Verity Creek Glossary

4’6         Price - Six Shillings and four pence a pound

agricultural shot           A big swing, a hay maker

apostle bird     Native bird, travels in small flocks

Ashes   International series of five different, five-day long cricket matches.  Trophy is a tiny urn of ashes from burnt bails.

bee’s dick         Tiny distance

billabong           Watering hole.  Usually on the bend of a dry creek bed.

billy      Tin can, used for brewing tea over an open fire

billy-o  Short for a steam train, the Puffing Billy.  Its scary appearance to early settlers seemed hell-like.  To “go to billy-o” is a polite way to say “go to Hell.”

bindii   Detachable prickle from a hardy weed

blue heeler       Breed of cattle dog

Blue, or Bluey  Nickname for someone with red hair

bob       A shilling.  Worth twenty-four pence.

bonnet Car hood

boundary           Cricket shot to the edge of the field, scores four runs

budgies              Budgerigars

Burke and Wills             Early explorers of the Australian outback

Bush Week       Festival or exhibition week when out-of-towners come to the city, derogatory reference to yokels behaving strangely

camp pie           Like Spam

chook   Chicken

chucked a wobbly        Threw a tantrum

cooee   Shrill call to get the attention of others

correct weight Weight carried by the winning horse has been verified

crease Zone in front of the wicket where the batter stands to hit the ball

cripes  Polite version of swearing Christ

crook    Unwell

Curtain Fig        Strangler fig with long vertical roots trailing down from above

CWA     Country Women’s Association

dag        Dried sheep poo, stuck on a sheep’s wool near it’s bum

damper              Soda bread

digger  Australian or NZ soldier.  From trench digger in WW1.

dill         Affectionate term for a silly person

drongo Useless person.  From a horse in the 1920’s, Spangled Drongo, that didn’t win or place in 37 races.

dunnart              Small, mouse-like marsupial

dunny   Outhouse pit toilet

esky      Portable cooler

fag         Cigarette

four runs            Score when the cricket ball reaches the boundary of the field

Fourex Name brand bitter ale in Queensland

furlong One-eighth of a mile

galah    Rose-breasted cockatoo

goanna Breed of monitor lizard

googly  Spin bowl that turns unexpectedly on the bounce before the wicket

greasy look       Nasty expression

hessian              Burlap

Hills Hoist         Outdoor clothes line, raised and lowered by crank handle

Holden               Automobile manufacturer

home and hosed           Sure win.  Horse is already back in its stable and washed down.

jackaroos          Cowboys

joey       Young kangaroo

kelpies               Breed of sheep dog

krauts  Derogatory name for German soldiers

larrikin A mischievous youth

lemonade          Lemon flavoured carbonated soft drink

lorry      Semi-trailer

mince  Ground meat, usually beef

mudder              Horse that races well in wet weather

mulga   Shrub or small tree of the Acacia family

nappy   Diaper

nipper  Child.  From child pickpockets who used to nip or pinch purses.

Old china           Abbreviated rhyming slang.  Old China Plate = Mate.

petrol bowser Gas pump

pikelete              Small pancake

piker     Someone who won’t participate

pipi       Salt-water mollusc

piss up Drinking party

plaster Band-Aid

poms    Derogatory name for the English

powerpoint       Electric outlet

pull the chocks             Remove the blocks from under a parked plane’s wheels

punt      Bet

quid      One pound note

rattle the dags Hurry.  Dags are dried poos stuck on the wool of a sheep’s rump.  They rattle when the sheep runs.

resa      Italian word for surrender

Ringer  Organizer of a Two Up game

road train          Semi-trailer with multiple loaded trailers

ruck      Freeform scrum in a rugby union football game

sandshoe          Tennis shoe or sneaker

shandy               Beer and lemon soft drink

skink    Small lizard

Smarties            Candy coated chocolate buttons

SP bookie          Starting Price bookmaker.  Takes illegal bets on races and the payouts are based on whatever the odds were at the start of the race.

spanner              Wrench

squatter             Historically a settler who occupied Crown land for the goal of ownership

squatter’s chair            Wooden and canvas lounge chair, often on a veranda

stinger fence   Rectangular or horse-shoe shaped fence to protects an area of ocean from jelly-fish, sharks, and salt water crocodiles

stubby Small, thick bottle of beer

stumps               Three upright sticks (stumps) that are part of the wicket. If the ball hits the wicket, and knocks off the small wooden bails, the batsman is out.

tic          On account, or on credit

tip          Garbage dump

topside Cut of beef, also known as Round

troppo  Crazy

Two Up               Gambling game.  Crowd bets on whether the one tossing the coins (the Spinner) will toss two heads or two tails

ute        Utility, pick-up truck

Vegemite           Salty, yeasty, sandwich spread

walkabout         Leave without notice

wicket keeper Catcher who squats several feet behind the wicket

witchetty grub Large, white moth larvae

wogs     Derogatory name for Italian soldiers

woop-woop      Middle of nowhere

wowser              A killjoy

yakka   Hard manual labour, from Yakka Wood, a hardwood