This is an interesting piece of Sydney history. This turn of phrase means ‘to depart in haste’, and was originally Sydney slang dating back to the 1940s. It referred to the now-defunct trams along the Bondi line which were notoriously fast. It also dates from World War II services slang, when it also meant to go … Read more
As editors of the Macquarie Dictionary, we wear many hats. One of the tasks that comes to us regularly is to create lists of words for spelling bees. This is a monumental undertaking, and one which requires a high level of detail. First, we have the word selection itself There are many thousands of words … Read more
The Gamilaraay (Kamilaroi) people are the Indigenous people of north-eastern NSW and south-western Queensland. They are one of the four largest Indigenous groups in Australia, whose lands traditionally encompassed over 75,000 km2. If you live in NSW, you may have been to Gamilaraay lands – Lightning Ridge, Moree, Tamworth, Narrabri are all on traditional Gamilaraay … Read more
Each week, we have a look at a slang word from Australian English. This week we look at youse. A stalwart and consistently divisive member of the Australian English language, youse appears to be here to stay. This unusual word was first recorded back in the 1890s
Crypto languages are something of a passion of ours. You have arpie-darpie, aygo-paygo, obo language, pig Latin and rechtub kelat (a secret language of butchers!) to name a few. But today, we’re going to talk about one used by schoolchildren called alibi. In this particular language, normal words are modified by adding into each syllable the sounds ‘ullab’; thus … Read more
While it is now more commonly known as a pie floater, a floater is a meat pie served in pea soup. It originated in one of our most prolific states for unusual colloquialisms for food, South Australia. It has been recorded since 1915. Like most Aussie food, this has some controversy attached. Do you have … Read more
A bush telly is a campfire, or the stars – in other words, what you watch for entertainment at night in the bush. It’s rather a beautiful term and one that continues to this very day. Instead of being relegated to the past like some Australian colloquialisms, bush telly can even be found on Instagram. This … Read more
Once a month, we pick out a few words submitted by you for consideration in the Macquarie Dictionary. There is no real criteria; we’re looking for anything specific to Australia or from overseas, the words that make you angry or blush, words completely unheard of or from out of left field. There are no wrong submissions! For the month … Read more
In a nation divided over sausage sandwiches and sausage sizzles, potato scallops and potato cakes, and parmie and parma, it is refreshing to come across a new undiscovered Aussie food icon.
Greenie is a term for a conservationist that is now used worldwide, but it was originally an Australian coinage back in the 1970s. Although the association of the colour green with environmentalism was first made in German politics of the early 1970s, and first appeared in English in the name Greenpeace, the addition of -ie to form a … Read more
