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Meanings and origins of Australian words and idioms

This section contains a selection of Australian words, their meanings, and their etymologies.

anu (Australian National University) - Australian English

Why are these Australian words interesting? What do they mean? Where did they originate? How are they used?
This section contains a selection of Australian words, their meanings, and their etymologies.
For the answers to these and other questions, simply click on the word of your choice.

acca | aerial ping-pong | Anzac | Australia | bandicoot | barrack for | battler | bilby | billabong | billycart | bludger | bluey | bodgie | bogan | bogey | bonzer | boomerang | bung | bunyip | butcher | chook | cobber | coolibah | cordie | currency lad, lass | damper | digger | dob | dog licence | donkey vote | drongo | drop bear | dunny | durry | economic rationalism | female factory | galah | galah session | geek | gilgai | guernsey | happy little vegemite | illywhacker | jackeroo | jumbuck | koori | kylie | lairy | little Aussie battler | magic pudding | moomba | neenish | ocker | on the wallaby | pav | plonk | prawn | public servant | Queenslander | rogaining | rort | screamer | skip | snag | sorry | spit the dummy | spunk | squatter | swag | swagman | tall poppy | tart | trackie daks | two-up | true blue | widgie | wog | wowser | yakka

anu (Australian National University)
The Australian National Dictionary
Additions and Corrections
by James Lambert

Additions to the Australian Lexicographical Record
In terms of Australian lexicography there have only been a few works on historical principles. The first of these was Morris' Austral English of 1898 - much of which was incorporated into the Oxford English Dictionary and its supplements, which for many years was the primary source for historical lexical information regarding the Australian idiom. Then came Wilkes' Dictionary of Australian Colloquialisms in 1978 (and now into its fourth edition). All of these were largely superseded by Ramson's Australian National Dictionary in 1988. This is now the primary source, though it still needs to be supplemented by the various editions of Wilkes, who draws his boundaries for what an "Australianism" is with a different pen. In addition to these Gary Simes' Dictionary of Australian Underworld Slang of 1993 provided numerous predatings as well as well-researched entries on a number of terms hitherto unrecognised as Australian in origin.

During 2003-4 I was engaged upon writing the Australian entries for the New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (forthcoming 2005) for the publishers Routledge. This required 4000 entries with date of first occurrence and supporting citations. Only words that were in use after 1945 were of interest; terms that had dropped out of usage before that time were not included. In order to do this I embarked on a reading program and amassed a citation collection of over 35000 records, upon which I could base my entries. As would be expected I happened upon a number of odd pieces of information that can be added to that which is represented in the various historical works mentioned above.

I was fortunate enough to "inherit" a handwritten citation collection from Ted Hartley. In 1944 Hartley authored a glossary of prison slang which was discovered amongst the papers of Kylie Tennant by Gary Simes. This glossary was reproduced, along with another, in Simes' Dictionary of Australian Underworld Slang (1993). However, Hartley had also read widely in Australian literature and had his own citation collection based on this reading. When Hartley passed away in 2001 this citation collection was only one small item of a large collection of material that was to be sold off by the executor of his will. It was offered to a book dealer named Peter Tinslay who declined to take it on the grounds that he could not envisage any commercial value for it. As luck would have it Peter was a personal friend of mine and so was able to say that he knew of a person who might be interested in taking the citation cards. My oath he did! In fact, as the executor explained to me, since he hadn't been able to sell the collection, if I had not taken them then they would have been consigned to the tip! The thought of all those citations, collected by a true enthusiast, selected by a true blue Aussie slang speaker, painstakingly handwritten and diligently maintained over a period of years, ending up as landfill - well, it doesn't bear thinking about.

The Hartley collection does have some drawbacks. Firstly, Hartley's handwriting is chicken scratch of the highest order, and deciphering it is a type of torture. My own hand is pretty poor, and far be it from me to judge too harshly, but, it really has to be seen to be believed. Secondly, Hartley did not include on his citation cards the year of the edition he used. This means that the page numbers given are a bit iffy. That is, if you happen to have the same edition, then all is okay, but if not, then the page numbers most probably won't match up. I assume that Hartley had the necessary information either written down somewhere, or that he still had the books themselves, but alas, the information did not come down to me. This is of course only a minor problem - anyone who really wants to track down one of Hartley's citations can guesstimate for the edition they have, search through different editions, or simply read the entire text.

I have since passed the Hartley collection onto the Australian National Dictionary Centre where it will be kept as a separate collection.

In some ways the Australian National Dictionary has become the central repository of lexicographical quotations for Australianisms. No doubt the next edition will incorporate all new findings revealed in Simes' work, and also those appearing in the later editions of Wilkes. So much the better if all relevant information is available in one reference work.

Austral

Bummerang, Boomerang (W3)

...
A bent or curved piece of hard wood which when thrown may return to the thrower; "a scheme, plan, or argument that turns against the user"; "something that a lender expects to be returned"; a "dishonoured cheque".
...

dinkum (W3)

...
means "true"; "honest"; "genuine", and was probably derived, like many other Australian words, from English dialect.
...

Emu (W3)

Ism (W3)

jackeroo (W3)

...
We know a "jackeroo" is an apprentice stockman or cowboy (the female counterpart is "jilleroo"), and we guess that the word combines "jack-of-all-trades" with "kangaroo". But we still don't know for sure.
...

Mbabaran (W3)

Rom (W3)

wikipedia
List of English words of Australian Aboriginal origin

Arthur, J.M.
Aboriginal English

"Aboriginal English" is the first and most significant dialect of Australian English. The term "Aboriginal English" refers to the form of English used by Aboriginal people. It is a complete language, incorporating elements of Standard Australian English and many Aboriginal languages.

This book deals with the vocabulary of Australian English. It is arranged thematically around the experiences that have shaped that vocabulary. Arthur shows how the values of traditional Aboriginal society (especially spirituality and kinship relationships) were expressed in a new language, how this language dealt with the attackes on thos values by the white colonisers, and how more recently this language has become an important marker of Aboriginal cultural identity, celebrating continuity, survival, and renewal.

Dixon, R.M.W.
Australian Aboriginal Words in English: Their Origin and Meaning

This book records the Aboriginal contribution to Australian English and provides a fascinating insight into the contact between the first Australians and European settlers. The book tells the story of about 400 words that have come into Australian English from the native languages of Australia.

It includes an introduction to the nature of Aboriginal languages, short sketches of the languages from which the words were taken, and a chapter on the history of the words after they were taken into English.

The words are grouped according to subject, and for each one there is information on the Aboriginal language from which it derives, the date of its first written use in English, and its present meaning and pronunciation.

Moore, Bruce
Laugesen, Amanda
Gwynn, Mark
Robinson, Julia
The Australian National Dictionary
Australian Words and Their Origins

Second Edition
ISBN: 9780195550269
Binding: Hardback
Published: 27 Jul 2016
Availability: 573

The "Australian National Dictionary" ("AND") is a dictionary of Australianisms. It includes words and meanings that have originated in Australia, that have a greater currency here than elsewhere, or that have a special significance in Australian history. 

Major features:

It differs from general dictionaries in being based on historical principles, like the comprehensive Oxford English Dictionary. This means it describes the full history of a word, starting with its earliest appearance, establishing its origin, and documenting its use over time.

All entries from the first edition, which was published in 1988, have been thoroughly revised and updated. 6000 new entries have been added.

There are more than 16,000 Australian terms.

They include:

• historical terms from the convict era, the gold rushes, farming, and the experience of war
• colloquial terms, including rhyming slang and numerous lively and colourful idioms
• regional terms from different states and territories
• terms from Aboriginal English, a major dialect of Australian English.

New entries cover all aspects of Australian life, history, culture, and values, as indicated by this brief list:

"ambo", "barbecue stopper", "bogan", "budgie smugglers", "bunny rug", "captain's pick", "chiko roll", "chook lit", "chroming", "copha", "corkie", "couldn't run a chook raffle", "do a Bradbury", "drop bear", "fairy bread", "firie", "goon bag", "grommet", "hip-pocket nerve", "hornbag", "humidicrib", "karak", "land of the fair go", "marn grook", "negative gearing", "not happy Jan", "pizzling", "reg grundies", "schmick", "schoolies' week", "seachanger", "secret women's business", "shirt-front", "skippy", "songline", "spunk rat", "trackie daks", "ute muster", "welcome to country". 

There is detailed information on the origins of these Australian words, including comprehensive coverage of more than 550 words that have been borrowed from 100 Aboriginal languages.

Quotations from books, newspapers, diaries, etc., show how words have been used over time. More than 123,000 quotations illustrate the entries.

The Australian National Dictionary is the only comprehensive, historically based record of the words and meanings that make up Australian English. It is a unique lexical map of Australian history and culture.

Editor Dr Bruce Moore is a former Director of the Australian National Dictionary Centre (1994-2011). He has edited a number of OUP dictionaries, including the Australian Oxford Dictionary. His books on Australian English include "Gold! Gold! Gold!" a dictionary of the nineteenth-century Australian gold rushes (2000), "Speaking Our Language": the story of Australian English (2008), and "What's Their Story?" a history of Australian words (2010).    

This second edition of the Australian National Dictionary was produced at the Australian National Dictionary Centre at the Australian National University. The Centre, established in 1988, is a joint venture of the Australian National University and Oxford University Press Australia and New Zealand.

Chief Editor: Bruce Moore 

Managing Editor: Amanda Laugesen 

Editors: Mark Gwynn, Julia Robinson

Ramson, W.S.
The Australian National Dictionary
A Dictionary of Australianisms on Historical Principles

The Australian National Dictionary is the first comprehensive, historically based record of the 10,000 words which make up the Australian contribution to the English language. Every entry provides its own fascinating insight into Australia's rich and diverse linguistic heritage.

It is a dictionary of Australianisms - those words and meanings which have originated in Australia, which have greater currency here than elsewhere, or which have a special significance in Australian history. It records the historical development of Australian words and phrases from their earliest use to the present day, providing evidence of this history in some 60,000 dated and referenced quotations drawn from over 9,000 Australian sources.

The Australian National Dictionary took ten years to compile. It is the product of the fullest and most detailed research ever undertaken into the history of the Australian English vocabulary. Staff at the Centre are currently working on a second edition of The Australian National Dictionary, due for completion around 2008.