheoak | 1805 | The cargo of the Lady Barlow being compleated, it may afford pleasure to the Colonist to observe the quantity of colonial produce exported on that ship for the Port of London:— Fine sea elephant oil 264 tons Fur seal skins 13,730 She-oak or beef wood 3,673 solid feet The Policy and Alexander south whale[r]s are compleating their cargoes with oil and seal skins, procured in Bass's Straits by the private colonial vessels. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 6/1/1805, p. 4 | The ship arrived in June 1804, later sailed to Hobart, then back to Sydney for repairs. |
| sheoak | 1816 | . . . the first thing to be attended to is, looking out if any of the timber is fit for posts, rails, &c. either for building or fencing After the logs are cross burnt, I lay open the roots of the large stumps, roll the logs against them, and there make the fires. If the first logs are not sufficient, I roll more, till the whole of the stump is destroyed The lateral rools which run too near the surface I grub, and raise, with levers. Where there is not much timber, I find it best to burn from one side, as it requires the greatest quantity of timber, as well as the longest time to burn through the sap. It is very essential to spread all the ashes, particularly of the red gum and iron bark, as they contain the greatest quantity of pot ash. After the stumps are burnt so low as to require no more fire, I burn the remaining timber any where. If I have any she oaks, I take them out by splitting with wedges, and twisting them out with a lever about 14 feet long, shod with iron. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 7/9/1816, p. 2 | Letter by Agricola, detailing the methods used to clear land for farming. The term "cross burnt" refers to the writer's trick of cutting logs into manageable lengths by setting small fires along them. |
| shicer | 1853 | During a fortnight's sojourn there, our party felt satisfied that the deposit of gold was confined to a few gullies, and was not generally distributed as at the other gold fields; such was the opinion of thousands more, who, after remaining awhile, and sinking numerous "duffers," and expending their capital, betook themselves to their old localities where a little could be ensured, until something better turned up. I may here state that upwards of 50,000 people are located on the M'lvor, so that there is no doubt it will be well tried during the winter. Should it prove what diggers term a "shicer," and nothing better turn up, there is every reason to hope that the Sydney district will in turn receive a thorough overhauling, and it is not unlikely that a great portion of the miners will yet be found on the Sydney gold fields, more particularly as their expenses will be so trifling there in comparison with the Port Phillip, district. | The Moreton Bay Courier, 23/7/1853, p. 4 | A report on the Bendigo diggings, appearing originally in The Empire (Sydney). |
| shicer | 1855 | Not only did they follow, but ride through the crowd of people at the meeting; and it is to this display of strength that must be attributed the fire, and other outbursts of indignation. Miners who have stood the working of a Canadian or Gravel-pit shicer scorn danger in any form. | The Eureka Stockade, Raffaello Carboni, p. 21 | Melbourne: J. P. Atkinson and Co. |
| shicer | 1898 | Of course we should not expect hon. members to descend to the slang of the streets, although we do remember to have heard one hon. gentleman refer to another as a "shycer<.b>," and Mr Hancock has at times got off some very happy things in this line. | The Broadford Courier and Reedy Creek Times, 25/2/1898, p. 5 | An article denouncing new slang as debasing the philological currency of the English tongue. (A new meaning of shicer!) |
| shicker | 1883 | He was here interrupted by another spirit calling out "Tut, tut, tut, you're shickered..." | The Riverine Herald, 1/9/1883, p. 3 | |
| shicker | 1898 | No one is ever ill only "a trifle off color," or, in more severe cases, "feel cronk," or "crook!' or even "shicker." In a word, whatever things people do in the course of their daily existence they seem determined on one salient fact, and that is that they shan't do them in English. | The Broadford Courier and Reedy Creek Times, 25/2/1898, p. 5 | An article denouncing new slang as debasing the philological currency of the English tongue. |
| shicker | 1898 | When they left the place, witness followed them and found the three at the railway station. Witness asked Keasley to go to the Federal, where he searched him, and finding money on him asked where he got it. Keasley said that it was what remained of a pound that he had confided to a friend while "shickered"-that was to say, drunk. Witness, considering his story was not straightforward, arrested him. | The West Australian, 8/8/1898, p. 3 | Compare this with the first instance. |
| shicker | 1901 | Then came a complete poser in the sentence, "Seeing that I was shiggared, rung it on to me." The judge, to vary one of Gilbert's heroes, "was not quite equal to the intellectual pressure of the remark." "Shiggared" was a word hitherto new in ais court, and he was somewhat surprised when he learned that it was slang for "drunk." There was also some doubt as to the spelling and derivation of the term-which apparently is often pronounced "shickered," and probably should be spelt "shikareed"-a by no means uncommon word in the lower stratum of society. | Australian Town and Country Journal, 14/9/1901, p. 7 | A case before Justice Power in an unspecified Supreme Court, but as the story appeared in 'Queensland Notes', this is probably an indication. |
| shindy | 1828 | The man stated that while he was conscientiously announcing the hour of the night, and the state of the night, he perceived the five defendants proceeding in the most riotous manner down the King's highway. Each was armed with a cigar, which sent forth clouds of smoke, that made him fear the approach of a land steam-boat; but as they neared him, the fire of their backey looked more like quintuple noses of Bardolph, on Gadshill, or ignis fatuus. He recognised their persons as individuals who had for several nights successively disturbed his beat, by attempting to kick up a shindy; and as he had repeatedly remonstrated with them, he considered that it was now high time (particularly as it was near one o'clock) to take them into custody. He forthwith commanded them to surrender in the King's name. About this there was some hesitation, and he immediately sprung his rattle. The defendants, however, did not seem inclined to "clap a stoppe" on the fun they were paying out . . . | The Australian (Sydney), 15/8/1828, p. 4 | Evidence given against five "reefers", or midshipmen. They were fined a shilling each, having spent a night in the lock-up. |
| shindy | 1881 | Unfortunately, all are not so liberal— and more's the pity-down Tumut way, for instance. They buried a Chinaman in that out-of-the way region the other day, in quite a public manner-and, as is usual with their countrymen, the Chows made a shivoo over it; and what is more, the local paper detailed the facts pretty accurately. Now, it appears, there's a shindy because an alien is buried in Anglican soil, and people's feelings are hurt, and so on ; and Mr. Undertaker comes in for the blame, for having interred a Chinaman in consecrated ground, and that pagan rites had been practiced; the upshot of which is, that the Undertaker has to disinter the Mongol and drop him into another hole some distance off. This unfortunate undertaker has been sat upon, that's evident. | Hawkesbury Chronicle and Farmers Advocate, 19/11/1881, p. 2 | The newspaper is sympathetic to the Chinese case, which may not be entirely apparent in this brief extract. |
| shingle, lost or loose | 1846 | ATTEMPTED SUICIDE-On Sunday afternoon a man named Thomas Farrell was seen kicking about in the waters of the Yarra near the Queen's wharf, and apparently at the last gasp, the bye standers fished him out and rubbed him down, which kindness Farrell repaid by making a second attempt to plunge into the river, he was, however restrained vi et armis, and handed over to the custody of the police.— In defence Farrell alleged first, that he was drunk, and second, that it was customary for him to swim across the Yarra, in his clothes to his masters tanyard, his master Mr Dunn being sent for said that he was not aware that he swam the river, but had seen him bathe with his clothes on, did not consider that he had a shingle loose The bench fined Farrell five shillings, remarking that if not cautious he might jump in once too often. | The Melbourne Argus, 1/12/1846, p. 2 | Court report. Most of the instances of this expression come from verbatim reports of court evidence. |
| shingle, lost or loose | 1850 | The arduous and well known task of picking up 100 stones, each a yard apart, within a certain time, is to be attempted on the race day, in the township, by a young man of whom it is said in bush phraseology that he has "lost a shingle," meaning thereby a certain kind of softness in his upper works. However, if nature has been sparing in the mental garniture of his head, she has made him such amends in activity of limb as may eventually give him a triumph over the knowing ones. | The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser, 11/9/1850, p. 2 | The event was to occur during a race meeting at Maitland. |
| shingle, lost or loose | 1851 | ... no fewer than twenty geologists, persons belonging to different nations, had successively traversed the same tract of country, without making the great discovery which had been made by Mr. Hargraves. In accomplishing his end, Mr. Hargraves had endured great privations. He had been during three mouths subject to great toil and hardship, in his travels through the bush, and instead of meeting with encouragement, had experienced nothing but ridicule, from persons who knew the nature of his researches. He had, in fact, in colonial parlance, been regarded as a man who had a shingle loose, but he persevered until his efforts were crowned with such success as justified him in coming forward and making that success publicly known, that the colonists might reap the great, benefit arising from his researches (cheers). | The Empire, 24/12/1851, p. 3 | Thomas Sutcliff Mort speaks from the authorised Hargraves version of the achievements of Mr. Hargraves in finding gold. |
| shingle, lost or loose | 1852 | Friday Morning. Present-His Worship the Mayor, Captain Fyans, and Dr. Thomson. William Clarke, charged with forgery, was further remanded for medical examination, as there was some reason to suppose that he had lost a shingle or two. | The Argus, 30/3/1852, p. 2 | Clarke had apparently been gulled into signing a cheque. |
| shingle, lost or loose | 1858 | He wore an enormous bushy black heard, and apparently the article known as soap was contraband in the cave. Like the anchorite of old, the inhabitant of the cave had rushes (or green leaves) fresh strewed for his siesta. His wardrobe was upon his person, but there were articles of food in a nook of the cave, comprising half a ham, plenty of tommy, tea, sugar, and tobacco. Mackenzie interrogated the man in the cave as to his reasons for taking up his abode in such a place, when he pulled forth from his nest a parchment document, which he said contained his title to the estate, and proved him to be "monarch of all he surveyed." The document proved to be a Miner's Right. The man gave his name J. J. Cowan, and said that he had lived in that cave during the last six months. Considering that Cowan must have lost a shingle, Mackenzie arrested him, and took the liberty of searching his person and his cave | Bell’s Life in Sydney and Sporting Reviewer, 28/8/1858, p. 3 | Constable Mackenzie investigated smoke coming from a cave near Cooper's Rush, and found an eccentric living there. This account is well worth reading in full. |
| shingle, lost or loose | 1870 | In the case of one of them, at least, there was evidently a shingle loose. He was the victim of a double stroke—the fervid rays of a vertical sun and slighted tender affections. | Round and Round and In the World, James Rattray, p. 141 | London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co. |
| shivoo | 1881 | Unfortunately, all are not so liberal— and more's the pity-down Tumut way, for instance. They buried a Chinaman in that out-of-the way region the other day, in quite a public manner-and, as is usual with their countrymen, the Chows made a shivoo over it; and what is more, the local paper detailed the facts pretty accurately. Now, it appears, there's a shindy because an alien is buried in Anglican soil, and people's feelings are hurt, and so on; and Mr. Undertaker comes in for the blame, for having interred a Chinaman in consecrated ground, and that pagan rites had been practiced; the upshot of which is, that the Undertaker has to disinter the Mongol and drop him into another hole some distance off. This unfortunate undertaker has been sat upon, that's evident. | Hawkesbury Chronicle and Farmers Advocate, 19/11/1881, p. 2 | The newspaper is sympathetic to the Chinese case, which may not be entirely apparent in this brief extract. |
| shivoo | 1882 | A Chinese steamer, owned and manned by the heathens has actually joggled up to London Bridge laden with heathen stores, and English capitalists are now commencing to scratch themselves bald headed in their wild endeavours to discover what comes next—and next. The ways that were hitherto 'dark' are beginning to come out in the light and show themselves in all then native nakedness and at a late kite-flying and cracker-firing shivoo one Mr. Commander Ling who is a sort of Celestial C M G remarked that England might possibly last with care for twenty five years more but after that she must go 'bung' completely. 'These people ' said this venerable old salt fish devourer, fight whilst we are working hard at commercial pursuits, and when it comes to a question of patience, economy and industry the Chinese nation can boss the world and don't you forget it.' That's the substance of Mr Lings chat and we might with advantage take a lesson from the style in which they do these things in China. | The Brisbane Courier, 29/3/1882, p. 2 | A report taken from the Federal Australian. |
| shoot through (depart) | 1944 | A week later he again saw the doctor, who gave him a certificate to the effect that he was to return to camp about April 12. Wilson said he reported back to Narellan camp on the date the certificate expired. "I saw Captain Reid, and he told me that a man reporting for A.W.L. had to see the battalion commander, Colonel Simpson," Wilson said. "I went in front of the colonel. He looked at the certificate, and said: 'You might be able to put it over the doctor, but you cannot put it over me.' He fined me £5 and 22 days' pay. "When I came back to the tent I told the boys I was annoyed. I felt like 'shooting through,' and I went a.w.l. the same day." | The Sydney Morning Herald, 22/12/1944, p. 5 | Wilson was cleared by Justice Reed, but his discharge with ignominy was allowed to stand. |
| shoot through (depart) | 1945 | 'Going through" or "shooting through" meant anything from desertion in action to evading a fatigue in prisoner-of-war life. | The Australian Women's Weekly, 1/12/1945, p. 2 | How the 8th Said It: a good list of wartime AIF slang used by POWs from the 8th Division. |
| shoot through (depart) | 1947 | Yesterday's 'Monty' was diminutive Adelaide University arts student Don Porter, whose caricature of the field-marshal highlighted the University students' procession yesterday afternoon. Porter said today the students decided after the procession that 'Monty' should inspect the barracks and visit the town hall. . . . 'We drove straight through the main entrance gates, and I .stood up and saluted. Two sergeants presented arms. Several privates stopped in their tracks and saluted. 'Then we saw the officers gaping at us from a window. I waved to them, and one half-saluted, looked very hard at me, then dropped his hand. 'I thought the jig was up, so we headed round the drive for the gate. . . . We got the car going again, left the barracks, and headed for the town hall. 'Castles, as Lord Mayor, led the way across the footpath and we bowled into the town hall. The crowd there was getting pretty noisy, so we decided to shoot through. | The Mail (Adelaide), 26/7/1947, p. 1 | University students furnished a fake "Monty". |
| shout | 1858 | Donald Cameron Dingwall, chemist and druggist; out of business, deposed, that on Saturday forenoon he went to the house in which prisoners reside, to pay Bridget Frayne 2s. 6d. he owed her for a bed ; he handed her a sovereign, out of which to take the 2s. 6d., and he said he would "stand a shout"-and told her to fetch some drink; she brought some liquor like rum, poured out about a glass for him, and into the tumbler put a dark powder like sugar, mixed with hot water, and handed it to him; he drank it; he afterwards " shouted" again, and a similar mixture was made for and drank by him; he twice asked for his change. and she replied, "It is all right;" the two other prisoners were present ; soon after he took the second tumbler he felt queer, sick, and stupid; ... and on awaking found that his money was gone | Sydney Morning Herald, 4/9/1858, p. 4 | A man is drugged and robbed. |
| shout | 1859 | Here, too, as in America, the bottle has its literature. To pay for liquor for another is to "stand" or to "shout," or to "sacrifice." | The South Australian Advertiser, 31/3/1859, p. 2 | Quoting Frank Fowler's Southern Light, published in 1859. |
| shout | 1878 | Almost opposite there Mr. Shortell has opened a house called the Benalla Club, his wines are good, as I was treated in the house, the landlord "shouting," the bar is a nice little tidy place, clean and neat; next to him is Mr. ——- who had not yet even got the length of putting[g] his name on the shop, perhaps this is intentional, as people might, feel curious to see what sort of an individual. kept the establishment, and I believe that is the fact. | Kilmore Free Press, 31/10/1878, p. 2 | A visit to Benalla. |
| shout | 1881 | The same custom exists in Australia, but it is termed a "shout." The term "shout" does not require much tracing, as it is known to have come into vogue as lately as the discovery of our goldfields. It arose from the act of calling or "shouting" to the barman, or waiter, in any drinking saloon. Gradually, but surely, the term has become general, and "It is your shout," or "It is your turn to pay for drinks," are synonymous. Nor is it confined to drinking, for if one person invites another to a glass of P.B., or a box at the opera, and pays for it, he "shouts". On the goldfields "shouts" of great value have been known. | Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton), 4/8/1881, p. 2 | This refers later to "shouts" in Bendigo. This appears to be the earliest instance of "your shout" |
| shout | 1881 | Have you heard of the burning question that is at present agitating all classes of society in Toowoomba—disturbing the peace of families, setting father against son, and brother against sister? Sir Arthur Kennedy lately distributed the prizes at the Toowoomba Grammar School. Some of the recepients [sic] advanced to take their prizes from the hands of vice-royalty with the gravity of privy-councillors, and retired erect as May-poles, without inclining their heads, or even us much as saying; "Thank'ee, Sir Arthur. It is my shout. What will your Excellency have to drink?" As a gentle reminder to the Boss that he should teach his pupils better manners, Sir Arthur naively said that Miss Kennedy would give a special prize to the boy who made the best bow next year. | Warwick Argus, 26/2/1881, p. 2 | Thie appears to be the earliest instance of "my shout". |
| shout | 1902 | By the accused Beel: You did not expel me from the paddock for having robbed another man. Detective Kavanagh "shouted" me a drink in Perth, but he did not mention this case on that occasion. | The West Australian, 26/3/1902, p. 5 | A sheep-stealing case. |
| shout | 1922 | "Didn't I tell you," said Dummy Ling, with a glass of beer aloft in his hand as he shouted the bar, "he'd get Swan Lagoon if it took him a lifetime? But I never guessed he'd do the trick so simply or so soon, by turning a boy into a girl and then marrying her! Fill 'em up again! Here's to Swan Lagoon and Jo! The gamest selector who ever drove a peg!" | Barrier Miner, 20/12/1922, p. 2 | Short story, 'The Dryden-Addison Feud', M. Braithwaite. |
| silly coot | 1900 | (The tent is lighted with acetylene gas, and it keeps going almost out, so please excuse the crook writing, as I cannot see the lines.) All the time, especially just now, tho blokes are using unparliamentary language at the light, and I said "Hear, hear," &c. It is indeed very crook. Sometimes one of the blokes comes along with his big feet and walks on the tube and puts the light out. Just had ten minutes spell, and am now writing by candle light. A couple of chaps were fixing up the machine. They had just supplied it with a now lot of carbon, when one of the silly coots held a match over the machine, and there was a terrible explosion. Talk about a scatter; I never saw such a sudden flare before. One of the officers just came down, and he said be was satisfied that the bloke would face the Boer fire after that, when he went and held a match over the machine full of gas. A table was standing near, and the concussion sent it right over. | The Western Champion and General Advertiser for the Central-Western Districts (Barcaldine), 8/5/1900, p. 9 | A letter concerning the Imperial Bushmen's Contingent, who were off to the Boer war. |
| silly coot | 1901 | A yellow and white dog, evidently a companion of the boys, starts to sniff and growl as the boys are going past a log, around which grew in a thick clump thistles and cobbler's pegs. "A snake, a snake; shake him Rover. There he goes under the log," said Bobby. " See him Jack ?" "Yes, ain't he a whopper; catch him Rover, you silly coot. Rover doesn't seem to think it altogether healthy to venture among the weeds, so stays where he is and barks." "Wait till I get a stick and poke him from the other side," says Bob. "You can watch and sool Rover on him when he comes out." | Clarence and Richmond Examiner (Grafton), 19/2/1901, p. 2 | One a Cockie's Farm', short story by 'Scribbler'. |
| silly coot | 1908 | 'While Gosling was away I put a cartridge in his gun, a single-barreled breech-loader. When he returned we started larking, and as he was going out through the door I said: 'You silly coot, here goes.' I lifted up the gun and pressed the trigger. Gosling fell, and I ran and told Mr. Gibbs. Gosling was only three feet away when I fired. We were the best of mates, and I did not intend to kill him. It was purely accidental." It was decided to-day to prefer a charge of murder against Goldie, and a constable proceeded to his residence and apprehended him. | The Sydney Morning Herald, 6/7/1908, p. 8 | Thomas Goldie, then aged 18, was, in fact, charged with manslaughter, found guilty, with a conviction recorded and a fine of £5. |
| silver-tails | 1879 | The days of pioneering squatting are nearly over, and the adventurous men of the future will naturally fall on to the metal fields. Fifty years hence the "pore man" cry will be not against the silver-tails but against the gold bags. | The Queenslander, 22/3/1879, p. 372 | An idealistic plan for a golden future. |
| silver-tails | 1885 | Society on the Towers is in a transition state. People are getting, as it were, into dress clothes which they do not fit properly. The dancing-saloons have all been closed by order of the police prefect. Dame Quickly has gone. Doll and her companions have got married. An "Assembly" has been evolved, at which the "Silvertails" monthly disport themselves. Very much gilt indeed they tell me are some of these "Silvertails." Society is racked with the tremendous issue-Is Mrs. X, the publican's wife, fit to associate with Mrs. Z, the storekeeper's wife? For myself, I would very much prefer the old saloon era, when there was at least animation, to the dull respectability of the assembly, and the awkwardness of people who late in life have tried on dress coats and gloves, and learned to waltz. It seems tough on the old hand that there is no amusement provided for him but drinking and temperance lodges. | The Argus, 26/9/1885, p. 4 | A report from Charters Towers. |
| silver-tails | 1888 | . . . a stupid old fossil who presumed so much on the support of the insignificant silvertails that surrounded him. The night that Mr. Ashford addressed the electors in the Divisional Hall the board's chairman was Mr. Ashford's chairman. In introducing Mr. Ashford the chairman said that it was hardly necessary for Mr. Ashford to address the electors, he was so well known South. Some one here sung out, "South Brisbane ;" and at this . the chairman waxed wrath and bawled out, "Shut up you ragamuffin." That polite remark drew forth from the followers of the said ragamuffin a string of questions, some of which were in no way complimentary to the said chairman. | Cairns Post, 15/8/1888, p. 2 | A self-important candidate addresses the masses. |
| Simon Pure | 1832 | What part of the world is inhabited by Thomas Haynes Bayley at present? Or is it probable he will ever behold the foregoing notice, which will inform him that "Mr. Meredith, the proprietor of the British Standard Tavern and Hotel," is the "real Simon Pure"? That Bayley must be a clever fellow though, to rule so long, and almost alone, the chieftain of lyric writers, without, as it would now seem, the slightest pretension to that exalted rank. But "murder will out;" and after being detected in this dishonourable appropriation of so beautiful an effusion of Mr. Meredith's pen as the popular ballad alluded to, we should not be surprised to hear that Mr. Sippe, of the Royal Hotel, is the author of " Songs of the Boudoir," which have so long passed current as Bayley's. Joking apart, it is not fair to quiz "mine host" of the Standard in this way. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 28/7/1832, p. 2 | Gossip column. Make of it what you will! |
| Simon Pure | 1833 | The veritable Sea Serpent, the real Simon Pure, is back again in our waters. For a few days past, there have been rumours amongst the inhabitants of Nahant, that this Lord of the Ocean had approached near enough to several of the fishermen while engaged in their daily avocations-not to shake hands with them, readers, for that would have been beneath his dignity but to give them a friendly and condescending nod, as much as to say, here I am once more, driving my small subjects by shoals up to your hooks and nets. On Wednesday evening he was seen by several gentlemen off' what is called little Nahant, where, liking the accommodations, he probably slept, and on Fast day morning, sailed leisurely round the point on which the billiard-room is situated, followed by the straining gaze of the visitors at the place, who examined with great curiosity the length of his wake ... In sober earnest there can be no doubt that some very large Marine Animal is near our shores. | The Sydney Herald, 20/5/1833, p. 2 | This is from the Boston Galaxy, quoted by the Philadelphia Chronicle: clearly not an (originally) Australian term. It refers to a play, developed in 1717, called A Bold Stroke for a Wife, by Susanna Centlivre. |
| Simon Pure | 1879 | No. 1 south on this line of reef has got on to a good body of stone at 100 feet coming in from Redmond's claim, and the shareholders believe the real Simon Pure has been cut at last, after three years of hard "yackering". | The Capricornian, 5/7/1879, p. 7 | Gold report from The Hodgkinson and Ports. |
| skedaddle | 1874 | Being asked if she had any reason for leaving, with the most charming naivete she answered the bench with drooping mein, that "she didn't like to say," and mademoiselle could not be cajoled or commanded to give the why or the wherefore. At this crisis, Host Fuller was "boxed," and having shoved his nose into Jeremiah he explained that he had no fault to find with the "gal." She was a stunner and no gammon. He liked her much. He had hired her in Sydney as cook at fourteen bob a week, and the "run of her Dover," and she had pleased him mightily these four months, but the other evening she skedaddled, and left them potluck, and he didn't think that according to Cocker. She had ten pounds odd coming as wages. | The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser, 19/2/1874, p. 2 | A charge under the Masters and Servants Act, heard at Walgett. |
| sky-pilot | 1900 | The sky-pilot imported by the Wesleyan's from the East to assist in the begging movement most needs put in his say on the subject of Federation. These sleek-looking, black-clothed gentry cannot refrain from meddling in such matters. What matters it to this visiting parson whether Federation runs this colony or not. | West Australian Sunday Times (Perth), 29/7/1900, p. 7 | Gossip column. |
| slanguage | 1896 | 'Tis the everyday Australian Has a language of his own, Has a language, or a slanguage, Which can simply stand alone, And "a dicken push to kid us," Is a synonym for "lie," And to "nark"' means to stop it And to "nib it" means to fly! And a bosom friend's a "cobber," While a casual acquaintance Is a "joker" or a "bloke," And his love's his "donah" Or his "clinah" or his "tart" Or his "little bit o' muslin." As it used to be his "bart." And his naming of the coinage Is a mystery to some, With his "quid" and "half a caser" And his "deener" and his "scrum!" And a "tin-back" is a party Who's remarkable for luck, And his food is called his "tucker" Or his "panem" or his "chuck." | Worker (Brisbane), 3/10/1896, p. 5 | Verse called 'Colonial Slanguage', attributed only to Orange Leader. |
| slanguage | 1898 | This paper considers the language of Fysh with something akin to awe. Sample; "'Oxen lending their willing shoulders to the yoke." Now why couldn't he say: "Bullocks pulling like blanky ——? Fysh, like a lot more of our politicians, is evidently too old to learn Australian sentiment or Australian slanguage. | The Clipper (Hobart), 3/9/1898, p. 3 | Colimn called 'Political Kicks'. |
| slanguage | 1899 | From the Bulletin Publishing Company (Sydney) we have a rather bulky volume of Mr. W. T. Goodge's compositions ... Who could restrain laughter after reading this, rapidly as the patter-song singer lips it ? It concerns a "Sweet young man whom everybody used to know as 'Mealy Mary Ann'." "He shuddered when he heard a D, Drank nothing stronger than his tea, And grieved how sinful men could be, Did Mealy Mary Ann." Mealy Mary, Chic and chary, Airy Fairy, Mealy Mary, Mealy Mary Ann. Of course this is fearful rot, but it raises a laugh just as easily as some profane drunkards' blasphemous outburst will cause a crowd to shake its sides. There is much rollicking humor in the rhymes concerning certain Mickity Mulga celebrities, Bandy Jack, Carrotty Ned, and Billy the Pug. The author is great on slang, and his best known rhymes are those concerning the use of the "slanguage" by "the push," already familiar to readers of the Bulletin. | The Western Champion and General Advertiser for the Central-Western Districts (Barcaldine), 27/6/1899, p. 8 | Book review. At this point, "the push" is not seen as a term needing explanation, even in Barcaldine. |
| slanguage | 1910 | We should like to know where that sedate polite shearing shed is situated. We'd travel a thousand miles to visit it. Parliamentary or any slanguage objected to in a shearing shed, where the atmosphere is mostly a bright green, and trembles with the language at the shearer man, It is almost too funny for words. The indignant writer mentioned must surely mean the Speewah. Why we've visited some hundreds of sheds in our career, and we back the lurid language of the shearer man against anything that talks in the world. The roughest navvy's camp, coal pit, or slaughter house is even as a Sunday School compared to the pink, slaughtered, blanky, sanguinary condition of the lingo of a shearer's hut. Huge gum trees blush, neighbouring hills tremble, and the whole atmosphere quivers in the neighbourhood of a shearer's hut, particularly at meal times. Shearers are scientific cursers, artistic blasphemers, and absolute geniuses at blanky lingo. | The Northern Miner (Charters Towers), 11/11/1910, p. 5 | Shearers' representatives were outraged when Senator Gardiner told "a nasty interjector that he felt inclined to use language that would be more adapted for the shearing shed than the Senate chamber." |
| sling off | 1901 | The case was redolent of slang terms, curiously illustrative of the perverse way in which the language is corrupted, or amplified. One witness said the constable "had been slinging off" at him about a dog. His Honor did not quite grasp the point of the remark, and the witness simplified it by substituting the words "throwing off." "Does that, mean 'letting the dog loose?' " asked the judge. "No," said the witness, "it means talking about a dog." | Australian Town and Country Journal, 14/9/1901, p. 7 | A case before Justice Power in an unspecified Supreme Court, but as the story appeared in 'Queensland Notes', this is probably an indication. |
| sling your hook | 1884 | Arrived at the station the arresting constable laid an information against the woman for "being drunk in S. George's Terrace." The husband, who is an invalid and cripple, having to carry a stick to assist him in walking, attempted to explain matters, but, in doing so, was very unceremoniously caught by the neck and shoulders and thrust from out the building before the admiring gaze of some half-dozen spectators by the fellow who arrested his wife, who told him in, I suppose, official language, that "if he did'nt sling his hook, he'd have to 'go in' too, and not to interfere with him in the execution of his duty!" The unfortunate man remonstrated with the constable by whom he was so severely handled, with the result that 'Moriarity' No. 2 — a beardless youth who, it appears bossed the Constabulary establishment for the time being — peremptorily ordered the indignant; husband away, telling him to call again on the morrow. | The Daily News (Perth), 22/5/1884, p. 3 | Letter to the editor, headed 'The Police'. |
| sling your hook | 1890 | "Look you here, guv'nor," broke in that worthy—" this 'ere palavering won't do for this child. If you don't turn it up, I shall sling my hook and cut my lucky; in other words, if you're a-going to begin preaching about your righteousness, like a freshly fledged devil-dodger, I'm off!" | South Bourke and Mornington Journal (Richmond), 19/11/1890, p. 2S | Serialised novel, The Nobelist. |
| sling your hook | 1893 | 'But I thought you were going to sling your hook for a better world, pigmy, and leave your Cholly in this, which would be bad without you, you know. But we're all going to a better and a safer island, pigmy, and you will be moved and carried over so gently, I hear them calling the boats. By-bye, pigmy, your doctor here is a brick. She'll soon make a man of you—I mean, you know, hanged if I knows rightly what I do mean. Good bye.' | The North Queensland Register (Townsville), 22/3/1893, p. 42 | Gordon Stables, The Rose of Allandale, chapter XXXVII (serialised novel). |
| slope (off) | 1852 | For instance, we had four bakers, now we have two, one of whom is on the wing for the diggings; about twelve shoemakers, now not a single cobbler to mend a shoe ; a stringybark forest full of sawyers and splitters, now not a soul to wield an axe or shake a saw in that locality; with one or two exceptions, all the carpenters, ... three blacksmiths out of five have left for the diggings, the rest are to follow; only one wheelwright is left; the brickmakers have not left one of their trade; out of three medical gents, one only is spared to us; of three public school masters two are on the road to the diggings; tailors have sped their way to the diggings; our tin-plate workers, are gone to the diggings; printers are leaving for the diggings; woolsorters have left for the diggings; the brewer is off to the diggings; our birdstuffer has gone to the diggings; musicians have danced to the diggings; two petty, out of seven, constables have not gone, but the five have sloped to the diggings. | The Cornwall Chronicle, 21/2/1852, p. 114 | Report from the Portland Guardian (Victoria) of the losses caused by people going in search of gold. |
| slope (off) | 1853 | In vain have we ourselves sought the services of the gentleman in black, and have arrived at the conclusion, favourable to the respectability of our community, that there is not a single 'sweep' amongst us. If there really be any gentlemen of the bag and brush amongst us, we wish they would announce themselves and their whereabouts through the medium of the public press, in order that the public may know where such desiderata are to be obtained. Parties are constantly fined for allowing their flues to take fire, and their invariable excuse is that, as amateurs, they have done all that they could, with the assistance of a clothes prop, or a fishing-rod, to diminish the chances of. a conflagration ; but the Justices coolly reply— 'Show us you have, within a reasonable period, availed yourself of the services of a professional man, and we will exempt you from a fine.' If, however, the professional men have all sloped for the Diggings, what is to be done ? | South Australian Register, 15/1/1853, p. 3 | A "gentleman in black" was a chimney sweep. When chimneys were not swept, the deposits inside eventually caught fire. |
| sly grog | 1825 | It is well known that more liquor and beer are vended in what are elegantly called "Sly Grog-shops," than in all the Licensed Houses. It is equally well known that for one of these sly grog-shops, which becomes obnoxious to the Police and finably tangible, nine escape year after year, to the fortune-making pleasure of their lawless owners. Consequently, who need feel surprised that though the public-houses are deserted, a drunken populace reel to and fro? Every publican's premises are open to the Police; his customers are exposed to observation ; if they are prisoners, he must either turn them out when the bell rings, or be heavily fined; he must not allow gambling in any of his rooms; and even a rubber at skittles is punished with a penalty of £40 sterling! | Hobart Town Gazette and Van Diemen’s Land Advertiser, 14/1/1825, p. 2 | Note the VDL first use of this word. Does this indicate an origin? |
| sly grog | 1825 | We were sure that as a direct consequence of such a restraint their hopes of honourable recompence for incessant toil and utter deprivation of domestic comfort, had become almost extinguished. And we therefore felt convinced that in the sequel they would altogether decline applying for licenses, whilst many of them would become sly grog-men to the manifest injury of Government. An Act conveying to our Clergy an office so inconsistent with their holiness as that of inspecting the discipline of gin-shops, was in our estimation at once most indelicate, and equally invidious. To us it nearly imparted conviction that certain canonicals, were deemed most "at home" when acting in subaltern police departments, that they were judged to be habitually conversant with the economy of tapsters, and distinguishably competent to know by at least ocular demonstration, which tavern was most infested by persons of the lowest order. | Hobart Town Gazette and Van Diemen’s Land Advertiser, 18/3/1825, p. 2 | Note the VDL first use of this word. Does this indicate an origin? |
| sly grog | 1826 | TO CORRESPONDENTS: OSCAVATAS' letter on "sly grog shops," goes merely, to say in general, that they, exist, and that they are receptacles for vice. These are two, truisms— consequently not worthy of insertion. The remedy he proposes, namely, a vigilant and pure constabulary, is also an old proposal, not more worthy of insertion ; for it is impossible to pay a whole constabulary so well, as to place them above the bribes of brothel-keepers and fencing-houses. The only remedies are, throwing open the trade of spirits to all that choose to sell them, provided none be drunk except standing at the counter—and the old-fashioned remedy of indicting bad houses. The same reasons which prevent people from indicting a house of ill fame, will operate against all other remedies. | The Monitor, 11/8/1826, p. 4 | Now it has reached Sydney. This is an editorial rejection of an opinionated letter. In those days they got so few that editors could entertain readers with their rejections. |
| Smoke-oh | 1893 | [A cook had used white powder as salt]. Smoke O came on, and old drovers' yarns were just about commencing with pleasant anticipations of the delivery of cattle in the morning after a long and hard trip, all were in good spirits, when the cook had a somewhat sudden pain in his McElhonian bingey, and then dropped semi-paralysed crying out for mercy for the present time and the great hereafter, so acute was the agony. Another dropped off the log alongside the camp fire, and Mr. Millar luckily thinking of the white mixture ... saw at once that poison had been used for salt, and the cases were serious. At this time all hands in the camp were performing a corroboree, and not losing his presence of mind, got salt and mustard hot doses ad lib, and administered them to the patients ...The supposed salt was a patent kangaroo skin cure, and contained all imaginable, and it was a wonder no fatal results occurred. | Bathurst Free Press and Mining Journal, 18/8/1893, p. 3 | Here, the "smoke-oh" is after dinner. |
| smoodger | 1907 | We borrow many phrases from America and some from the colonies, remarks an English paper. In many cases the American productions are but modifications of old English terms. With the colonial figures of speech it is different. Australia has a slang vocabulary which is as foreign as Russian to the Briton at home. Sir Robert Reid spoke, in the Commonwealth Parliament of an opponent as a "political smoodger." The term came over to England. It had an unpleasant sound, and seemed useful for the political platform. But few people here know what a "smoodger" was. It is Australian for a sneak or servile member of the gang upon a squatter's ranch. From the same quarter comes "jackeroo," a raw hand now from the Old World; and there is "rouseabout" for the gentlemen in caps and aprons whom we are advised to employ in our houses in place of maidservants. | The Daily News (Perth), 5/8/1907, p. 3 | Gossip column, quoting an unnamed English newspaper, which was not well informed. |
| snaggers | 1945 | The most popular Army gamble is the "swi game," from the German for two. Rugby is "organised wrestling"; Australian rules football, "aerial pingpong." Any type of dessert is "pudding"; rice is "Ah Foo Ballast"; sausages are "snaggers"; tea is "chi" or "brew." | The West Australian, 24/11/1945, p. 5 | Article 'Brave New Words'. |
| Snowy Mountains | 1825 | But, as we have no desire to impugn the veracity of the Gentlemen from whose journal so many inferences have been drawn, it might not be impossible, as the country in the immediate vicinity is said to be extremely low and swampy, but that the tremendous accumulation of fresh waters from the snowy mountains, in the Australian Alps, may have forced a passage, in the lapse of 20 years, into some one of the unexplored or undiscovered parts of this "admirable harbour!" | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 17/2/1825, p. 2 | The context is a discussion of rivers in and near Western Port. |
| Snowy Mountains | 1826 | To the chief was exhibited the carbines and sabres of the troop, who also performed their rapid, and to the simple warrior of the South, most astonishing evolutions. Great pains were taken to explain to him the irresistible power of the military, if once their hostility were put in force against his subjects, armed only with spears and waddies. Fortunately, a very good interpreter caused the whole of Captain Bishop's explanations, threats, admonitions, and overtures of good-will in case of peace, to be clearly comprehended by the sable King of the snowy mountains, and as far as his astonished and petrified countenance coupled with fervent protestations of sincere repentance for the breach made by his three cannibal subjects, could give tokens of sincerity and deep conviction of his own imbecility as a belligerent monarch, so far Captain Bishop was perfectly satisfied with the royal penitence and good faith. | The Monitor, 9/6/1826, p. 4 | An expedition to deal with the murder of a Mr. Taylor, somewhere near Lake Bathurst or Lake George. |
| Snowy Mountains | 1826 | THE effect of the Snowy Mountains beyond Argyle, upon the waters at Mr. Cullen's station, was such this winter, that his overseer was obliged to keep a man employed best part of his time in breaking the ice from day to day, to enable his cattle to drink. And he was assured that his loaded team, in crossing a small pond, went over without breaking the ice!!! | The Monitor, 15/9/1826, p. 2 | The first capitalisation seen, but is it the Snowies we know? |
| Snowy River | 1834 | After passing and investigating Goulburn, Bridalbane, Gonderoo, and Limestone Plains, I passed the limits of the Colony at the Eastern side of the Tindery Mountain. Visiting many of the stations, scattered about the interesting and important down of Menero, I crossed the Snowy River, and brought my cart so far as Mutong, situated about the 37 ° S. L. and 148 E. L. As it was impossible to go farther—nobis ubi de fuit orbis—I converted my cart horse into a pack horse, and entered by Westall's Opening the very heart of the Australian Alps. The 4th of March, at 3 A. M., my thermometer ranged only 25°, and my water-pots were covered with ice an inch thick. The 6th of March, at 8 A. M., I was on the top of Mount William, the absolute altitude of which is, according to the preliminary calculations I was able to make at the time, from 5 to 7,000 feet, and therefore by far the highest point ever reached by any traveller on the Australian Continent. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 15/4/1834, p. 3 | The writer is John Lhotsky, and he also refers to seeing a plain called Omeo. |
| sool | 1901 | A yellow and white dog, evidently a companion of the boys, starts to sniff and growl as the boys are going past a log, around which grew in a thick clump thistles and cobbler's pegs. "A snake, a snake; shake him Rover. There he goes under the log," said Bobby. " See him Jack ?" "Yes, ain't he a whopper; catch him Rover, you silly coot. Rover doesn't seem to think it altogether healthy to venture among the weeds, so stays where he is and barks." "Wait till I get a stick and poke him from the other side," says Bob. "You can watch and sool Rover on him when he comes out." | Clarence and Richmond Examiner (Grafton), 19/2/1901, p. 2 | One a Cockie's Farm', short story by 'Scribbler'. |
| sort | 1945 | I had not heard "sort" used as a synonym for "sheilah" until I joined the Army. It still survives, but is less popular than the equally ugly Arabic "bint" which, it is sad to think, because it has nothing to commend it, seems to have come to stay. | The West Australian, 24/11/1945, p. 5 | Article 'Brave New Words'. |
| southerly buster | 1854 | FIRE.-One of those, dreadful and sometimes destructive conflagrations, called Bush Fires, occurred on Sunday last in the neighbourhood of South Head. The day was exceedingly sultry, and about 11 o'clock in the forenoon a hot "southerly buster" began to blow, lifting clouds of dust into the air, which, for the remainder of the day, hung like a dark pall above the city. Many pleasure seekers who had gone at an early hour down the bay were constrained from the violence of the gale to take shelter in the nearest spot, and there remain throughout the night. Soon after the hot wind began to blow, (between 11 and 12 o'clock), dark clouds of smoke were seen to ascend from the high bush ranges overlooking Double Bay. To persons at a distance, those clouds appeared at first to be formed of dust, but they gradually became heavier, and sudden bright flashes occasionally breaking through the dark wreaths, told plainly that the bush was on fire. | The Empire, 20/9/1854, p. 5 | The description of the fire continues in some detail. It was a major spectacle, but no homes or lives were lost. The same report was carried also in The Argus, September 26. |
| southerly buster | 1854 | The radiation from the large surface of heated iron effects the whole atmosphere within. It is therefore necessary to devise some protection for the outside of the roof. The simplest and the most easy of accomplishment would perhaps be a "fly," as it is called, such as the digging population use over their tents ; it is nothing more or less than a canvas covering for the roof, leaving a space of some inches between it and the roof for tire air to circulate. But this is impracticable in the towns for many reasons,-first among which would be the danger from fire, and also the impossibility of preserving it from the destructive effects of a "southerly buster," under the influence of which it would become a fly indeed. | The Empire, 3/10/1854, p. 4 | Two appearances in The Empire in two weeks—and these are the first seen, aside from a repetition in The Argus. The subject: keeping houses with iron roofs cool. |
| southerly buster | 1908 | No occupants of premises facing the north dared to keep their doors open. No tornado, Nor'-West "cockeyed bob," southerly-buster, or goldfields willy-willy has ever blown with more force than did this storm. Unlike the previous gale, which concentrated its fury rather upon the western end of Kalgoorlie, this storm took in the whole municipality, as much damage being done by it in the east end of the town as in the west. It raged with a fierceness that drove everyone in the streets at the time to seek the nearest shelter, yet it had spent its force locally in less then a quarter of an hour. After the lapse of that time the sun shone out upon a scene of widespread damage. | The West Australian, 26/2/1908, p. 7 | These three terms (willy-willy, cock-eye bob and southerly buster) are seen hers as almost-synonyms. |
| Speewah | 1892 | With the praiseworthy intention of enlightening Deadman with a few facts as to the vast resources and development of the west I described the famous Speewah Station on the Herbert, telling him it carried five million sheep and employed ten thousand men, following with a faithful picture of its shearing shed fourteen miles long, where a shearer would often be discharged at one end and on riding up to the other would be put on the board again as a stranger. Even this did not disturb his equanimity; he knew the place well, and he had once refused the management of it. Apparently also he was thoroughly acquainted with, and had worked for years, upon western cattle runs, where the scrub was so thick the dingoes had to come out on to the plains to howl. ... he had often hunted and handled those freaks of nature, which even the bushmen of the "Never! Never!" consider rare, such as two-headed emus, flying snakes and bisons, bunyips, gubwanks, and centipedes twenty feet long. | The Western Champion and General Advertiser for the Central-Western Districts (Barcaldine), 2/8/1892, p. 2 | This is entitled 'The Champion Liar of the Queensland Coast'. This must refer to Deadman, as the Speewah itself is well-known to be real, and the narrator is only dishonest in that he understates the Speewah's true size. |
| Speewah | 1894 | Some sceptical people may doubt the existence of our bunyip, but I never met a man who could for a moment question the fact that we have here in Australia— though rather late in the centuries for such things —a real living giant. Does not every postmaster in Queensland know his address?— Crooked Mick, Spewaw River, Never Never Land —and cannot all Northern shearers tell you tales about him which they are prepared to vouch for on their well-known veracity as gentlemen shearers, and on their honours as members of the blade? They say that Mick shears 2000 sheep a day, occupying one side of the shed himself; it takes ten smart boys all their time to keep the wool away; he uses shears, made to order, with 3ft. blades, and requires a washtub to dip them in instead of an old quart pot or jam tin, as does the common—I mean the ordinary shearer with the common shears. | The Queenslander, 17/3/1894, p. 501 | Earlier instances of 'Crooked Mick' mainly relate to a horse of that name (unless the shearer was given to entering races and running against horses on all fours). This is 'Crooked Mick, the Shearer Giant', by E. A. Daly. |
| Speewah | 1894 | Did I ever meet "Crooked Mick"? Didn't I meet him, last drought, crossin' the big plain between the Saxby and the Flinders. He was walkin' along with his usual stoop that's why they calls him 'Crooked' Mick, because for convenience' sake he has larn'd to double hisself in two. He had a 400 gallon tank in each hand, as it was a dry time, and he knew he'd want a couple of drinks before he reached the Flinders. He had a church on his back, which he intended leavin' as a present at Cloncurry when he passed there on his way out to the Spewaw. I asked him for a drink— I knew him well, cooked two dozen dampers for his breakfast the shearin' before. He told me to help myself, for he isn't like some that will refuse a man a quart of water on a hot day in the middle of a big plain, tho' they see his tongue hangin' out like a dingo's. Mick pulled a two-gallon keg out of his pocket and gev me a nip... | The Queenslander, 17/3/1894, p. 501 | This is from 'Crooked Mick, the Shearer Giant', by E. A. Daly. |
| Speewah | 1898 | That Tas. legislator's sympathetic invocation of a dead mother for a much discussed Civil servant roundaboutly recalls "Speewah Mick's" exploits in the "back countree." "Speewah" used to follow the shearing. Having secured a place on a shearing floor, he would made himself very agreeable to all hands employed, and work steadily for about a week. Then he'd get a telegram or letter from his sister or aunt in Adelaide to say : "Father dying, come home at once." The telegram would be shown round the shed, and "Speewah" would mention sorrowfully that he didn't know how he was to get home, as he only had a few shillings in the world, and couldn't get any from home, as his people had spent all their money on doctors "for the old man." Then he would suppose he'd have to tramp it somehow, but as he hadn't been the best son in the world he would dearly have loved to see the "old man" once before he died, etc., etc. | The Clipper (Hobart), 3/9/1898, p. 7 | This is rather a different account of Crooked Mick from that we know today. |
| Speewah | 1904 | "Most things," says a hoary philosopher, "are done with the turn of the wrist. Counting mobs of sheep however, is certainly done with the twist of the eye. One meets marvellously quick counters on stations A yarn-only a "Mulga"—has it that a man on the Speewah where the shades are miles long and the shearers bath in champagne, live in places and have servants to wait on them never counts the sheep but no matter how fast they run through a big gate he counts their legs and divides result by four. He never makes a mistake, aforesaid "Mulga" has it. Once in a 20,000 mob they rung in a three legged ewe. When finished counting this great man wiped his eye brows and paralysed his audience by calmly saying 19,999 ! | The Brisbane Courier, 23/4/1904, p. 12 | By now, the Speewah is definitely larger than life and in the modern mode. From 'Gum Leaves' by "6 x 8". As shown, there is a space between the last two characters, but there is no sign of a missing "¾" |
| Speewah | 1910 | We should like to know where that sedate polite shearing shed is situated. We'd travel a thousand miles to visit it. Parliamentary or any slanguage objected to in a shearing shed, where the atmosphere is mostly a bright green, and trembles with the language at the shearer man, It is almost too funny for words. The indignant writer mentioned must surely mean the Speewah. Why we've visited some hundreds of sheds in our career, and we back the lurid language of the shearer man against anything that talks in the world. The roughest navvy's camp, coal pit, or slaughter house is even as a Sunday School compared to the pink, slaughtered, blanky, sanguinary condition of the lingo of a shearer's hut. Huge gum trees blush, neighbouring hills tremble, and the whole atmosphere quivers in the neighbourhood of a shearer's hut, particularly at meal times. Shearers are scientific cursers, artistic blasphemers, and absolute geniuses at blanky lingo. | The Northern Miner (Charters Towers), 11/11/1910, p. 5 | Shearers' representatives were outraged when Senator Gardiner told "a nasty interjector that he felt inclined to use language that would be more adapted for the shearing shed than the Senate chamber." |
| spieler | 1881 | WHILE the steamer Lady Bowen was lying at Bundaberg on Thursday night, one of the card-sharping fraternity in going on board mistook his way, and fell off the wharf into the river. Hearing the splash the carpenter of the steamer, Thomas Dunlop, jumped into the water, and secured the man as he was drifting away with the current. A rope was thrown to which Dunlop fastened the "spieler", and he was afterwards put into one of the ship's boats. The man had a very narrow escape as he could not swim, and was encumbered with a heavy ulster overcoat. This is the second person Mr. Dunlop has saved from drowning within the last twelve months, and he is deserving of every credit for his promptitude and bravery on this occasion. | Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton), 1/8/1881, p. 2 | Those brought up on Lawson's Steelman the Spieler (who was more of an all-purpose con-man) should note that here, the spieler is a player (of cards). |
| spieler | 1882 | At the City Court this morning a man named James Darwin, well known to the police as what is now called "a spieler," was charged on warrant with defrauding a contractor from Riverina named Hennigan, of £75 by false dice. The prosecutor deposed that he played "Yankee grab" with Darwin on Monday evening, in the Freemason's Hotel, Pall-mall. They only played for 20 minutes, till be found himself out of pocket to the extent of £75. The stakes appear to have ranged from £10 to £20. Mr Hornbuckle, for the defence, contended that the Bench could take no cognisance of the charge, for he alleged that it had not been shown that Darwin had used false dice. The case was remanded till Friday morning for further evidence, bail being allowed in one surety of £30, and the accused of £25. When arrested, Darwin had no money on him. | The Argus, 11/5/1882, p. 5 | Here is a similar meaning again. The case was heard at Sandhurst, so the usage was also known in Victoria. |
| spieler | 1896 | A policeman is a "Johnny" Or a copman or a "trap," And a thing obtained on credit Is invariably "strap," A conviction's known as "trouble," And a gaol is called a "jug," And a sharper is a "spieler," And a simpleton's a "tug." If he hits a man in fighting, That is what he calls a "plug." If he borrows money off you He will say he bite your "lug." And to "shake it" is to steal it, And to "strike it" is to beg, And a jest is "poking borac" And the jester "pulls your leg." | Worker (Brisbane), 3/10/1896, p. 5 | Verse called 'Colonial Slanguage', attributed only to Orange Leader. |
| spieler | 1910 | It is supposed that the fraudulent pills, labels and boxes were made in Sydney, where some years ago a similar clever fraud, was perpetrated by spielers, who ran a fraudulent line of bile beans. | The North Western Advocate and the Emu Bay Times, 11/8/1910, p. 4 | Two con-men had been selling fake Beecham's Pills in Melbourne. Note the change in meaning. |
| spruik | 1905 | THEY SAY ... That a William-street snip has a cute eye for a chicken. That he brightens up the dreary intervals of spruiking by ogling the girleens. That the frisky titters send back many an unfilial wink at the amorous ancient. | Sunday Times (Perth), 3/9/1905, p. 1 | Many earlier examples are errors for "spring". The first genuine appearance is in a story about a "Spruik Inn" in South Africa. This instance is from a gossip column. |
| spruik | 1905 | That a William-street snip has a cute eye for a chicken. That he brightens up the dreary intervals of spruiking by ogling the girleens. That the frisky titters send back many an unfilial wink at the amorous ancient. | The Sunday Times (Perth), 3/9/1905, p. 1 | Gossip column entry. |
| spruik | 1907 | A member of the "Hawklet" staff went to Broken Hill to referee the Lang-Ruenalf mill. In his account of the mill the pressman says :"Jack Harris afterwards, introduced the referee, who received a rousing welcome, and in response to the cries of a spruik, he briefly thanked the audience for the enthusiastic manner in which he was received, and stated that he trusted their confidence in him would not be misplaced." Modesty is a trait of the Melbourne pressman in question. | Sunday Times (Perth), 6/10/1907, p. 3S | Significantly, the first two uses are from the same organ. |
| spruik | 1907 | Poor old Boshter Bill's existence is not now a burden to him as it was immediately after he was put out of court by Tommy Burns. Bill is getting cheekier every successive day, and when he comes back to Australia we would not be surprised to hear the erstwhile unassuming, retiring Narrabri miner "spruiking" to some purpose as to his own powers. Squires is gradually being taught that there is nothing like self-advertising. By the way Bill Squires asked "Twin" Sullivan if he would care to have a bet of a thousand dollars on the result of their fight, but. the Yankee wasn't having any . | Sunday Times (Perth), 27/10/1907, p. 3S | And likewise the third, as indeed are the next five instances. |
| spruik | 1907 | Now it is "good boy, Squires." Poor old Boshter Bill's existence is not now a burden to him as it was immediately after he was put out of court by Tommy Burns. Bill is getting cheekier every successive day, and when he comes back to Australia we would not be surprised to hear the erstwhile unassuming, retiring Narrabri miner "spruiking" to some purpose as to his own powers. Squires is gradually being taught that there is nothing like self-advertising. By the way Bill Squires asked "Twin" Sullivan if he would care to have a bet of a thousand dollars on the result of their fight, but the Yankee wasn't having any. | The Sunday Times (Perth), 27/10/1907, p. 3S | Sporting gossip column. |
| spruik | 1907 | The Sydney scribe says of Rollo: "The worst-treated pug in the game to day is Bob Rollo. The argument put forth is that Bob has sinned so often. How many are in the game now who have erred likewise? Rollo has admitted his wrong-doings, and I fail to see why he should be hounded out whilst others with oily spruiking advocates can secure matches for their equally guilty charges." This is really humorous, appearing as it does in the same rag which has been "spruiking" for the notorious Hegarty. However, Rollo is one of the cleverest boxers who ever looked over a glove, and it is a great pity that he is so full of little tricks and wiles. | The Sunday Times (Perth), 17/11/1907, p. 3S | Sporting gossip column. |
| spruik | 1912 | When the tribe of pommies, jimmy grants, and unregistered lime-juice lickers hears a native of the soil who is a groper—refer to them in any of the following terms, a "boshter," "bontodger," "bonza," "boshtering" or "bosker" bloke, he need not go sour and agitate his Lancashire clogs with the intention of kicking the spruiker of this chat in the "darby kell" because all these expressions represent the dead limit of admiration. If, on the other hand, the same person were to refer to him as "a dead nark," "Noah's Ark," "backer-and filler," "twister," or "purple-imp (pimp), he would be perfectly justified in getting in early with his brogans, or skate in with the hobnail express, which is another way of saying that he ought to bog his "daisy roots," otherwise his "crabs" or "John Hunters" into the frame of the blighter that "poked mullock" at him. | Sunday Times (Perth), 10/3/1912, p. 9 | A discussion on slang for new arrivals. |
| squatter | 1825 | When I visited Brisbane Water first, little more than twelve months ago, I found it in lone and silent beauty ; the stillness of which was interrupted but by the scream of the curleu, or the loud laugh of the feathered jackass.—there was but one being of my species and colour who had made any thing like a settlement on the shores, and he was merely what our neighbour Jonathan would call a squatter, who had set himself down there as a boat-builder, but to whom the Governor has since, on the recommendation of one or two Gentlemen, awarded a grant of one hundred acres. Now its calm bosom is daily ruffled by the busy oar of the settler, the blue-gum cutter, and the lime-burner each pursuing his own vocation.— and as often happens, that opportunities of communication between it and Sydney offer three or four times a week. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 30/6/1825, p. 4 | The name 'Brother Jonathan' is an archaic form equivalent to 'Uncle Sam'. In short, it appears we took the name from the Americans. It took some time for squatters to be necessarily rich. |
| squatter | 1833 | CATTLE STEALING We had entertained sanguine hopes that this species of offence, which for some years had been in a great degree peculiar to the western districts, was so far declining in frequency, that an occurrence of the kind would soon be considered a novelty. Our expectations, we regret to say, have been disappointed by the discovery and conviction of more offenders, whose system of plunder has been found to wear a darker complexion than common. Three brothers named Mahoney, squatters, or trespassers on Government land, were this week committed to Sydney Gaol, to take their trial under the following circumstances:-They dwell in a hut contiguous to Mount Macquarie, about 25 miles from the settlement, which was unexpectedly visited by a party of the civil and mounted police, who found, within short distances of the Mahoney's habitations, sundry carcases of bullocks in a state of putrefaction, with their bellies cut open, and the fat taken out—the brands also cut out of the hides. | The Sydney Herald, 25/4/1833, p. 3 | At this time, squatters were seen as villains, people most unlikely to come down, mounted on their thoroughbreds, and any accompanying troopers would be likely to have said squatter in irons. |
| squatter | 1835 | And WHEREAS, as all measures to trace the said cattle have proved ineffectual, the Undersigned has come to the conclusion that as the Government road passes through the run, they have been abstracted from his herd by evil disposed persons passing through with fat cattle or that they have been slaughtered by certain Squatters resident n the neighbourhood. He therefore offers a Reward of TWENTY POUNDS to any person who will prosecute the offending party or parties to conviction; and to any person who will give such private information to the Undersigned, as may lead to a conviction, shall receive a reward of £5 and the Undersigned will pledge himself to conceal the same. Lake Bathurst, E. S. HALL, Jun. 3rd. Feb. 1835. | The Sydney Monitor, 18/2/1835, p. 3 | E. S. Hall, in an advertisement. Clearly, a squatter in 1835 was a member of the lower classes. |
| squatter | 1844 | He would not claim for them perfectibility, but he assorted that they would have the effect of equalising the condition of the poor, and wealthy squatter. | The Australian (Sydney), 18/9/1844, p. 3 | Mr Therry in the NSW Legislative Council on the Squatting Regulations. |
| squatter | 1845 | THE SQUATTERS.-We learn that official information has been received by Mr. LaTrobe, stating that the New Squatting Regulations which were sent home by Sir George Gipps per General Hewitt, and which our friends both in town and country will readily recollect created so much excitement and dissatisfaction, have been approved of by Lord Stanley, and are to be put in force on the first of next July. We don't vouch positively for the truth of this statement, but we have every reason .to believe in its authenticity.-Melbourne Herald. | Launceston Examiner, 17/5/1845, p. 4 | News story. |
| squatter | 1845 | I have no doubt that many large and wealthy squatters will avail themselves of the privilege afforded them, by paying to the Crown the license money on a large number of stations, so as to provide for the increase of their sheep for years to come, or probably they will purchase more sheep, stock their run, and sell both sheep and stations at the first favourable opportunity. I am of opinion that some definite limit should be affixed to runs, and the proper and natural limit which suggests itself is, that no squatter should have more land than he has stock to depasture thereon at the period of the promulgation of the regulations-otherwise a new, perhaps a poorer squatter, will be entirely shut out, and the Crown will lose the fund arising from the assessment on the stock which would be placed on the monopolized lands. | Sydney Morning Herald, 2/8/1845, p. 3 | Letter on the Squatting Regulations, addressed to the editor signed E.P. |
| squatter | 1852 | A gentleman squatter offered a digger a shilling to lift a bag of sugar off a dray, at which the digger put his foot on a stump and invited the squatter to tie his shoe-lace, for which he would pay five shillings. | A History of Australia, 1852, p. 19, volume 4 | Manning Clark |
| squatter | 1852 | Now, on behalf of Mr. George Leslie, as well as for my own credit, I declare this to be a gross and malicious falsehood. Some of said charitable individuals are of opinion that I was a paid agent of the squatters of these districts, to deceive and humbug the multitude by the above means. | The Sydney Morning Herald, 11/9/1852, p. 3 | Edward Thomson, letter to The Sydney Morning Herald: note the contrast of squatters and "the multitude". |
| stock station | 1823 | EIGHT DOLLARS REWARD.-LOST, on Tuesday the 18th Instant, between Grant's Farm and No 4 Government Stock Station, at the South Creek, a SADDLE, BRIDLE, and MARTINGALE, supposed to have been taken from a Horse which threw its Rider in that Neighbourhood, on the above-named Day. Whoever will bring the same to Mr. Nettleton, Principal Overseer of Government Stock, at Rooty Hill, shall receive the above Reward ; but, if found in any Person or Person's Possession after this Advertisement gains Publicity, he, she, or they, will be prosecuted as the Law directs. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 27/2/1823, p. 1s | The advertisement before is of interest. |
| stock station | 1824 | WHEREAS the ABORIGINAL NATIVES of the Districts near Bathurst, have, for many Weeks past, carried on a Series of indiscriminate Attacks on the STOCK STATIONS there, putting some of the Keepers to cruel Deaths, wounding Others; and dispersing and plundering the Flocks and Herds -themselves not escaping sanguinary Retaliation; --... NOW THEREFORE, by Virtue of the Authority in me vested by His Majesty's Royal Commission, I do declare, in Order to restore Tranquillity, MARTIAL LAW TO BE IN FORCE IN ALL THE COUNTRY WEST/WARD OF MOUNT YORK... "THOMAS BRISBANE." (L.S.) | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 19/8/1824, p. 1 | This is a truncated form of a much longer declaration, worth reading in full. |
| stock station | 1825 | Within about a quarter of a mile of the town, a neat street of comfortable huts or cottages have been erected, solely for the prisoners. Each of these habitations have three inmates assigned to them, and cleanliness is one of the orders of the day. The town is considerably altered for the better and Bathurst promises to become not only one of our wealthiest, but also one of the most picturesque spots in this "infant empire." Many of our rich settlers have lately extended their stock stations as far as the North Bank of the Macquarie Wellington Valley. They are also stretching out north of Mud-jee to within a few days' journey of the enchanting Liverpool Plains; and it is not by any means to be mentioned, but that our stocking will even extend to that magnificent country; of which we promise, as soon as room permits, to give an interesting but not overcharged description. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 6/1/1825, p. 3 | The town first mentioned is Bathurst. |
| stock station | 1826 | WANTED immediately, an OVERSEER to take Charge of a Stock Station, in Argyleshire None need apply but those who can give strong Testimonials of good Character and Security for future good Behaviour, as liberal Wages will be given. Apply to Mr. Joseph UNDERWOOD. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 30/12/1826, p. 1 | Mrs, Underwood also wanted a house maid who could make herself generally useful. |
| stony | 1899 | The Trades and Labour Council of New Zealand is very anxious to get legislation to prevent the individual acquisition of wealth... A law to prohibit the individual acquisition of marbles would prevent the "muckers" of the school—such is the term by which the crack marble players are known—gathering in the "chows" and "stonys" and "aggys" of his schoolmates | The Queenslander, 15/4/1899, p. 673 | Column 'Jottings by the Way' |
| stork (as a bringer of babies) | 1884 | The path to the Valley of Babyland Only the kingly white storks know. If they fly over mountains, or wade through fountains. No man sees them come or go, But an angel, maybe, who guards some baby, Or a fairy perhaps with her magic wand. Brings them straightway to the wonderful gateway That leads to Babyland. | The Queenslander, 23/8/1884, p. 298 | Poem (for want of a more accurate word) called 'The Legend of the Storks and the Babies'. By Ella Wheeler. |
| stork (as a bringer of babies) | 1888 | Paris Figaro gives the following amusing anecdotes of Prince Henry's irreverent turn of mind when a boy:—The Prince was informed one morning by an attendant that the storks had brought him a little sister in the night time. "Could you believe," he remarked with a mischievous smile, "that papa, to make it easier for me to believe that, took the trouble to come in at night and open that window which the storks always fly past?" "So? —You will perhaps tell me then how your sister got here?" asked the attendant, who must have been dreadfully shocked by such scepticism in high places, as all Gorman children believe; firmly in the stork version. " I know nothing about that," replied the young freethinker "but I don't believe one word of the stork story." | The Queenslander, 14/7/1888, p. 54 | A German origin for the notion? |
| stork (as a bringer of babies) | 1920 | "The Stork" has left a small son with Mr. and Mrs. Lionel Logue. | The Sunday Times (Perth), 5/12/1920, p. 6S | A little late to rate as early, but spotted by Libby Lam in Frankston, as a reference to the hero of 'The King's Speech'. |
| stoush | 1887 | "Stoushing" was the order of the day in front of some of the George-street pubs, and many were the adjournments to the back to "have it out"-though generally no great harm was done. During the afternoon, the door of the Court-house was closely beseiged [sic] by voters who were brought up by buggies, waggonettes, cabs, and carts; but so slow was the process that it was feared many of the electors would have to be sent to Wilberforce. Men were detained as long as ten minutes, being cross-examined in the most unconscionable manner, on the most trivial excuses. Thus, men well known in our midst, and whose names are singular, were badgered as to whether they were leaseholders or freeholders-and on more than one occasion men who could not read left the booth without voting, and but for the vigilance of the outside scrutineers, would have lost their votes. | Hawkesbury Chronicle and Farmers Advocate, 19/2/1887, p. 2 | Election day in Windsor. |
| stoush | 1893 | Let us suppose a case. When any festive youth of Little Bourke street, overcome, perhaps, by copious libations at the shrine of Bacchus, winds up his revelry by 'stoushing a Chow,' or, if remonstrated with by a guardian of the peace, punctuates his arguments with a brick, he is promptly run in, tried, and sentenced to say, five, years. He is then sent out to Pentridge in the 'Black Maria,' with a little band of kindred souls, all chained together, and whiling away the tedium of the journey by defiantly warbling 'Home, sweet Home,' or ' A Bandit's life for Me,' in various sharps and flats. | The Coburg Leader, 15/3/1893, p. 4 | A visit to Pentridge. |
| stoush | 1896 | THE RESULT OF A STREET BRAWL. Last Wednesday some of the picnickers in from Richmond who visited the Rupertswood Hotel in a festive mood during the day, became rather elated and subsequently had a scrimmage with a local young man. Messrs T. Whelan, of the Sunbury Asylum, and Hammer, of the Ararat institution, were also at the hotel, and after enjoying the glass which cheers and sometimes does something more, they indulged in severe criticism of certain vocal performances of the Richmondites. This raised the ire of the visitors, who signified their intention of "stoushing" the critics, and proceeded to carry it out. Coats were quickly peeled off, and they commenced to land right and left. | Sunbury News and Bulla and Melton Advertiser, 7/3/1896, p. 2 | A pub brawl. |
| stoush | 1896 | The joker of our party was a humourist of the dry order, and had been slyly taking rises out of the driver for the last two or three stages. But the driver only brooded. He wasn't the one to tell you straight if you offended him, or if he fancied you offended him, and thus gain your respect, or prevent a misunderstanding which would result in life long enmity. He might meet you in after years, when you had forgotten all about your trespass -if indeed you had ever been conscious of it-and "stoush" you unexpectedly on the ear. | The Western Mail, 25/9/1896, p. 36 | Henry Lawson, 'The Shanty Keeper's Wife'. Note that Lawson also uses 'stoush' in each of the two examples as a verb (and in quotes, suggesting it is new to him). |
| stoush | 1896 | We didn't say much for the rest of the journey. There was the usual man who thought as much and knew all about it from the first, but he wasn't appreciated. We suppressed him. One or two wanted to go back and 'stoush' that landlord, and the driver stopped the coach cheerfully at their request; but they said they'd come across him again and allowed themselves to be persuaded out of it. | The Western Mail, 25/9/1896, p. 36 | Henry Lawson, 'The Shanty Keeper's Wife'. Note that Lawson also uses 'stoush' in each of the two examples as a verb (and in quotes, suggesting it is new to him). |
| stoush | 1899 | Bill's push dealt stoush out to a man In Ultimo one Sunday; A gang of crafty, clever traps Went round and gathered up the scraps Sic transit gloria mundi! | West Australian Sunday Times, 24/9/1899, p. 7 | A poem, originally from 'The Truth', Sydney, by 'The Warrigal'. |
| stringybark | 1803 | On Wednesday last the following statement of Timber, &c. sent on board the Glatton on account of Government was concluded, viz. 162 Pieces of crooked and straight Timber, from 41 and a half feet to 10 feet in length, and from 10 to 20 inches in Diameter: The species consist of Mahogany, Stringy-bark, iron-bark, Black and Blue Gum, and Box; most of which are fit for Ship-building; the number of solid Feet is estimated at 4,700. 55 Pieces of a Wood resembling Lignum Vitae, lately found; it dyes a light yellow, and may be useful for that purpose, as well as for the Pins and Sheaves of blocks. 30 Casks of Blue Gum Bark, which has been so successfully used in this Colony for tanning Leather. Some Grindstones. 2 Casks of Iron Ore, as a Specimen. Exclusive of the above, 113 Plank and Logs of She-oak have been sent to different individuals. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 15/5/1803, p. 2 | News report. |
| stringybark | 1803 | SIR, Amongst the number of erroneous persuasion that have long subsisted, I beg to take notice of the preference given to the She-oak for paling and fencing, and the total exclusion of the Stringy bark for either of those purposes, perhaps because it has been but partially made trial of. From the incessant labour and expence incurred of the present customary mode of fencing and paling with she-oak, which, although valuable for other purposes, I by no means think fit for such uses, I was induced to direct a quantity of pales to be split from the Stringy-bark, but as much as possible to avoid saplings A fence of this kind was erected round my ground two years since, inclosing 59 acres, earthed several inches : the buried part of which, instead of mouldering and incorporating with the earth, as is the case with the She-oak, appears to have rather increased in its firmness. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 3/7/1803, p. 2 | Letter to the editor. |
| sundowner | 1907 | "Sundowner" is the pseudonym of a pleasant writer down under, and has been applied to Australians generally. Really the term is not complimentary, for it describes the professional tramp who arrives at sundown and departs at sun-up, without having worked for his bed and board. | The Daily News (Perth), 5/8/1907, p. 3 | Gossip column, quoting an unnamed English newspaper. |
| swag | 1851 | CLAIM FOR WAGES-A young man, named William Heeley, on Saturday sued his employer, Mr Mooney, of Western Port, for a balance of wages due, amounting to £2 8s It appeared that the young man had been engaged at the weekly wages of 12s to shear, shepherd, and hut keep, and to drive sheep on the road with another man ; the defendant had given him orders to drive a flock of sheep to Western Port, and carry his "swag" himself; this the young man refused to do, as being almost impossible in the present state of the roads; and he was then told to go about his business, or he would be sent to the watch house at once ; he then went and got a summons out for his employer. The amount was decreed for with costs. Notice of appeal was then given by Mr F. Stephen, who defended the case. | The Argus, 2/6/1851, p. 2 | Note the use of quotation marks, suggestin that the term is novel. |
| swag | 1852 | Next morning at six o'clock I and my brother George, who had arrived a day or two before started for Mount Alexander, and as tools, &c., were said to be procurable at a cheaper rate on the diggings from parties leaving, than in town, we resolved only to take only the most necessary "swag and tucker," as the colonists, in their semiconvict slang, denominate luggage and food. We took two suits of very rough clothing, (including blue woollen shirts instead of coats), a tinned quart pot and frying pan, and sufficient tea and sugar, and bread and meat for the journey. | Adelaide Morning Chronicle, 5/7/2852, p. 3 | A letter written at Hindmarsh by T. Stacy, dated June 30, 1852: a lively account of the way to the diggings. The "tinned quart pot" is probably a billy. |
| swag | 1853 | RATES OF CARTAGE TO THE DIGGINGS. Per Horse Drays. Bendigo Passengers' swags and light goods, 80s. per 100lbs. Stores .. .. .. .. .. 75s. do. Cartage to and from any part of the town, per load, 7s. to 9s. | The Argus, 25/7/1853, p. 4 | New arrivals encountered the word on arrival. |
| swag | 1856 | There were others, innocent of drays and barrows, or other artificial appliances, who harnessed to their own broad backs the huge "swags" that cruel fate imposed upon the primitive gold hunter. | The Star (Ballarat), 11/10/1856, p. 1s | The billy here, while black, could just possibly be a hat. |
| swag | 1858 | They each carried a swag. One of the swags seemed to consist of a tent. The other seemed to be bedding. They were within 20 yards of him when he noticed them. One of the men was about 5 feet 10 inches in height, and wore dark clothing. He wore a brown felt hat. The hat produced is very like it. He did not observe that he wore any whiskers. The other man was about 5 feet 6 inches in height. | The Argus, 25/1/1858, p. 5 | A description of two suspects. |
| swag, humping the | 1851 | Swept out by superabundance of water, the Ophir men are returning, and the system of roving under the ridiculous plea of prospecting, prevails to a greater extent than ever. To the deserted holes up Oakey Creek, the late rains have caused many to return, and a steady yield is to be met with. Within about three miles of the junction with the Turon the bed is flooded and the Creek running freely ; yet Turton's party in the main bed, by the aid of pumps, are enabled to continue operations. From the hill at the Razorback side of Oakey, the Messrs. Owen (sons of the attorney) are "humping the swag" to the washing hole, and doing fairly ; but the labour is immense. At Thompson's Point, Ellis, Pugh, Gannon, and Murphy's parties are still successful: from this the vein seems to sweep under the bed, and issue lower down the river near the Maitlander's tent, where the Hewlesons and a few others are at work. | The Empire, 17/10/1851, p. 2 | This does not appear to be the normal usage of "humping the swag". A misunderstanding by the journalist, misusing a term that is new? |
| swag, humping the | 1852 | On the 1st November, then, we left Bendigo, there being about forty men and four horsecarts in the one party. On rising the hill near the Back Creek we took a last farewell, as we thought, of Bendigo and its golden glories; and with light hearts commenced our pilgrimage to the new land of promise. Just after getting out of sight of the diggings Mr. Commissioner Gilbert overtook us, on his way to Melbourne. He asked us if we were bound for the Ovens, and on our replying in the affirmative, he very kindly wished us success. Could wishes have had any effect upon our fortunes this might have been of some avail to us; but, alas, the fates, unwavering in their stern resolves, proved altogether unpropitious. Travelling, when with a merry band, is undoubtedly the most agreeable part of a gold digger's life; that is, supposing he has not to "hump his swag," which entirely destroys all the romance of it. | The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser, 18/12/1852, p. 4 | News from a Bendigo correspondent. With newspapers picking up each other's stories, and strings of correspondents, and steamshipos to carry the mail, there was onlt room for one Australian language. |
| swagman | 1861 | Original POETRY. A SWAGMANS PHILOSOPHY Whilst travelling through these southern climes, Half swagman and half poet, I've noticed many a core of times (But, pshaw ! perchance all know it) That round those spots where men reside, You're nearly sure to notice Mallow and nettle, side by side, The irritant and poultice. And so, throughout the world you find, Whereever you may roam, A mixture of the harsh and kind About the spot called "Home." The sweet and bitter aye will mix Whereever man will settle, And he's a lucky chap who picks Marsh-mallow and no nettle. | The South Australian Advertiser, 26/2/1861, p. 2 | Attributed to Charles Etienne Marie D., Mosquito Plains. |
| swagman | 1862 | This hint to publish the petitioners names, was never noticed by the Princeland advocate, whose instinct is sharp enough to discover with eye and ear what suits him and his clique purpose, as he is deaf and blind to all out of that sphere. That every boy and swagman should be invited to attach his name to the petition to [s]well the list of the names is open to objection... | Border Watch (Mount Gambier), 18/7/1862, p. 3 | Letter to the editor from 'Cracker'. |
| swagman | 1862 | UNGRATEFUL GUESTS. On the evening of Monday, the 31st ult, four of those bipeds y'clept travellers, arrived with their swags at Mrs. Grassie's sheep-station of Bogalara, on the Glenelg, where they were kindly entertained, and suffered to remain part of the following day to rest themselves; but in return for so much hospitality, they took the opportuuity to rob the poor shepherd on the home station of almost all he possessed, and, not satisfied with that, they also stole the wedges and other property belonging to some bushmen engaged on piecework on the run; and the poor men have been idle in consequence ever since. In future no unknown swagman will be admitted to remain at Bogalara. | The Argus, 22/4/1862, p. 7 | From the Portland Chronicle, April 17. |
| swagman | 1864 | SWAGMEN—HOW TO IMPROVE THEIR CIRCUMSTANCES. We have this week been favoured by a communication from a respected, correspondent (a settler) on the same subject. He says: "suppose it was advertised that on and after a certain day no travelling swagman would be allowed to eat a meal (i.e., have a feed) without paying one shilling for the same, it would have a most wholesome effect, and tend greatly to benefit this loafing and improvident class of the population. And should the plan be strictly carried out by every station holder, believe me there would be more satisfaction and contentment among the regularly employed servants on the station. They would see the necessity of attending to their duty, and not every little trifle, as at present, would cause them to leave their, situations, and take their swags and go upon the road. Few, if any, employers expect an unreasonable amount of labor or attention from their men; but at present they dare hardly speak to them, far less find fault. | Border Watch (Mount Gambier), 22/4/1864, p. 2 | A plan "to abate the Swagmen nuisance". |
| swy | 1945 | The most popular Army gamble is the "swi game," from the German for two. Rugby is "organised wrestling"; Australian rules football, "aerial pingpong." Any type of dessert is "pudding"; rice is "Ah Foo Ballast"; sausages are "snaggers"; tea is "chi" or "brew." | The West Australian, 24/11/1945, p. 5 | Article 'Brave New Words'. |
| Sydney Harbour | 1822 | SUBSCRIPTION LIST OF THE BRIG ANN, OF SCARBOROUGH, Toward the Purchase of a Vessel for a Floating Chapel, in Sydney Harbour, for the Use of Seamen, and others. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 8/11/1822, p. 4 | This is a list of donors. |
| Sydney Harbour | 1824 | The Midas, which sailed from Sydney harbour on the 16th August, touched at one of the Auckland Islands on the 27th of the same month, in lat. 51.39 long. 166.26. E. where she took 1600 skins on board. She sailed from thence for England on the 16th Sept. having staid there 10 days. Had good winds on leaving Port Jackson, but heavy weather while off the Islands; rode with two anchors a head. She is expected to touch at the Island of St. Helena. | The Australian, 16/12/1824, p. 3 | Ubder the heading 'Ship News'. |
| Sydneysider | 1852 | A serious disturbance occurred on the 25th ult. at the Ovens diggings, in consequence of the government enforcing payment of the full licence for only a few days at the end of the month. The nature of the disturbance may be gathered by the following extract of a letter:-"Last night a meeting was held and many parties expressed themselves, very dissatisfied at being fined £3 and made to pay a license for the remainder of the month, now so nearly expired; having some of them but just come in from Sydneyside and their means being very limited. | Colonial Times (Hobart), 10/12/1852, p. 2 | News report. |
| Sydneysider | 1859 | The feats of the Chinese acrobats were wonderful, as also were the jumps made by Alexander Alkanna, the Sydney-side native. Mr James Hernandez showed himself worthy of his high reputation, and Miss Isabella Irwin performed a very graceful act. The circus will remain open for some few nights during the present week. | The Star (Ballarat), 20/6/1859, p. 3 | Review of a circus performance. |
| taipan (snake) | 1932 | Giant Venomous Snakes In addition to possessing in the scrub python, the largest snake in Australia, Cape Yorke Peninsula is the home of the largest and most dangerous venomous snake, though it is not confined to the area. It is the taipan, which attains a length of up to 10 or 12 feet. It is greatly feared by the natives of Cape York, who cannot be persuaded to go near it. Nor is this fear with out foundation—for the taipan is undoubtedly the most formidable reptile in Australia, and a man who is bitten squarely on the body by a big specimen would have no hope of recovery. A large specimen possesses fangs not much short of half an inch in length, fangs that are curved backward like those of a viper, and it yields a very large quantity of extremely potent venom. | The Advertiser, 10/12/1932, p. 9 | This appears to be the earliest reference to this snake by this name. |
| tart | 1898 | The "donah" has developed into the "tart." | The Broadford Courier and Reedy Creek Times, 25/2/1898, p. 5 | An article denouncing new slang as debasing the philological currency of the English tongue. |
| The Ashes | 1882 | The Hon. Ivo Bligh in responding, made a very happy speech, and mentioned that only for the kind promises of assistance and co-operation made by the Australians generally, as well as by the team, his eleven would never have been able to come to Australia. The last occasion on which he met Mr. Murdoch was at dinner on that unfortunate day when, as one newspaper put it, "English cricket deceased and Australia gathered up the ashes." He hoped before concluding his tour to be able, to regain those revered ashes and carry them again to England. Several other toasts were drunk, and the proceedings were of an exceedingly pleasant nature. | South Australian Register, 28/11/1882, p. 6 | Banquet to the Australian eleven, speech by the English captain. |
| thingummybob | 1945 | The famous "doover" began as a synonym for "thingamabob," but is now used mainly for a dugout, sangar, or jungle shelter. | The West Australian, 24/11/1945, p. 5 | Article 'Brave New Words'. |
| this arvo | 1929 | A most regrettable feature of the present day speech is the tendency to mutilate or, to say the least, contract —many words of the English language. In addition to the recognised contractions, "isn't," "don't" "that's," etc., on every side we hear the objectionable and wrong "ain't" (I cannot spell this). Then again are heard the almost universal use of "exam." and lately another objectionable expression "this arvo" for this afternoon, seems to have taken a firm hold of the younger members of the community. Not only is this latter expression heard among those who have not had the opportunity of learning, but is noticeable even in the speech of those who have had the benefits of a super-primary education. It is not that the correct form is not known, but just that careless or wanton habit of mutilation of everyday words, frequently from an idea of being smart. | Northern Star (Lismore), 8/6/1929, p. 14 | "Unless a determined effort be made to overcome this modern tendency to contract and mutilate, the criticisms of the Australian use of the Mother tongue will have a great deal more justification than has been heretofore bestowed upon such as our nasal vowels, etc." |
| this arvo | 1932 | Films and Their Influence. By "HYGIEA." "GEE, it was a beaut picsher—six blokes shot, and you could see falr-dinkum blood on some of 'em," said one of the small boys excitedly. "Oh, yeah," said the other, superciliously. "Well, I bet it wasn't half as good as the fillum that I saw this arvo. There was a bloke in it strangled with wire after he'd shot a man, and was just going to burn down his house with the woman and kids in it." "Sez yuh!" said the smaller picture "fan," and departed for home at top speed to see whether he could get in two or three harmless shots with his air gun at Emily's doll before she got back from her party. | The Brisbane Courier, 10/9/1932, p. 18 | At least we were blaming the movies and not the teachers! |
| tommy | 1858 | He wore an enormous bushy black heard, and apparently the article known as soap was contraband in the cave. Like the anchorite of old, the inhabitant of the cave had rushes (or green leaves) fresh strewed for his siesta. His wardrobe was upon his person, but there were articles of food in a nook of the cave, comprising half a ham, plenty of tommy, tea, sugar, and tobacco. Mackenzie interrogated the man in the cave as to his reasons for taking up his abode in such a place, when he pulled forth from his nest a parchment document, which he said contained his title to the estate, and proved him to be "monarch of all he surveyed." The document proved to be a Miner's Right. The man gave his name J. J. Cowan, and said that he had lived in that cave during the last six months. Considering that Cowan must have lost a shingle, Mackenzie arrested him, and took the liberty of searching his person and his cave | Bell’s Life in Sydney and Sporting Reviewer, 28/8/1858, p. 3 | I am at a loss to explain this term, but conjecture that it may be flour—by a process of elimination from usual ration lists. It seems not to be listed in any dictionaries of the vernacular. |
| track | 1817 | The gang of bush-rangers appeared in the vicinity of Black Brush on Saturday, and were tracked on the following morning by Serjt, McCARTHY, of the 46th, with his party. On Monday the bushrangers were at a house at Tea-tree Brush, where they had dined; and about 3 o'clock in the afternoon Serjt. McCarthy with his party came up. The bush-rangers ran out of the house into the woods, and being eleven in number and well covered by timber and ground, the eight soldiers could not close with them. After a good deal of firing, Greary, the leader, was wounded, and fell; two others were also wounded. The knapsacks of the whole, and their dogs, were taken. Geary died the same night, and his corpse was brought into town on Tuesday, as were the two wounded men. The remaining eight bushrangers were seen in the neighbourhood of the Coal River on Wednesday; but, as they must be destitute of provisions and ammunition, sanguine hopes may be entertained of their speedy fall. | The Hobart Town Gazette and Southern Reporter, 12/7/1817, p. 1 | The earliest use of "track" as a verb? |
| track | 1817 | The Bush-rangers committed a robbery at Clarence Plains on Sunday evening last; after which they became so excessively intoxicated by spirits (a part of their plunder), as to quarrel amongst themselves. Rollands, who was taken and brought in by Mr. Maum and other settlers on Monday morning, had been dreadfully beaten and bruised by his companions. White was brought in on the following morning, and Johnson on Thursday evening—both taken by the party of the 46th regt. under Lance Serjt. M'CARTHY, who, with Black Mary and another Native Girl, pursued and tracked them. | The Hobart Town Gazette and Southern Reporter, 16/8/1817, p. 2 | The same Sergeant M'Carthy! |
| track | 1825 | One man was so fortunate as to untie himself and he liberated the others; the overseer immediately reported it to Mr. Macleod, his neighbour, who assembled two free men in his employ, and the natives, accompanied by Mr. M'Intire, traced the runaways, found the horses on the summit of one of the highest hills; they then continued to track them, until the dusk of the evening put an end to their pursuit. | The Australian (Sydney), 21/7/1825, p. 2 | Bushrangers at the Coal River. |
| tray (threepence) | 1912 | Before he has been here long he will meet someone who will tell him the locality of a "rye-buck hash joint," where he can get a "fair dinkum Deacon Skinner" for the modest sum of a "tray and a zack." | Sunday Times (Perth), 10/3/1912, p. 9 | A discussion on slang for new arrivals. |
| trike | 1898 | But as a model of the way in which the public will cling to a slang term, and cuddle it, as it were, to their bosoms, commend me to the objection able word "bike," or the still more dreadful "trike." "Jigger" is another very popular term-in fact, most people seem to devote a tremendous amount of time and energy to avoid by any chance using the word "bicycle." | The Broadford Courier and Reedy Creek Times, 25/2/1898, p. 5 | An article denouncing new slang as debasing the philological currency of the English tongue. |
| true blue | 1826 | Let the real friends of the Colony come forward and unite in petitioning His Majesty for a Legislative Assembly. They will then shew, by their choice of representatives, how much they have been wronged by the presumption of those two men, who falsely arrogated to themselves the voice of the Colony in insulting our Ruler; and that Mr. Kemp may be always "cheated" in his patriotic schemes is the sincere prayer of, Sir, Your most obedient servant, A True Blue. | Hobart Town Gazette, 11/2/1826, p. 4 | Letter to the editor. |
| true blue | 1826 | If you want public spirit in Sydney, you must pass by all those who call themselves citizens of the first rank; amongst the second class only will you find some of the old English true-blue. | The Monitor, 29/12/1826, p. 5 | News from the Hobart papers. |
| true blue | 1826 | Arthur denied the accusation of theft, and Ann M'Cann was then called and sworn. Ann deposed, that she is the loving wife of John M'Cann, of Pitt-town district, shoemaker, who keeps journey men and holds land, that the prisoner worked for her husband, a short time ago, that he had but one shirt, and that was very old and dirty, or you may guess gentlemen , that in a moment of pity, she was induced to go to her husband's box, and give to the said Arthur a shirt a new dungaree shirt, true blue! that he had not returned the same but had absconded from home, and took it upon his person, leaving the old one in its place | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 23/8/1826, p. 3 | Court report. |
| true blue | 1827 | Wearing the Breeches. It is no new thing for ladies to assume the breeches when they would escape from servitude and throw off its yoke: moreover it is oftentimes a very successful plan. Now Margaret Donnally, not liking a far-away up-country life, determined to try this plan ; Achilles' petticoats thought she, are upon record, why not Margaret Donnally's inexpressibles. Accordingly have arrayed herself in true blue, with white cravat and beaver castor, she set out for Sydney. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 27/3/1827, p. 3 | Police Report. She got six months in the female factory for her pains. |
| true blue | 1827 | 'True Blue will never stain."-Coventry had formerly the reputation for dyeing blues; insomuch that true blue came to be a proverb, to signify one who was always the same, and like himself.-Ray's Proverbs, 1737. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 12/10/1827, p. 4 | Filler item, revealing origins well before 1788. |
| tucker | 1852 | Next morning at six o'clock I and my brother George, who had arrived a day or two before started for Mount Alexander, and as tools, &c., were said to be procurable at a cheaper rate on the diggings from parties leaving, than in town, we resolved only to take only the most necessary "swag and tucker," as the colonists, in their semiconvict slang, denominate luggage and food. We took two suits of very rough clothing, (including blue woollen shirts instead of coats), a tinned quart pot and frying pan, and sufficient tea and sugar, and bread and meat for the journey. | Adelaide Morning Chronicle, 5/7/2852, p. 3 | A letter written at Hindmarsh by T. Stacy, dated June 30, 1852: a lively account of the way to the diggings. The "tinned quart pot" is probably a billy. |
| tucker bag | 1871 | I was drunk, and can't say whether you persuaded us to go home quietly. It is very likely you helped my mates to get me over the wire fence, but I don't remember it. I can't say whether I began to fight. I can't say whether I offered that same night to fight your second son for £5. I did not want to fight you last night, nor did I ask you to fight. When I came up to your house you were sitting on a box talking to Jim Guerin. I believe I came up by the west side of the house, but I did not make a dreadful noise whilst doing so. I had a big coat and my tucker-bag under my arm at the time, and was going home. | South Australian Register, 23/12/1871, p. 3 | Evidence given by Martin MacMahon, giving evidence in the inquest into the shooting of John Guerin. |
| tucker bag | 1876 | The prisoner pleaded "not guilty" to each charge, but on being asked if he would be tried by the magistrate or a jury, elected to be tried by the former. In defence he stated that he bought the shirts in Paddy's Market, Melbourne; in Romsey he bought the blanket from a man in the street; with regard to the napkins, he said his mate and himself bought the stuff and made them, to use as "tucker" bags For each offence the prisoner was sentenced to three months' imprisonment, with hard labor, in the Melbourne Gaol. | Kilmore Free Press, 13/7/1876, p. 3 | John Mitchell, charges with petty larceny. The goods were found in his swag. |
| tucker box | 1867 | Mr. Chewter at this moment returned with an assertion that it was "cold enough to freeze the tail off a beaver," and brought in with him the 'tucker box'—a sort of portable pantry, which was hoisted by means of a rope and pulley to one of the gable poles of the hut, out of the reach of all four-footed thieves if not safe from the 'pickings and stealings' of felonious-minded bipeds. | Illustrated Sydney News, 16/2/1867, p. 11 | Serial by Frederick Sydney Wilson, born Dubbo, 1830, so the beaver reference does not rule out an Australian origin. Note the quotation marks. |
| tucker box | 1875 | John Quinn deposed: I am a splitter residing at Southport Narrows. The prisoner is my step brother. His name is Geore [sic]Hazelwood; he is nine years and six months old. He lives with me. I left my hut on Wednesday, the third of this month, and went to Southport, leaving Hazelwood there. I left in the afternoon. The gun produced is my property. I left it loaded, standing in the hut near the bed and the tucker box; it was loaded with shot. To my knowledge, George Hazelwood never fired the gun off at any time. | The Mercury (Hobart), 31/3/1875, p. 3 | At the end of the hearing, George Hazelwood was committed for trial on a charge of murder. |
| turps, on the | 1962 | ON THE TURPS "ON your holidays are you? I suppose you're getting some painting done," said Mr. Simpson at the corner shop. It was true I was on holidays and I was getting some painting done. Yet his remark irritated me a little. People today take it for granted that man should spend his holidays painting. If he doesn't, they think him lazy and lacking in character. | The Australian Women's Weekly, 31/10/1962, p. 2 | Ross Campbell's Column: clearly the double meaning is intended to be understood. |
| two bob watch | 1936 | THE first car on handicap had already left the line when he shrugged himself into his overalls. Williams, his head mechanic from the works, looked at him reproachfully from beneath the bonnet. "Had a smash," Manning explained briefly. Williams noted the colour of his face, and his trembling hands. "Better pull out sir. You can't drive like that." Manning shook his head. Williams, noting the signs, held his tongue. Manning throttled her down and listened. "Like a two bob watch, sir." Manning nodded. He picked his casque from the seat and fumbled at the chin-straps with shaking fingers. He looked towards the crowded stands. Mardi, he supposed, was up there waiting to see him win. Or to see him crash! In his present state the latter was far more likely. He looked at his watch. Two minutes to go. | The Queenslander, 19/11/1936, p. 10 | This does not sound quite like the established meaning of the phrase. |
| two up | 1855 | POLICE OFFICE, Saturday.-Before Mr. J. L. Scarvell and S. Tuckerman, Justices of the Peace, Charles Eather, jun., appeared upon summons to answer the charge of the Chief Constable, for that he, being a person duly licensed to sell fermented and spirituous liquors did, on the 18th day of October last, suffer a person resorting to his premises to use a certain "unlawful game," called or known as "two up, heads and tails," within the said premises, contrary to the act, &c. | The Sydney Morning Herald, 6/11/1855, p. 2 | There was an interesting legal argument about what was an unlawful game, but Eather lost. |
| two up | 1870 | The whole day the town was annoyed and disgraced by a large ring of roughs playing two up and other gambling games. Their quarrels, imprecations, and lewd jests, literally yelled out, rendered their conduct truly disgraceful and unmanly, as the immediate neighbourhood of their villanous and unhallowed school contains many respectable women and a large number of children. When night set in blackguardism was in the very zenith of its glory; and the place a perfect Pandemonium. Several sham fights, blustering and bloodless fights of impious and filthy recriminations took place, for the purpose of getting a crowd together. Several of the unwary tempted to behold the low sport, had their pockets picked, one respectable, well-known resident being relieved of his watch, another of his purse containing £3. | The Sydney Morning Herald, 14/7/1870, p. 5 | How the mob ruined Gulgong's Sabbath. |
| up the country | 1806 | The light loamy soil, when first turned up with the plough and planted with the canes, if heavy seasons followed, such as they have generally for inland, or up the country, produced a good crop of canes. But by repeated ploughing, the land being turned up and exposed to the heat of the sun, it became pulverised and exhausted, and required large quantities of manure, and often planting. If dry weather followed, there would be a total loss and I have since observed on the land all the red dust soil, after manure, the canes have been mostly eaten up with worms, and rendered unfit for sugar; and the land become barren by repeated ploughing, and by being exposed to the intense heat of the sun in the sultry climate. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 10/8/1806, p. 2 | Advice from Jamaica on planting sugar cane. There had been cane in the Sydney since the arrival of the First Fleet, but it failed repeatedly, because it was too far south. |
| up the country | 1808 | Strayed on Wednesday se'nnight from Sydney a dark bay Mare, with stars in her forehead Whoever has found the same will receive a reward of One Pound; if found near to Sydney, the finder is requested to leave her at John Connell's Chapel Row, if up the country, at Mr Fitzgerald's, Hawkesbury, and the above reward will be paid by either of the parties. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 31/7/1808, p. 2 | Advertisement. |
| up the country | 1811 | His Excellency the Governor, in his late visits up the country, has been pleased to lay down plans of improvement for the Townships of Parramatta and Windsor, in each of which alterations are suggested that must be highly gratifying in their completion to the inhabitants of both places. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 25/5/1811, p. 2 | This was Governor Macquarie. |
| verandah | 1802 | Adjutant Minchin said that the Naval Officer must have misunderstood him respecting Colonel Paterson's having given the information respecting Mr. St. Grig, but that he said it was some time ago talked of in the Colonel's viranda among some officers of the Corps in the presence of Colonel Paterson... | Philip Gidley King, letter to Lieutenant-Colonel Paterson, Sydney. Historical Records of Australia, Series 1, volume 3., 4/10/1802, p. 658 | The letter arose from a dispute concerning visiting French officers having sold spirits. |
| verandah | 1815 | TO be LET, a new, neat, and pleasant HOUSE, containing three handsome Rooms, with detached Kitchen, charmingly situate on the ascent to which Surry lane forms an easy and commodious avenue from George-street. It has a handsome Verandah, commands a fine view of the Harbour, with a picturesque diversity of landscape terminating only with the remote and far receding shadowings of extended scenery.— Should any Gentleman or small respectable Family wish to occupy it as a temporary Residence, it shall be neatly furnished for their accommodation, and made ready for their reception in a few days. A line or message to 96, George street, will find immediate attention. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 4/2/1815, p. 4 | Advertisement. |
| verandah | 1817 | FOR PRIVATE SALE, a valuable ESTATE, distant six miles from Sydney, containing about 500 acres, upwards of one mile in front of the Road; the improvements are a well-built, neat, convenient Dwelling-House, having four apartments fitted up, closets, wardrobe, stoves, &c. passage, hall, large kitchen, with useful requisites, and two apartments on the upper floor, with paved verandah 60 feet in front; also, an extensive substantial barn, servants rooms, coach-house, stables, dairy, cattle and poultry yards, &c. a garden of about 14 acres is laid out in front of the dwelling, containing a number of choice fruit trees, inclosed with substantial fence, as is also 140 acres contiguous, with an abundant supply of good water.-A liberal credit will be given to a purchaser.-Apply to the proprietor, Mr. LAURIE, 12, O'Connell-street. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 8/3/1817, p. 4 | Advertisement. |
| verandah | 1817 | BY MR. BEVAN, On the Premises, on Monday the 8th of September next, at Eleven o'Clock, THAT truly desirable but unfinished Brick-built DWELLING-HOUSE, with Verandah in front, supported by 8 beautiful Stone Columns, together with all the wrought Stone for Stair-case, Stabling, Kitchen, &c. eligibly situate in Charlotte-square, adjoining Sir JOHN JAMIESON's, well adapted for the Residence of a Merchant or genteel Family. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 23/8/1817, p. 2 | Advertisement. |
| waddy | 1803 | An elderly man made Euranabie a present of a waddie, or club, which I supposed was done to shew a particular regard. To my surprise he soon came up to me with evident marks of fear depicted on his countenance. On being asked the cause of his alarm, he solicited permission to go on board rthe vessel, as these natives would kill and patter, that is, eat him. I confess I rather doubted this assertion... | The Narrative of a Voyage of Discovery Performed in His Majesty's Vessel The Lady Nelson., James Grant, p. 108-9 | London: C. Roworth |
| waddy | 1804 | On Sunday morning last a number assembled at Farm Cove for the purpose of inflicting punishment on the heroic Wilhamannan; who after avoiding an immense number of spears, received one at length in the hand, through his shield ; the wound brought on a stubborn conflict which for nearly an hour was general ; during which time the white spectators were justly astonished at the dexterity and incredible force with which a bent, edged waddy resembling slightly a turkish scymetar, was thrown by Bungary, a native distinguished by his remarkable courtesy. The weapon, thrown at 20 or 30 yards distance, twirled round in the air with astonishing velocity, and alighting on the right arm of one of his opponents, actually rebounded to a distance not less than 70 or 80 yards, leaving a horrible contusion behind, and exciting universal admiration | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 23/12/1804, p. 2 | A case of what was called "native warfare". |
| waddy | 1826 | To the chief was exhibited the carbines and sabres of the troop, who also performed their rapid, and to the simple warrior of the South, most astonishing evolutions. Great pains were taken to explain to him the irresistible power of the military, if once their hostility were put in force against his subjects, armed only with spears and waddies. Fortunately, a very good interpreter caused the whole of Captain Bishop's explanations, threats, admonitions, and overtures of good-will in case of peace, to be clearly comprehended by the sable King of the snowy mountains, and as far as his astonished and petrified countenance coupled with fervent protestations of sincere repentance for the breach made by his three cannibal subjects, could give tokens of sincerity and deep conviction of his own imbecility as a belligerent monarch, so far Captain Bishop was perfectly satisfied with the royal penitence and good faith. | The Monitor, 9/6/1826, p. 4 | An expedition to deal with the murder of a Mr. Taylor, somewhere near Lake Bathurst or Lake George. |
| waddy | 1841 | Skins, and sometimes blankets, serve for their covering at night; but in want of these they keep themselves warm, if necessary, by lying close together. Spears, shields, nets, water-utensils, and bags called dilly, arr generally stuck or hung up on branches of trees around the hut, or like the waddies and womerahs, deposited in it; but their most formidable, weapon-a stone knife or blade of steel carried about in the girdle, or in a small dilly under the arm—is scarcely ever laid aside. | Sydney Morning Herald, 5/5/1841, p. 2 | Report of the German Mission to the Aborigines. Possibly from Queensland? |
| Waler | 1859 | In pages 48 and 49 the author states that the Committee "recommended government to indent upon New South Wales for remounts for the horse artillery and forwarded with this report was a mass of correspondence from commanding officers of mounted regiments containing opinions, most of them in praise of the Waler for remount purposes, and many of them declaring their preference for Colonial to Stud bred cattle." Now what better proof of the capabilities of the New South Wales horse could he wished for, than the opinions of the commanding officers of cavalry regiments? They surely must be the best judges as to the fitness or otherwise of the Waler for cavalry purposes. | Bell’s Life in Sydney and Sporting Reviewer, 23/7/1959, p. 4 | The Waler was a stock horse, essentially. |
| walkabout | 1859 | It has become a notorious fact that at this season of the year this part of the country is annually visited by a large number of men, seeking, or pretending to be seeking, for employment ... Very few of these men have any money, and many of them in England would be classed amongst the paupers. The settlers, who cannot very well refuse food to starving men, find rationing them to be a very severe tax, as very often the flour, &c., supplied weekly to these pedestrians is of larger amount than that consumed by the persons belonging to the station. Some settlers, driven to desperation, have at last only granted the walkabouts the use of a hut, with liberty to purchase their own rations; others, upon the principle of giving the men enough to prevent them from starving, yet not sufficient to encourage them in leading a lazy, wandering life, grant them a pound of flour each... | The Sydney Morning Herald, 29/3/1859, p. 3 | Note that the people referred to here are not Aborigines, |
| walkabout | 1862 | Eighteen months back, a man of the name of Belmartin, lost his son. It was thought he had absconded, and no tale or tidings heard of him since; but from strict enquiries it turns out that the "very blacks" have turned informers, and it appears by their statement that one "walk-about Jacky" and two others met the boy as he was going home late in the evening, killed and then threw him into a waterhole. | The Sydney Morning Herald, 5/2/1862, p. 3 | Bews story formt the Burnett (Qld) |
| walkabout | 1863 | House Robbery.-This day a man named Barny Mcwilliams, alias Walk-about Barny, was apprehended by our indefatigable senior sergeant of police, Mr. Sheridan, charged with robbery in a dwelling-house at the Bald Ridge, near Scone. This man is a notorious offender. There is not a hut on the Upper Hunter that is not known to him, and long has he evaded the vigilance of the police. In his swag-a heavy one-was a great lot of clothing, new and old, for which, no doubt, owners will be found. It appears by some means Mr. Sheridan's little boy heard the police were on the look-out for for Barny, and the lad while in the bush happened to fall in with him, and at once, from the description he had heard the police give, followed Barny stealthily to a hut on Campbell's Creek ; and as soon, as he saw him sling his tin pot, made away home and told his father, who at once proceeded to the spot and apprehended the man. | The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser, 15/12/1863, p. 3 | Story is from Murrurundi. |
| walkabout | 1864 | Having proceeded to the camp, they attempted to seize the blackfellow they wanted, when another came behind him and fetched him a blow on the back of the head with a nullah-nullah, which drove in the skull and immediately rendered him unconscious. Hill was promptly conveyed to the station, and Dr. Ward sent for, who advised the removal of his patient to the Hospital, where, when received, he was quite insensible ; but happily has since recovered sufficiently to make a deposition of the occurrence, upon which the police magistrate issued a warrant for the capture of a blackfellow called "Walk-about Billy." Hill, we learn, is now recovering, but slowly, and though not altogether out of danger, there are strong hopes of his being eventually restored to soundness. Since writing the above, we learn that "Walk-about Billy" walks at large no longer. A mounted constable (O'Brien) with some difficulty tracked him across the country to Donngal. where he was captured, and brought thence to the lock-up. | The Sydney Morning Herald, 3/11/1864, p. 5 | Story from the Maryborough Chronicle |
| wallaby | 1827 | KING'S ISLAND.—This island, of which Mr Barnard has completed a laborious and interesting survey, is about 30 miles long from north to south, and 12 to 15 from east to west . . . Gum trees prevail, besides which, the black and light woods, the celery leafed pine, and the sassafras abound in perfection. There is a shrub which the sealers use in the place of tea, and which affords an acrid stimulating drink, and also a viscous strong smelling plant which they smoke as tobacco. Kangaroos are not very numerous, but the small species called wallaby, on the western coast, are almost like rabbits in a warren. Mr. Barnard makes no mention of the small while [white?] wombat which affords such delicate eating, and we fear the dogs left on the Island by the sealers have nearly destroyed the species. | Hobart Town Gazette, 31/3/1827, p. 2 | An early account of King Island. |
| wallaby stew | 1859 | The flesh of the larger kangaroo, as well as that of the wallaby, a smaller animal, averaging about 12 or 14 lbs., is often hashed, and with a little seasoning and skill in preparation, it is excellent. The wallaby is commonly stewed for soup. The best part of the kangaroo is its tail. Talk of ox-tail soup, ye metropolitan gourmands! Commend us to the superb kangaroo-tail soup of Australia, made from the tail, weighing some 10 or 12 lbs., if a full-grown forester. | The Curiosities of Food, or the Dainties and Delicacies of Different Nations, Obtained from the Animal Kingdom, Peter Lund Simmonds, F. R. G. S., F. S. S., p. 58-9 | London: Richard Bentley |
| wallaby stew | 1888 | We were told there were no provisions at the Pieman, and sure enough the supply was limited, but what there was Mrs. Foster, of the hotel, willing shared, with us. She informed us it cost her 4d, per lb. to pack what provisions they had from Waratah. Fortunately, they had caught a wallaby that morning, so we had a wallaby stew for tea, (which was a treat, as, like the rest of the men working on the road at Mount Zeehan we had not tasted meat for three weeks, Nothing but Johnny cake and butter, although there is plenty at Macquarie Harbour. | The Mercury (Hobart), 23/7/1888, p. 3 | A walk from Trial Harbour to Waratah on the west coast of Tasmania, including an entrancing bog scene. |
| wallaby stew | 1892 | Mr. George Ireland once had a cook who could knock spots off any cook in the district, be he French, Chinese, Russian, Aboriginal, or Turk. This individual could make brownie, spotted-dog, doughboys, beggar-on-the-coals, or pumpkin-fritters with any man on earth. When cooking the latter, he would (whilst whistling a bar or two of the "Wild Colonial Boy," or " The Old Bullock dray"), toss them up the chimney and run round the house outside and catch them in a frying pan, instead of turning them over in the usual common place manner. His lobscouse, kangaroo-tail soup, and wallaby-stews were fit to grace the table of a Duke. But, alas, to the unspeakable woe of all the boarders, one morning he put a coil on his swag, and, letting his dog off the chain, took his departure at daylight, and left them for ever. | Windsor and Richmond Gazette, 12/3/1892, p. 10 | The story of a cook who, as cooks go, went (thankyou, 'Saki'!). (see concertina for what happened next). |
| wallaroo | 1845 | The varieties of kangaroos in New Holland are extremely numerous, those most frequently met with on the north-eastern part of the territory, are, the large forest-kangaroo (Macropus major) the wallibi, Halmaturus Ualabatus,) the pademella, or brush-kangaroo, (Halmaturus thetis,) the silver wallabi, (Halmaturus elegans,) the black wallaroo, and the kangaroo-rat. The red backed kangaroo, (Macropus laniger,) is occasionally seen on the open elevated table-land. The largest kangaroo I ever saw was killed close to my tents at Munga creek at the M'Leay River ; it weighed very nearly 250 pounds, and disabled one of the dogs which had attacked him. It is scarcely necessary to mention that the kangaroo only uses his fore-feet for grazing or digging. | The Sydney Morning Herald, 19/5/1845, p. 2 | Also includes a number of other macropods. |
| waratah | 1804 | A select partie made an excursion on Saturday morning last to Jerusalem, which lies about six or seven miles from Parramatta, towards the Northern Rocks. Several hours were occupied in contemplating the natural beauties of the variegated scene, surrounded by the stately forest which protects it from the scorching summer sun. In the centre of its valley, encompassed by stupendous rocks, "a murmuring stream" delectable to the taste meanders to the untaught notes of nature's feather'd care, that charm the ear with wild irregularity. Here caverns open to the uncloath'd tribe, whose far recess forbids the approach of rude and chilling winds. The warretaw there lifts its crimson head to decorate the bough, and to enrich the romantic seite with its spontaneous beauties. Meditation here might find a blest retreat, where every object would present a theme of adoration to its great Creator. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 16/9/1804, p. 2 | The governor an party went on an excursion. |
| waratah | 1831 | And beauteous things around are spread; The burwan, with its graceful bend And cone of nuts, and o'er my head The flowering vines their fragrance lend. The grass-tree, too, is waving there, The fern-tree sweeping o'er the stream, The fan-palm, curious as rare. And warretaws with crimson beam. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 16/7/1831, p. 4 | Poem, 'The Gin', by "Hugo". Telopea speciosissima. |
| washing (for gold) | 1849 | . . .the great 'placer' of the Sacramento valley, where the digging and washing of one man that does not produce 100 troy ounces of gold, from the size of a half spangle to one pound in a month, set the digger to 'prospecting,' that is looking for better grounds. | Colonial Times (Hobart), 12/6/1849, p. 2 | News story: 'The Californian Gold Finders'. |
| welsher | 1861 | On the 22nd of June last I was at Ascot, where I met the defendant with some of his friends. The defendant asked me for £20, saying, 'Pay up you ———— Welsher,' which means a thief in the betting ring. The mob at once set upon me, knocked me down; and kicked me. The defendant then caught hold of me by the throat, my hat was knocked off, my coat torn to pieces, and my face covered with blood. The defendant struck me several times, and the crowd put me over the railings into the race-course. I was guarded down to a tent by soldiers, and policemen, followed by the defendant and a fighting man-a black man. I have since ascertained that he is called 'Plantagenet Green.' | The Empire, 20/4/1861, p. 3 | The fact that the term was explained suggests it was fairly new. The court case was heard at York in the north of England. |
| white ants | 1804 | On Thursday a quantity of Twine and Canvas, which was totally destroyed by the White Ants, and condemned by Survey, was burnt in front of his Majesty's Stores. | The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 8/1/1804, p. 2 | News report |
| wide awake hat | 1846 | Jackets, superfine blue cloth Ditto pilot ditto Ditto drab moleskin Ditto millers' ditto Ditto white ditto Ditto cord Ditto jean Ditto drill and duck Stockmen's boots Cabbage-tree hats Duck frocks Guernsey frocks Yarn ditto Lambswool vests and drawers Worsted ditto Merino ditto and drawers Royal ribbed ditto Flannel ditto and drawers Jim Crow and wide-awake hats Scotch and Kilmarnock caps Scarlet caps and comforters Macintosh and boat cloaks Drab, doe, and buckskin gloves | The Sydney Morning Herald, 30/3/1846, p. 3 | David Jones' advertisement. Note that US websites will claim that this style of hat (felt, broad-brimmed) took its name from the "Wide Awakes", a security guard which protected Abraham Lincoln: it seems they took the name from the hat instead. The term was also known in Britain in the 1840s. |
| widgie | 1950 | EVER heard of "the bodgie" and "the weegie"? They are the names of the two new hair-do's that are catching on at South Coast beaches this season. The bodgie is for boys; the weegie for girls. The bodgie is better known as the American 'crew cut' or 'college cut,' and is particularly popular with surfers. The hair is close-cropped all over — with scissors, not clippers — but it doesn't look as though the wearer has just come out of a shearing shed. For the weegie cut, the hair is cut almost as short as a man's but is complete with side-burns, and like the bodgie, is combed back to meet at the back of the head. | The Courier-Mail, 6/10/1950, p. 8 | Note that this is Brisbane's south coast. |
| willy-willy | 1875 | ROEBOURNE. After a long and continuous run of dry weather, which I can assure you made everything look brown and blue enough, the spell was broken by a splendid and steady rain, which lasted for 21 hours. Of course the change made every one on the qui vive for a Willy-willy, and many were the sage conjectures and opinions passed relative to when, how, and from, where their old and dread enemy of former years would attack them; however, the atmosphere happened on the present occasion to be in a more amiable mood, and hence we enjoyed one of the calmest and finest rainfalls I have ever witnessed during my sojourn in the North-west. The grass is now growing faster than the stock can eat it; .there is almost a danger of it outgrowing the stock altogether, and giving the stockman no small task in discovering the whereabouts of the animals he may be in quest of. | The Inquirer & Commercial News (Perth), 24/3/1875, p. 3 | Possibly the earliest in print? |
| willy-willy | 1881 | Since I last wrote the north west coast has been visited by a fearful storm, which has caused much destruction of property Mr John Brockman a gentleman engaged in pearling pursuits lately sent a graphic account of the disaster to the West Australian and from his description it would appear that a worse willy willy, as these north west tornadoes are locally called, has never been known, even in a region where they are very frequent and very severe. Mr Brockman says that he, with some 12 other pearling vessels, was operating on the Mary Ann patch, near North west Cape, when indications of a storm coming on, he deemed it advisable to take refuge in the mangrove creeks. He lay-to in a position which he considered one of absolute safety, the other boats being all close at hand. This was in the morning, and by midday the wind had risen to a fearful hurricane, and a blackness had settled down upon them so dense that they could only see a few yards ahead. | The Argus, 29/3/1881, p. 6 | Note that the meaning given here is 'tornado' (what we would now call a cyclone). |
| willy-willy | 1881 | The schooner Pet has just arrived at Fremantle from the North-West, and brings news of a very serious character. Our north-west coast is unfortunately subject to occasional very severe hurricanes, called locally willy-willies. Some years ago the buildings at the Government head-quarters, Roebourne, were completely destroyed by one of these whirlwinds, but for some time past no great damage to property has been done. These willy-willies always give notice of their approach, and the vessels of the pearling fleet hastily seek shelter. It appears that during the first week in January last the Nautilus, Adela, Sarah, Fortescue, Banangara, Alpha, Morning Star, Florence, Ethel, Emma, Kate, and Yule, all pearling vessels, were at work on the "Mary Anne Patch," a pearling ground about thirty miles west of the Fortescue River. On the 6th of the month the glass began to fall, and the weather, assumed a threatening aspect ... | The South Australian Advertiser, 23/2/1881, p. 5 | This story is worth reading in full. |
| willy-willy | 1884 | About January or February the noted Willie-Willie shows itself, and it is then the settlers must be on the qui vive for its advent. Willie-Willie, is a name used to indicate an exceedingly heavy downpour of rain. It continues for three whole days without the slightest sign of abatement During that period the atmosphere becomes quite cold and the wind blows a gale. All are compelled to take to the high lands while it lasts. After receiving such a drenching, the earth, which under the scorching rays of a tropical sun had become parched and fissured, is transformed into a vast morass. It would be worse than useless to attempt crossing it with our teams and pack horses, and so we must wait till our old friend Sol comes to our assistance by hardening the ground with his welcome beams. | The Inquirer & Commercial News, 6/8/1884, p. 4 | This does not appear to be the later accepted sense of the term. |
| willy-willy | 1885 | The weather on Friday last was intensely and unbearably hot, while the glass showed a downward tendency. A 'cock eye bob,' or better known as a 'willy willy,' is looked for at any time from now to March, and the low glass of Friday last led many to think that the elements were working up on the North-west coast. | The Inquirer & Commercial News, 16/12/1885, p. 5 | This equates willy-willy and cock-eye bob, previously distinguished from each other. |
| willy-willy | 1888 | From the Southern Cross good news is to hand. Messrs. Saw, Courthope and Mason have discovered a reef about four miles from the present workings, which shows gold freely, and crushes good results. At present we are well supplied with water at the Government tanks, but it will take more than one respectable day's rain to settle the water difficulty; in fact a disreputable old "Willy-Willy" or two, with-several "Cock-eyed-Bobs" every now and again would not settle it. At present there is not a great amount of stone at grass, for a crushing plant to work on, but, by the time one was erected here, I am of opinion that it would be kept going for some time and with a payable result. | The West Australian, 9/10/1888, p. 3 | Clearly, this writer saw the cock-eyed bob and a willy-willy as different. |
| willy-willy | 1894 | West Australia. PERTH, Wednesday. The population of the colony at the end of the year was 65,064, showing a net increase on the previous quarter of 2836. Another "willy willy," or whirlwind, has visited the Roeburne and Cossack districts, doing great damage to buildings and property on runs. Several boats were washed away at Cossack, and several colored men are reported missing. | Barrier Miner, 17/1/1894, p. 3 | Interesting human values. |
| willy-willy | 1908 | No occupants of premises facing the north dared to keep their doors open. No tornado, Nor'-West "cockeyed bob," southerly-buster, or goldfields willy-willy has ever blown with more force than did this storm. Unlike the previous gale, which concentrated its fury rather upon the western end of Kalgoorlie, this storm took in the whole municipality, as much damage being done by it in the east end of the town as in the west. It raged with a fierceness that drove everyone in the streets at the time to seek the nearest shelter, yet it had spent its force locally in less then a quarter of an hour. After the lapse of that time the sun shone out upon a scene of widespread damage. | The West Australian, 26/2/1908, p. 7 | These three terms (willy-willy, cock-eye bob and southerly buster) are seen hers as almost-synonyms. |
| wombat | 1808 | A male wombat was brought from the islands in Basse's Straits, by Mr Brown, the naturalist attached to Captain Flinders's voyage of discovery. It was entrusted to may care, and lived in a domesticated state for two years, which gave me opportunities of attending to its habits...The koala is another species of the wombat, which partakes of its peculiarities. The following account of it was sent to me some years ago by Lieut. Colonel Paterson, Lieutenant-Governor of new South Wales. The natives call it the koala wombat... | An Account of some Peculiarities in the anatomical structure of the Wombat, with Observations on the female Organs of Generation. Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London, Volume 98, Everard Home, p. 304 | London: Royal Society |
| wombat | 1826 | In going across from Rocky Bay, two natives accompanied the party, a man and his wife; the farmer, without murmur, carried their bedding and provisions, a much heavier load than any of themselves could have borne; his wife walked first, pointing out the best path, they had left their companions to join the party, having with them two dogs, by means of' which, they procured plenty of meat for the whole. These men are excellent hunters, being always in at the death as soon as the dogs, which they constantly cheer by imitating the voice of the kangaroo or wombat. | Hobart Town Gazette, 28/10/1824, p. 4 | This is "at the Coal Cliff" in Cape South Bay. |
| Woolloomooloo | 1829 | In the valley beneath on the other side is a large verandah cottage with dormer windows, and a row of Norfolk Island pines, each exactly tapering as if cut to resemble a pyramid and in front, is the little bay, called by the blacks Woolamoola. The aboriginal language is certainly beautiful and highly expressive, much, more so, we conceive, than an European tongue. Where did they get it? Gogaga is their name of the bird we call the Laughing Jackass, and Gogaga repeated quick is part of the chuckling notes, which distinguish that ludicrous forester. Here we have several public buildings close at hand. The Prisoners' Barracks, called by courtesy Hyde-Park Barracks, a neat brick building, in which are lodged and fed five and six hundred men, and in Macquarie's time double that number. | The Sydney Monitor, 9/3/1829, p. 2 | Some poetic licence is needed to spot this. |
| woomera | 1841 | Skins, and sometimes blankets, serve for their covering at night; but in want of these they keep themselves warm, if necessary, by lying close together. Spears, shields, nets, water-utensils, and bags called dilly, are generally stuck or hung up on branches of trees around the hut, or like the waddies and womerahs, deposited in it; but their most formidable, weapon-a stone knife or blade of steel carried about in the girdle, or in a small dilly under the arm—is scarcely ever laid aside. | Sydney Morning Herald, 5/5/1841, p. 2 | Report of the German Mission to the Aborigines. Possibly from Queensland? |
| wowser | 1903 | A wild and whirling wowser (we don't exactly know what a wowser is, but it seems a suitable word) writes to the SUNDAY TIMES from God-and-Government-forsaken Northampton, to use his own phrase... | Sunday Times, 2/8/1903, p. 10 | Article headed 'More About Moffitt'. |
| wowser | 1903 | THEY SAY That the proposed public protest against Chinese cheap labor for the Transvaal is a bit of canting claptrap. That Namby-pamby Hanson's latest bid for notoriety should about extinguish that lanky legislator. That the people of Perth would be more profitably employed in agitating against their own appallingly-apparent aliens. That the presence on the platform of bye-gone bellowers for Boer blood ought to accentuate the fatuous farce. That the wowsers who whooped for the wiping out of Kruger were the real champions of cheap Chows for Cohen and Co. | Sunday Times, 2/8/1903, p. 1 | From the 'They Say', gossip column. |
| wowser | 1903 | THEY SAY That Doctah Ass---tles has hautily resigned his billet on the hospital staff. That the misogynistic medico disdainfully declines to associate with a skirted saw-bones. That the wooden-headed old wowser is regarded as a martyr by other girl-hating Galens. | Sunday Times, 30/8/1903, p. 1 | From the 'They Say', gossip column. |
| wowser | 1906 | His eyes have a far-away look, as though searching for truth or a portfolio. He wears wowser whiskers, and the imagination boggles at the idea of that phizog being clean-shaven, like that other masher, Joey Bell. Religious and devout, he discloses the local preacher in every speech. When listening to him with closed eyes, one might imagine George was preaching from the pulpit of some little Bethel. He abhors the cursed drink, and has red whiskers and a bald head, which has got much balder of late. Likewise he has lost so much money in Parliament that he has bought a grazing farm. This will be the cause of George's downfall, being the first indication of his anxiety to become a boodler himself. If ever the Philp crowd get into power again, the best thing they can do is to present every Labor member with a selection of some sort, or an establishment. | The Western Champion and General Advertiser for the Central-Western Districts , 30/12/1906, p. 9 | The first use beyond W. A., showing where it originated. A profile of George Kerr, taken from an unspecified 'The Sun'. This is also the first use in the modern sense. |
| wurlie | 1839 | There are emus, and large green parrots, quail and pigeons, and a great variety of small beautiful birds. The natives are very few in number that have made their appearance at present; only two or three have come to the bay, but they were quite friendly, taking some biscuit in exchange for a penknife which one of them possessed. The natives had a wur-lie some little distance in the hills, and invited my sons to go with them; but they not being prepared, did not think proper to accept the invitation, and natives departed. | South Australian Register, 22/6/1839, p. 4 | Report of Thomas Allen on Port Lincoln Harbour. |
| wurlie | 1840 | It appeared from the evidence of lnspector Tolmer and some of the mounted police, that they had been in search of Gofton and others connected with the cattle affair, in the neighbourhood of the Little Para, for about nine days. On Monday morning last, some natives who were assisting the police, pointed out the tracks of a man which were supposed to be Gofton's, and other tracks which were recognized as Staggs; in following which, they came upon a kind of wurlie or hut, formed in the swamp scrub, in which they found the body of John Gofton, laying on his back, his arms extended, and quite dead—a fire scarcely extinguished had been close by. On examining the deceased, a gun-shot wound was discovered which, as was afterwards stated by Dr. Woodforde, traversed from the right ear through the head, and out on the top of the left side of the head, causing instantaneous death. | South Australian Register, 1/8/1840, p. 6 | The Murder of John Gofton. Gofton was a gaol escapee, and was found shot, with the general belief being that a man called Stagg had done the deed. |
| yabby | 1861 | Our rivers and lagoons teem with such fish as would invite the appetite of our greatest epicureans; but we import all compounds in the shape of preserved ling, oysters, lobsters (?), &c., which bear no comparison with our bream, cod, Murray lobsters, perch, yabbys, shrimps, &c.; and were we not strongly in favour of free trade we would advocate that potted fish in particular should be excluded from our markets. | Sydney Morning Herald, 12/3/1861, p. 3 | Report, 'The Prospects of Deniliquin', taken from the Pastoral Times of March |
| yabby | 1862 | My impression is, that the presence of eels in the coast rivers furnishes a proof that fresh-water turtles and crayfish are absent, for I am inclined to think that the latter destroy the former. The small crayfish are, by the blacks on the Murray, called "yabbies," and hunting for them is a favourite amusement with the gins, or females. The crayfish digs a hole in the soft clay, and they are obtained by thrusting the naked arm into the deep hole, sometimes to the shoulder. Crayfish are as bad as water-rats for destroying dams ; and gold diggers, if they attempt to keep them in their water-holes, will probably have reason to repent of trying to acclimatise such creatures. The platypus seems to feed much on crayfish. | The Argus, 11/6/1862, p. 3 | Note that like the first instance, this comes from the Murray River area. |
| yacker | 1875 | 'Well, I've known him about six weeks or so," said Joe; "he pegged out a bit of ground just below our claim in Redman's Gully. But, bless you, he couldn't work. His hands got blistered, and he hasn't much pluck you see. He kept on stopping away from his claim until at last it was jumped. We shepherded it for him as long as we could, but we couldn't keep anybody out when he'd fairly forfeited it I saw that he wasn't fit for hard "yackering," and told him he'd better try and get something to do in a store. But he got this fever on him, and he's low on it. | The Queenslander, 11/12/1875, p. 10 | From 'Jack Essingham', a novel set on the goldfields. |
| yacker | 1879 | No. 1 south on this line of reef has got on to a good body of stone at 100 feet coming in from Redmond's claim, and the shareholders believe the real Simon Pure has been cut at last, after three years of hard "yackering". | The Capricornian, 5/7/1879, p. 7 | Gold report from The Hodgkinson and Ports. |
| yacker | 1901 | The "rorter," too, will come, of course, beneath the iron heel, So "Splinter's" little lurk the "John's" will block,' While the welkin will reverberate a universal squeal When the game of "Murrumbidgee" takes the "knock." "Father Tim's" sad lamentations will reecho far and wide, And his "sweat-wheel" lying idly by will rust When that mug manipulator has to put aside his pride And by heavy, honest yacker score a crust. | West Australian Sunday Times, 16/6/1901, p. 5 | Poem 'Thou Shalt not Bet', by 'Dryblower'. |
| zack (sixpence) | 1912 | Before he has been here long he will meet someone who will tell him the locality of a "rye-buck hash joint," where he can get a "fair dinkum Deacon Skinner" for the modest sum of a "tray and a zack." | Sunday Times (Perth), 10/3/1912, p. 9 | A discussion on slang for new arrivals. |
| zeppelin | 1900 | . . . some of the few particulars as yet published concerning Count Zeppelin's great air-ship, now about complete in a workshop on the Lake of Constance. It is said that the first trials with the apparatus will take place very shortly indeed. Though little is positively known about the invention, wonderful things are told of it. The preparations are said to be quite complete, and the filling of the balloon has begun . . . The new air-ship is a self-propelling balloon of novel size and shape. It is to be lifted and supported by the air, its own efforts being confined to the production of only horizontal motion. The entire structure is said to be as large as a first-class man-of-war, its enormous framework is entirely of aluminium, and the whole looks like one huge balloon, which in fact it is, but with fifteen smaller balloons inside it, on the principle of the water-tight compartments of a ship. | The Sydney Morning Herald, 8/12/1900, p. 3 | The data are credited to Colonel Baden-Powell, then besieged at Kimberley, but the details of how he became a source are not given. |
Acknowledgements
Thanks to the lovely folk who conceived of Trove, and made these resources available to us all!Thanks, also, to whoever came up with the idea of the Google books ngrams (note that my link takes you to a "worked" example: you can change the parameters to control what is being searched for). The first fruits of my ngram searches are now starting to show up in a small way.
A note about the creation of this file: the HTML for the table is generated in a spreadsheet on each build. It was hard work getting it right so I decided to save others who might want to try this the effort. View the source of this page and look at the very end of the file to see the way in which data in a spreadsheet become HTML. The notes are written on the assumption that those reading it are code-capable: if you don't know how to view the page source, that material is probably not for you!
This file was once http://members.ozemail.com.au/~macinnis/writing/early-language.htm
It was created on February 13, 2012 and last revised August 19, 2020. The next update can be expected some time late in 2024, give or take a bit.
Target words still to be traced (a partial and fluctuating list: suggestions for additions welcome)
- galah (in any sense)
- hatter (old fossicker)
- paddy wagon
- scab (union context, not sheep)
- selector
- zac(k)
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