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Thieves and scoundrels
Jun 19, 2013 | 0 Comments
The dictionary records 'forty' in the sense of 'a thief or scoundrel' and gives the following etymology:
from the Fitzroy Forty, a Melbourne gang of thieves named after Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, in The Arabian Nights' Entertainment.
However, our visiting lexicographer, Les Murray, told us... Read more
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