‘no wucking furries’: meaning and origin

The colloquial Australian-English phrase no wucking furries is used as an assurance that all is fine, or to express one’s agreement or acquiescence. It is a euphemistic alteration, with switching of the initial consonants, of no fucking worries (in which the adjective fucking is an intensifier). Thus, the phrase no wucking furries is a deliberate spoonerism.

The phrase no wucking furries occurs, for example, in an interview of the British cricketer Mike Brearley (born 1942), President of the Marylebone Cricket Club—interview by Mike Atherton, published in the sport section of The Sunday Telegraph (London, England) of Sunday 9th December 2007 [No. 2,426, sport section: page 11, column 5]:
—Mike Selvey (born 1948) is a British cricketer:

He’d like to change the dress code in the pavilion. He has no problem with people dressing up to watch cricket, but he doesn’t like to and he suspects he’s not alone. (Brearley’s Middlesex team were notoriously scruffy off the pitch, Mike Selvey often turning up for matches in his “no wucking furries” T-shirt. “I do think the notion that off-the-pitch discipline begets discipline on the pitch is a load of rubbish,” he says.)

The earliest occurrences of no wucking furries that I have found are as follows, in chronological order:

1-: From Head First: A Yellowthread Street Mystery (New York: Henry Holt and Company, Inc., 1986), by the Australian author William Marshall (1944-2003) [page 48]:

This time he was supposed to be a free-wheeling, brash, boisterous, bronzed, sandaled, camera-toting Australian tourist. His yellow T-shirt read AUSSIE—NO WUCKING FURRIES.

2-: From Australia takes to the water, by Robert Haupt, writing from Sydney, New South Wales, published in The Spectator (London, England) of 30th January 1988 [Vol. 260, No. 8,325, page 12, column 2]:

For all the omens and bungles and controversy, the success of Australia’s bicentennial celebration was always assured since in its central event it relied only on the populace doing what comes naturally—and what, on a gloriously fine day such as 26 January turned out to be, many thousands of them would have been doing anyway: sitting by, or on, the water with a beer and some prawns and your family if you have one and your mates if you don’t, generally keeping an eye on things and avoiding ‘aggro’. A rough, hand-lettered sign on a yacht declared the ethos: ‘No Wucking Furries’!

3-: From an interview of Donald Stewart (1928-2016), Australian policeman, barrister, judge, Royal Commissioner, and founding chairman of the National Crime Authority—interview by David Wilson and Bob Bottom, published in the Good Weekend section of The Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia) of Saturday 27th May 1989 [No. 47,343, Good Weekend section: page 26, column 2]:

Lunch in the garden of the weekender takes the form of freshly cooked fish and chips, all wrapped in newspaper. The conversation is anecdotal. Stewart remembers a restaurant in Hong Kong where he was addressed as “mate” and the waiter said “no wucking furries” to his requests.

4-: From Breaking Glass: A novel in two parts (Brisbane: University of Queensland Press, 1992), by the Australian novelist and short-story writer John Clanchy (born 1943) [page 90]:

“Better not let Neville hear you say that. Messing around with is little sister.”
“I’m marrying her, for Christ’s sake.”
“Eh? Oh, o’course. Well, no problem.” The old Larks reappeared—almost. “No wucking furries. No wucking…” Lapsed distantly. Then came back just as suddenly.

5-: From an article about the Surrey Skittles Tournament, published in the Surrey Mirror (Reigate, Surrey, England) of Thursday 16th July 1992 [No. 6,041, page 20, column 9]:

Teams still contesting the three trophies are: President’s Competition: Rubble Without A Cause, […] The Heart Beats, No Wucking Furries, One Armed Bandits, Boxall Winders, Simpson’s Scrappers, Janes II, Bowl Ox and Co, We Don’t Give XXXX, [&c.].

6-: From a review of Over 40 in Broken Hill: Unusual encounters in the Australian outback (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1992), by the Canadian novelist and short-story writer Jack Hodgins (born 1938)—review by John Moore, published in The Vancouver Sun (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) of Saturday 9th January 1993 [Vol. 107, No. 203, page C18, column 3]:

Vancouver Island writer Jack Hodgins is sensibly but unnecessarily modest about his first excursion into travel writing, an account of his tag-along tour of outback sheep-shearing stations with Australian writer Roger McDonald.
Two novelists turned loose in a rattletrap “ute” (utility-pickup) in the real land of Oz adds up to an effervescent brew of adventure, cross-cultural observation and literary insight that will have you shaking red dust out of your boots before you can say “No wuckin’ furries, mate.”

7, 8 & 9-: From The Story so far: A tale of love and money in 52 parts, by the British author and editor Robert McCrum (born 1953), published in the Guardian Weekend section of The Guardian (London and Manchester, England):

7-: Of Saturday 26th March 1994 [Guardian Weekend section: page 78, column 5]; from Part 30: Indecent proposals—Zippy Maguire has taken Haroun Qadir and Professor Stephen Wall, an eccentric Australian academic, to the Governor General’s harbourside party, in Sydney, New South Wales:

Zippy Maguire was intrigued. “What did Stone say when he discovered he’d been cheated by his oldest friend?”
“I didn’t wait to find out,” said Qadir. “I understand from my associates that he was displeased. I should have warned him to expect trouble mixing with crooks like me.”
“No wucking furries,” said Wall. “You’ll do well out here.”

8-: Of Saturday 18th June 1994 [Guardian Weekend section: page 70, column 5]; from Part 42: Voting for Tony—Stone, an impecunious freelance writer of dubious morals, is talking with Professor Stephen Wall, the eccentric Australian academic:

“In strictest confidence,” said Stone. “The Blair people are talking to Zippy Maguire.”
“Zippy Maguire!” Now the professor was interested. “That sheila is one hell of a woman. Why didn’t you say sooner. I’d be happy to work for that one. No wucking furries.”

9-: Of Saturday 23rd July 1994 [Guardian Weekend section: page 62, column 5]; from Part 47: She speaks her mind—Stone, the impecunious freelance writer, is on the phone with Professor Stephen Wall, the eccentric Australian academic:

“I need a place to hide for a few days. I wondered if I could sleep on your floor until the dust has settled.”
“No wucking furries,” said Wall. “Come over whenever you like.”

The abbreviated form of the phrase, no wuckers, is from wuck- in no wucking furries. The earliest occurrences of no wuckers that I have found are as follows:

1-: From Sporting Details: Sailing and Yachting, published in The Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia) of Monday 6th November 1978 [No. 43,958, page 25, column 10]:

CRONULLA: […] NS14: White Night (N Murphy) No Wuckers, Cobber 1V. Hcp: No Wuckers (S Birdsall).

2-: From Oz Speak: How They Say It In Australia, by Simon Lane, published in WaterSki (Winter Park, Florida, USA) of March 1987 [Vol. 9, No. 1, page 71, column 2]:

No Worries: Our version of “no problem.” If you ask for some service or item from an Aussie, he or she will say: “No worries.” And if there is some sort of problem, we will say “No worries, mate. She’ll be right.” (There are other versions of this phrase, most of which are not suitable for a family magazine. However, “no wuckers” may be so subtle the Moral Majority will “give it a miss.”)

2 thoughts on “‘no wucking furries’: meaning and origin

  1. Excellent, thank you. I value that long list of occurrences you provide. They’re a whole entertainment and education in themselves. It’s good stuff.
    I don’t know if you’re constantly looking for new areas or if you’ve already thought of this but maybe some of the expressions current, or used to be current, amongst Northern Territory aborigines might be of interest. like ‘gammon’ and ‘humbug’ for instance.

    Like

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