Kel Richards is a veteran Australian journalist, bestselling author and broadcaster.

Kel Richards' Dictionary of Australian Phrase and Fable

By Kel Richards

University of New South Wales Press Ltd

Copyright © 2013 Kel Richards
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-74223-373-4
CHAPTER 1

A

Abdul

The nickname Aussie soldiers (see Digger) used for the Turkish soldiers they were fighting at Gallipoli in World War I. The equivalent of calling a German soldier 'Jerry' in World War II.

Aboriginal

The original inhabitants of Australia. The word is first recorded with this meaning from 1829. Aboriginal comes from the same Latin source word from which we get 'original'. Hence, the Oxford English Dictionary defines Aboriginal as the 'First or earliest so far as history or science gives record'. The Australian Government's Style Manual recommends using Aborigine as the noun and Aboriginal as the adjective. However, Stephen Murray-Smith finds this unnecessary, and suggests that the simplest thing to do is to use Aboriginal(s) as both the noun and the adjective, for both the singular and the plural. He asserts that this is strictly correct, as well as uncomplicated. His advice is probably sound. The word always takes a capital letter. (See also Koori and Indigenous.)

Aboriginalities

The title of a column appearing in the Bulletin magazine during the height of its influence as 'the Bushman's Bible'. The column consisted of contributions from readers (usually submitted under pseudonyms) containing tall tales, bush yarns and odd paragraphs about aspects of Australiana. It began in 1898 and a selection of items from the column was published as Aboriginalities from The Bulletin in 1913. (See also Bulletin.)

Above-ground pool

A domestic swimming pool that sits on the ground, rather than being dug into it. Usually constructed from a frame with a rubberised, waterproof lining. Popular because cheaper to install than an in-ground pool and, hey, Australia's a hot country.

Ack-willie

While there is slang common to English-speaking armies around the world, Aussie soldiers appear to have been especially verbally inventive. For instance, it's common to speak of soldiers who go A.W.L. or A.W.O.L. ('absent without leave') but only Aussies called doing so 'going ack-willie'. This comes from military signalling code – a set of phonetic elaborations for letters of the alphabet (referring to 'AM' as 'ack emma' and 'PM' as 'pip emma' – that sort of thing). Hence the quaint expression 'going ack-willie'. The earliest citation is from 1943.

A couple of lamingtons short of a CWA meeting

Not fully informed, a bit slow on the uptake (particularly at getting jokes) or a bit light-on in the intelligence department. This is one of scores of variations on 'not the full quid' – the variations providing Aussies with wide scope for linguistic invention. The CWA is the Country Women's Association.

Act, to bung on an

To spit the dummy, to turn on a tantrum. The implication is that there is a degree of pretence or overacting going on here.

Adelaide food

For some reason Adelaide seems to be the home of a number of idiosyncratic examples of Australian food terms. For instance, there is the pie floater – a hot meat pie upside-down on pea soup, with a generous dollop of tomato sauce. Then there's the savoury slice: a pastry slice with savoury mince filling, topped with cheese and bacon. If you have a sweet tooth you could try a frog cake – a small cake shaped like a frog with an open mouth and covered in icing (usually green, although pink and chocolate are also available), invented by Balfours bakery of Adelaide in 1922. Or, perhaps, a sinker – a solid fruit square with flaky pastry on the top and bottom, and topped with pink icing. Or, perhaps, a German cake – a yeast cake with a crumble topping, sometimes with fruit (either apple or apricot) under the crumble. All are among South Australia's great contributions to the dictionary of Australian gastronomy.

Adrian Quist

Drunk. Rhyming slang ('Adrian Quist' = 'pissed'). And no, it's not a made-up name: Adrian Quist (1913–91) was a champion Australian tennis player.

Advance Australia Fair

Peter Dodds McCormick was born in Glasgow in 1834. In 1855 he arrived, as a young immigrant, in Australia. And a little over twenty years after his arrival he composed the song that was to become our national anthem 'Advance Australia Fair'. The first public performance is thought to have been given in Sydney on 30 November (St Andrew's Day) in 1878 at the St Andrew's Day concert of the Highland Society. The song was later published by W. J. Paling and Company with the subtitle: 'Respectfully dedicated to the sons and daughters of Australia'. In 1974 'Advance Australia Fair' was chosen to be the Aussie national anthem (replacing 'God Save the Queen'). Most Aussies can remember the first verse, but here are two verses, so that you won't have to make silent goldfish mouthing actions should they ever play the second verse in your presence:

    Australians all let us rejoice,
    For we are young and free;
    We've golden soil and wealth for toil,
    Our home is girt by sea;
    Our land abounds in Nature's gifts
    Of beauty rich and rare;
    In history's page, let every stage
    Advance Australia fair!

    In joyful strains then let us sing,
    'Advance Australia fair!'
    Beneath our radiant Southern Cross,
    We'll toil with hearts and hands;
    To make this Commonwealth of ours
    Renowned of all the lands;
    For those who've come across the seas

    We've boundless plains to share;
    With courage let us all combine
    To advance Australia fair.
    In joyful strains then let us sing
    'Advance Australia fair!'

The first line originally read 'Australia's sons let us rejoice.' The above is the politically correct, and now official, version.

Peter Dodds McCormick was paid £100 for his composition by the Australian government in 1907. He died in Sydney in 1916. His claim to fame, perhaps, is that he has given us the only national anthem in the world containing the word 'girt'. (The Aunty Jackteam of Grahame Bond and Rory O'Donoghue once composed a 'national anthem' for Wollongong which included the immortal line 'Girt by sea – on one side'.)

Akubra

The brand name of the iconic Aussie bush hat. The brand has been in use since 1912. The classic Akubra is made from rabbit fur. According to legend, a broad-brimmed Akubra can take up to 15 rabbit skins. Mind you, there is a saying in the bush: 'The broader the brim, the smaller the property'. (See also Baggy Green and Slouch hat.)

Alcheringa

See Dreamtime.

Amber fluid, the

An older slang term for beer. First recorded in 1906, perhaps less common now.

Ambo

A paramedic – Aussie abbreviation of 'ambulance officer'.

Ankle biters

In Aussie English small children (toddlers) have been known as ankle...