‘Kafoops’: meanings and origin
(chiefly humorous): a non-specific or hypothetical person, or a person whose name is unknown, forgotten or withheld—Australia, 1902—apparently an arbitrary formation
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‘to live on one’s hump’: meaning and origin
late 19th century—to be self-sufficient, to operate from resources accumulated earlier—refers to the ability of a camel to survive for long periods without food or water by drawing on the store of nourishment contained in its hump
Read More‘sweet as’: meaning and origin
New Zealand, 1985—adjective—a general term of approval, meaning: excellent, fantastic, great—frequently used as an interjection expressing emphatic affirmation, agreement or appreciation
Read More‘to have come down in the last shower’: meaning and origin
New Zealand, 1877, & Australia, 1878—to be inexperienced, to be gullible
Read More‘flour bomb’: meaning and origin
UK, 1871—a paper bag, balloon, etc., filled with flour and thrown or dropped such that it bursts and disperses its contents over the target on impact, usually as a prank or as part of a protest or public demonstration
Read More‘magic pudding’: meaning, origin and early occurrences
Australia, 1934—an inexhaustible supply of something, especially money—alludes to The Magic Pudding (1918), by Norman Lindsay, in which a pudding instantly renews itself as it is sliced or eaten into
Read More‘pig’s breakfast’: meaning and origin
New Zealand, 1917—a mess, a muddle; something unattractive or unappetising—alludes to the jumbled nature of a pig’s meal
Read More‘from clogs to clogs in three generations’: meaning and origin
wealth gained in one generation of a family will be lost by the third generation—UK, 1842, as “there is but one generation in Lancashire between clog and clog”—refers to clogs being typically worn by factory workers
Read More‘Kiwiness’: meaning and origin
the quality or fact of being from New Zealand; characteristics regarded as typical of New Zealand or New Zealanders—coined in 1967 by the U.S. Professor of Psychology Eugene Leonard Hartley
Read More‘zambuck’: meaning and origin
Australia, 1906; New Zealand, 1918—a medic, paramedic or first-aid worker, especially when in attendance at a sporting event—from the proprietary name of a popular brand of antiseptic ointment
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