Folklore: Missing from online Aussie dictionary:

Subject: RE: Folklore: Missing from online Aussie dictionary:
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 12 Apr 07 - 12:47 AM

G'day Bee,

I should really have thought of Nova Scotia ... and I understand that, as well as having a "Sydney" (Lord Sydney [?] was the person controlling finances for exploration and settlement, back then - so it was a good idea to to stay on the right side of him!) Capt. Cook also fancied some part of the Canadian Coast resembled that of (Old) South Wales ... so you did have a "New South Wales" on one of Cook's charts!

Regards,

Bob

Subject: RE: Folklore: Missing from online Aussie dictionar
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 11 Apr 07 - 10:14 PM

Bob - when I worked at the Bureau of Meterology (before 1989) we used Southern Oscillation with El Nino.

The BOM website shows Southern Oscilation Index linked with El Nno.

I assume the media took up El Nino as it is a more colourful term

by-the-by, I remember them getting hold of Wind Chill Factor - now that was flavour of the month for a while!!

sandra

Subject: RE: Folklore: Missing from online Aussie dictionary:
From: Bee
Date: 11 Apr 07 - 08:46 PM

Sorry, Bob - NS=Nova Scotia, Canada. We even have a Sydney, though it's considerably smaller than Australia's.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Missing from online Aussie dictionary:
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 11 Apr 07 - 08:24 PM

G'day again,

Bee: I'm not too sure where you mean by NS (North Scotland? ... one of the multitude of American states? ... ?) but I certainly wouldn't think to include El Niño as "Australian slang".

However, in the oldest, driest, continent on earth we do pay a lot of attention to the affects of El Niño de Navidad's presence or absence off the coast of Peru! The weather report at the end of the ABC's News Broadcast, here in Sydney, always includes the current El Niño Index - and the diminishing levels in the water supply dams.

BTW: Our cousins to the east (New Zealand) seem to have had their own alternative term to 'El Niño': "The Southern Oscillation" but I haven't heard that adopted by Australians.

Mrrzy: I seem to remember that GABA coming up in an old Mudcat thread ... but I've never heard it used in real life.

Regards,

Bob

Subject: RE: Folklore: Missing from online Aussie dictionary:
From: Mrrzy
Date: 11 Apr 07 - 03:40 PM

GABA - another word for the Outback. Apparently stands for the Great Australian Bugger-All.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Missing from online Aussie dictionary:
From: Bee
Date: 11 Apr 07 - 08:03 AM

Until they retired the bottle shape, we had stubbies in NS. Now I look, there's others - paddock is common enough, we say Shank's Mare (not pony), the bush, dog's breakfast... and do Australians (or the writer of this list) think El Nino doesn't apply elsewhere?

Subject: RE: Folklore: Missing from online Aussie dictionary:
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 10 Apr 07 - 11:19 PM

G'day Gerry,

"Stubby" is a word mostly used outside the pub ... and likely to be in a song, while the beer glass sizes for "middy" and "schooner" are less commonly sung.

One problemn with 'defining' them in the Glossary is that they are often different sizes in different states... Now, if someone wants to fund me to do the primary research (travel, accommodation, sundry local middies, schooners, handles, pints, long beers, short beers ... etcetera, &c ...) I might update the appropriate sections!

Regard(les)s,

Bob

Subject: RE: Folklore: Missing from online Aussie dictionary:
From: GUEST,Gerry
Date: 04 Apr 07 - 08:52 PM

Why does it have stubby but not middy or schooner? When I moved to Australia & studied for the driving license test I found I was expected to know how much beer was in each of these different sizes.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Missing from online Aussie dictionary:
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 04 Apr 07 - 07:37 AM

The Darwin Stubby holds 2 litres.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Missing from online Aussie dictionary:
From: Jim Lad
Date: 04 Apr 07 - 03:47 AM

"Struth" Is actually an abbreviation of "God's Truth" and is popular elsewhere. Australia, in its isolation, is innocently unaware of such similarities.
Many of the slang terms actually belong to various societies.
The Canadian "Eh" for example (pronounced "A"), is actually part of every day speech in many countries including Australia & even Scotland where the finest English in the world is spoken.
It's a well known fact that the United States would have been named "Amerik" had one of their founding fathers not had a short stay at Niagara Falls on his honeymoon.
A story that has been told and retold until it has become a part of the very fabric of the USA, much like the postal uniform which I wear so proudly today.
Sincerely
Cliff Claven

Subject: RE: Folklore: Missing from online Aussie dictionar
From: Joe Offer
Date: 04 Apr 07 - 01:53 AM

Foolestroupe sent me htis link, a page no longer available at drizabone.com. I have no idea as to the folkloric authenticity of these words. If a real, genuine Australia person wants to take over editing duties for the Aussie Glossary, contact me by personal message.
-Joe Offer-

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Anyhow, here is the list on the page Foolestroupe pointed out:

Australian Slang

Slang	Explanation
Ace	Excellent, fantastic, very good.
Aerial pingpong	Australian Rules Football.
Amber fluid	Beer.
Ankle biter	Child, young person.
Arvo	Afternoon.
Aussie	Australian.
Aussie salute	Brushing the flies away from ones face.
B&S	Bachelors' & Spinsters' Ball
Back of Bourke	A remote inland area a great distance from the speaker.
Backblocks	The back section of a sheep or cattle station.
Banana bender	Queenslander.
Barbie	Barbecue.
Beyond the black stump	A long way away, a remote location.
Big bikkies	A lot of money, very expensive.
Bikkie	Biscuit.
Billabong	An Aboriginal word for a water-hole that dries up or becomes isolated from its river in times of low rainfall.
Billy	A Cylindrical metal container used for boiling water or tea.
Bloke	Man.
Bloody	Very.
Bloody oath	That’s the truth, in agreement.
Blowie	Blowfly.
Bludge (1)	To be lazy.
Bludge (2)	Borrow.
Blue (1)	Fight.
Blue (2)	Mistake.
Blue (3)	Nickname for redhead.
Blue Heeler	Breed of Australian cattle dog.
Bodgy	Poor quality, or incorrectly done.
Brekkie	Breakfast.
Brizzie	Brisbane - The capital city of Queensland, Australia.
Brumby	A wild Australian horse.
Buckley's	Next to no chance at all (You've got buckley's)
Bulldust	The deep, fine dust of the Outback roads.
Bullocky	Bullock dray driver.
Bundy	Bundaberg Rum.
Bunyip	Mythical creature known to inhabit billabongs and waterholes.
Bush telly	Fire.
Bush Tucker	Food derived from the surrounding bush countryside (berries, roots, small animals etc.).
Bush, The	The untamed scrub, woods, forests of rural Australia in its natural state, also refers to rural Australia in general.
Bushed	Tired, or lost (in the bush).
Bushie	Person who lives in rural Australia.
Camp oven	A cast iron container with lid used for campfire cooking, hot coals are placed over and around it.
Chooks	Chickens.
Cobber	Endearing term used for friends and aquaintances.
Cockatoo, Cocky	White, created parrot, also a small scale farmer, particularly in Queensland.
Cocky's Joy	Golden syrup.
Cossies	Swimming costume/bathers/swimmers.
Crikey	Wow - used as an exclamation point in conversation.
Crook	Dishonest person, no good, sick, bad, difficult ("feel crook", "crook weather", "crook job").
Dacks	Pants.
Damper	Bread made from flour and water, unleavened, usually cooked in a camp oven.
Darwin Stubby	Famed bottle of beer from the Northern Territory.
Diggers	Australian armed services personnel.
Dingo	Australian native dog, tawny-yellow in colour.
Dingo's breakfast	A yawn, stretch and look around.
Dinkum	For real, true, honest, genuine.
Dob In	Inform on someone, contribute money, nominate someone for a task.
Dog's Breakfast	A mess.
Dray	Wagon or cart pulled by horses or bullocks.
Driza	Driza-Bone oilskin coat.
Dry, The	The 7-8 months of the year in Northern Australia when it doesn't rail.
Duffers	Cattle duffers, sheep duffers - cattle thieves, sheep thieves.
Dunny	Toilet.
El Nino	A cylindrical oceanic event which can have a significant influence on drought conditions in Australia.Its cycle tends southwards every 2 to 7 years.
Fair Dinkum	True, genuine.
Falcon	Hit on the head by a ball (sporting coll.).
Galah	Grey and pink parrot, foolish person.
Jackaroo	Station hand, usually trainee manager often the son of another landowner sent to work on other properties to learn different methods, soils, breeds, etc.
Jillaroo	Female version of the jackaroo.
Kelpie	Breed of Australian sheep dog.
Kiwis	New Zealanders.
Long Paddock, The	The grasses verge alongside roads and stockroutes, used for grazing in times of drought.
Mate	Good friend, used more casually in conversation to refer to an associate.
Moleskins	Cotton trousers designed for comfort and minimal abrasion in the saddle, they have a brushed finish echoing the softness of moles fur.
Mossie	Mosquito.
Never-Never	Remote isolated region of the outback.
O.P.	Overproof (as in O.P.Bundy)
Outback	Remote, sparsely populated area of inland Australia.
Ozzie	Australian.
Paddock	Field, pasture or fenced range.
Pastoralist	Owner of a large property used for grazing and crops.
Scrub	An area covered in bush, trees, shrubs.
Scrubbers	Cattle mustered from the scrub which are unused to man and mustering.
Shanks's Pony	On foot.
Squatter	Originally farmers who settled on Crown land, now refers usually to sheep station owners.
Stacks	Many, lots.
Station	Farm, ranch.Usually large sheep or cattle properties.
Stockman	Person employed to tend livestock.
Stroppy	Difficult, complaining.
Struth	Wow - used as an exclamation point in conversation.
Stubbies	Shorts.
Stubby	375ml bottle of beer.
Swaggie	A man who travels the country on foot, and carries his belongings in a swag or bluey.
Swagman	A man who travels the country on foot, and carries his belongings in a swag or bluey.
Tallie	750ml bottle of beer.
Tin Scratcher	A small time prospector.
Tinnie	Can of beer.
Top End	The northern end of the Northern Territory of Australia.
Underground Mutton	Rabbit.
Ute	Utility motor car built like a small open backed truck and treated accordingly.
Wet, The	The rainy season, particularly the monsoonal or sub-monsoonal rains in Northern Australia (December to March)
White maggot	An umpire in Australian Rules Football.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Missing from online Aussie dictionary:
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 04 Sep 05 - 12:31 AM

G'day again,

I presume that DAZ was looking at this one:

online Aussie Dictionary .

The simple answer to DAZ's "Folklore: Missing from online Aussie dictionary:" would seem to be: This mob is promoting tourism - not folklore (well, not our defintion of folklore!).

Regard(les)s,

Bob

Subject: RE: Folklore: Missing from online Aussie dictionary:
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 04 Sep 05 - 12:26 AM

G'day,

I presume that our GEST, DAZ is refering to some specific "Aussie Online Dictionary:, for which he gives no references. The Mudcat's Aussie Glossary (see "Quick Links" above) doesn't have a reference to the 1950s, onward, Australian sense of "Bodgie" because it hasn't come up in a song (yet). It does have:

"bodgy | Of inferior quality | This is from earlier word 'bodger' - self-employed woodworker".

The obscure note is mine ... I must have been in one of my more cranky moods about the way business (and other authority) perverts the language to suit its own profit. Specifically, "Bodgers" were piece-work tradesman to industries such as Windsor chair-making. They took a lease on a portion of beech forest / cut selected trees / rough cut to length / split to rough size / left to slightly dry / rough shaped (using a "springy sapling" powered lathe / re-stacked and dried / lathed down to final dimensions for all the individual parts of the chair.

Having done this, they delivered only the final wooden parts - all with grain perfectly down the axis of the turned piece ... and left all the swarth in the forest to feed the next crop of trees.

The factories switched to sawmill timber ... all blanks for turning had grain more or less off line, with a loss of strength ... but they had to promote the new, "modern" way - and so they had to use the old terms as a disparaging reference ... with no relation to its real quality.

OK - Sorry about the rant ... but it demonstrates the way meanings of words are manipulated.

Regards,

Bob

Subject: RE: Folklore: Missing from online Aussie dictionary:
From: GUEST,Barrie Roberts
Date: 03 Sep 05 - 10:00 PM

I'm amazed that 'bodgie' and 'widgie' are missing from the Aussie Online Dictionary. When I used them both in a novel a couple of years ago, my (British) copy editor didn't even raise one of her irritating questions about them, so they must have been in whatever dictionary my publishers used. By contrast, when I correctly referred to the bird known as a 'hobby' in England, by its correct name -- subbuteo --- I got a note saying that the only 'subbuteo' in their dictionary was a table football game. I had to point out to them that the bloke who invented 'Subbuteo' couldn't register his original name for it, so he called it 'Subbuteo' after his hobby --- which was bird-watching!

Subject: RE: Folklore: Missing from online Aussie dictionary:
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 03 Sep 05 - 09:13 PM

Wondering- A thin line between the old word bodge (16th c. at least) and the even older botch?

Subject: RE: Folklore: Missing from online Aussie dictionar
From: freda underhill
Date: 03 Sep 05 - 08:27 PM

arvo - afternoon.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Missing from online Aussie dictionar
From: freda underhill
Date: 03 Sep 05 - 08:25 PM

bodgie
There are two senses of the word bodgie in Australian English, both probably deriving from an earlier (now obsolete) word bodger.

The obsolete bodger probably derives from British dialect bodge 'to work clumsily'. In Australian English in the 1940s and 1950s it meant: 'Something (or occasionally someone) which is fake, false, or worthless'. The noun was also used adjectivally. Typical uses:

1950 F. Hardy, Power without Glory: This entailed the addition of as many more 'bodger' votes as possible.

1954 Coast to Coast 1953-54: Well, we stuck together all through the war - we was in under bodger names.

1966 S. Baker, The Australian Language: An earlier underworld and Army use of bodger for something faked, worthless or shoddy. For example, a faked receipt or false name.. is a bodger; so is a shoddy piece of material sold by a door-to-door hawker.

The word bodger was altered to bodgie, and this is now the standard form:

1975 Latch & Hitchings, Mr X: To avoid any suspicions in case they were picked up by the Transport Regulation Board, it was decided.. to take a 'bodgy' receipt for the tyres with them.

1978 O. White, Silent Reach: This heap is hot - else why did they give it a one-coat spray job over the original white duco and fix it with bodgie number plates?

1984 Canberra Times 27 August: Allegations.. of branch-stacking and the use of hundreds of 'bodgie' members in the electorate.

In the 1950s another sense of bodgie arose. The word was used to describe a male youth, distinguished by his conformity to certain fashions of dress and larrikin behaviour; analogous to the British 'teddy boy':

1950 Sunday Telegraph (Sydney) 7 May: The bizarre uniform of the 'bodgey' - belted velvet cord jacket, bright blue sports coat without a tie, brown trousers narrowed at the ankle, shaggy Cornel Wilde haircut.

1951 Sydney Morning Herald 1 February: What with 'bodgies' growing their hair long and getting around in satin shirts, and 'weegies' [see widgie] cutting their hair short and wearing jeans, confusion seems to be be arising about the sex of some Australian adolescents.

This sense of bodgie seems to be an abbreviation of the word bodger with the addition of the -Y suffix. One explanation for the development of the teenage larrikin sense was offered in The Age (Melbourne) in 1983:

Mr Hewett says his research indicates that the term 'bodgie' arose around the Darlinghurst area in Sydney. It was just after the end of World War II and rationing had caused a flourishing black market in American-made cloth. 'People used to try and pass off inferior cloth as American-made when in fact it was not: so it was called 'bodgie',' he says. 'When some of the young guys started talking with American accents to big-note themselves they were called 'bodgies'.'

This sense of bodgie belongs to the 1950s, but bodgie in the sense 'fake, false, inferior, worthless' is alive and flourishing in Australian English.

taken from the Australian National Dictionary Centre, Linnaeus Cottage (#96), Australian National University, ACT 0200.

from http://www.anu.edu.au/andc/res/aewords/aewords_ab.php

Subject: RE: Folklore: Missing from online Aussie dictionary:
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 03 Sep 05 - 07:32 PM

In the OED.

Subject: Folklore: Missing from online Aussie dictionary:
From: GUEST,DAZ
Date: 03 Sep 05 - 06:38 PM

BODGIE:
noun -      something (or occasionally someone) fake, false, worthless.
Frequently as adjective -      an Australian male youth, especially of the 1950s,
distinguished by his conformity to certain fashions of dress and loutish behaviour;
analogous to the British 'teddy boy'. Female of the species, widgie.

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Aussie Glossary

(from John in Brisbane)