‘Barney’s bull’: meanings and early occurrences

2nd Aug 2022.Reading time 19 minutes.

Australia, 1834—used in various phrases, in particular as a type of someone or something in a very bad state or condition—also in the phrase ‘all behind like Barney’s bull’, meaning ‘very delayed’ or ‘backward’—origin unknown

‘Absurdistan’: meanings and origin

30th Jul 2022.Reading time 13 minutes.

a country characterised by absurdity—originally used of Czechoslovakia—the suffix ‘-istan’ (in country names such as ‘Pakistan’) is used as the second element in satirical names denoting, in particular, ‘a country characterised by [the first element]’

‘to bang like a dunny door’: meaning and early occurrences

29th Jul 2022.Reading time 9 minutes.

Australia—also ‘to bang like a shithouse door’—used of an exceptional sexual partner—plays on two meanings of the verb ‘bang’: ‘to make a loud noise’ and ‘to have sexual intercourse’

‘bullycide’: meaning and origin

28th Jul 2022.Reading time 7 minutes.

suicide committed by a person, especially a child or young adult, as a result of being bullied—blend of the nouns ‘bully’ and ‘suicide’—coined since 2001 on separate occasions by various persons, independently from one another

‘may your chooks turn into emus and kick your dunny down’

27th Jul 2022.Reading time 11 minutes.

Australia, 1972—a jocular curse—the Australian National Dictionary Centre explains that this phrase “recalls an earlier time when many Australians kept chooks (domestic chickens) in the backyard and the dunny was a separate outhouse”

the noun ‘dunny’ in Australian phrases

26th Jul 2022.Reading time 12 minutes.

The noun ‘dunny’ denotes a toilet, especially an outside toilet. This noun has been used in various phrases expressing notions such as conspicuousness, loneliness, ill luck, etc.

‘if it should rain pottage, he would want his dish’ and variants

25th Jul 2022.Reading time 13 minutes.

The proverbial phrase ‘if it should rain pottage, he would want his dish’, and its many variants, are used of a person who is characterised by bad luck or by an inability to be organised or prepared.

‘Socceroo’: meaning and origin

23rd Jul 2022.Reading time 5 minutes.

(plural) the Australian men’s national soccer team; (singular) a member of this team—originated in 1972 as the name of the mascot of the Australian men’s national soccer team, created for the 1974 FIFA World Cup

‘the sharpest —— in the ——’: meaning and early occurrences

22nd Jul 2022.Reading time 12 minutes.

The adjective ‘sharp’ is colloquially used in the superlative, in various phrases of the form ‘not the sharpest —— in the ——’, indicating that a person is not very intelligent or perceptive, especially in comparison to others.

‘you’re so sharp you’ll cut yourself’: meaning and early occurrences

21st Jul 2022.Reading time 11 minutes.

UK, 1866—used as an observation, a reproof or a warning implying over-cleverness—plays on two meanings of the adjective ‘sharp’: a) literal meaning: ‘cutting’; b) figurative meaning: ‘keen-witted’