The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #63857   Message #1055137
Posted By: GUEST,An Púca
16-Nov-03 - 10:15 PM
Thread Name: Folklore: Etymology - Oz & Aussie
Subject: RE: Folklore: Etymology - Oz & Aussie
Whatever about deriving hoon < hooligan, the word hooligan is itself derived from an Irish surname, O hUallacháin, more commonly anglicised now as Houlihan. The slur on the Irish character (undeserved of course) apparently happened in London. A similar process seems to be behind a particularly Australian coinage where larrikan would seem to derive from the surname Larkin or in gaelic Ó Lorcáin. Is that what those Aussie dictionaries say over there in Oz?

And go the Wallabies!