acceptance

en-noun

acceptance (countable and uncountable, plural acceptances)

acceptances (plural)
acceptaunce (alternative)

* First attested in 1574. From Middle French acceptance, from Old French accepter (“accept”). Equivalent to accept + -ance.

(horse racing, Australia, New Zealand, plural only) A list of horses accepted as starters in a race.


in

en-adj

in (comparative more in, superlative most in)

more in (comparative)
most in (superlative)
i' (alternative colloquial poetic)

→ Portuguese: in

PIE word
 *h₁en
Preposition and verb from Middle English in, from Old English in, from Proto-Germanic *in.
Adverb, noun and adjective from Middle English in, from Old English inn and inne, from Proto-Germanic *innai.
Sense 1/2 "in"/"into" are from the original PIE prefix, with locative/accusative case respectively. Sense 3/4 "qualification"/"means" are from the PIE metaphor of all infinitives coming from locatives.

Blocks of compressed coal keep the fire in for a long time, but they give out very little heat.

1888, H.C. O’Neill, Edith A. Barnett, Our Nurses and the Work They Have to Do, page 81:

“At all events,” said the Doctor, “the fire’s in, and here’s the camp-oven, too. Somebody will be here soon. I will go in and light my pipe.”

1894, Henry Kingsley, The Recollections of Geoffry Hamlyn - Volume 2, page 183:

Was there any person in your own house at Renmore to keep the fire in while you were here?.

1901, William Francis Barry, The Wizard’s Knot, page 231:

Normally when they camped in the wild they took turns to sit up and keep the fire in while the others slept, […].

2011, Rosemary Sutcliff, The Eagle of the Ninth Chronicles:

He turned and started making up the range to keep the fire in overnight, and heard the front door click and Grant’s motor fire up. Sleep. He needed to sleep.

2019, A.L.Lester, Shadows on the Border:

(of fire or fuel) (British, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand) Burning; ablaze.


clock

en-verb

clock (third-person singular simple present clocks, present participle clocking, simple past and past participle clocked)

clocks (present singular third-person)
clocking (participle present)
clocked (participle past)
clocked (past)
CLK (alternative)

First use appears c. 1370. Middle English clokke, clok, cloke, from Middle Dutch clocke (“bell, clock”), from Old Dutch *klokka, from Medieval Latin clocca, probably of Celtic origin, from Proto-Celtic *klokkos (“bell”) (compare Welsh cloch, Old Irish cloc), either onomatopoeic or from Proto-Indo-European *klek- (“to laugh, cackle”) (compare Proto-Germanic *hlahjaną (“to laugh”)). Related to Old English clucge, Dutch klok, Saterland Frisian Klokke (“bell; clock”), Low German Klock (“bell, clock”), German Glocke, Swedish klocka. Doublet of cloak and cloche.

onomatopoeic

onomatopoeic

cog

Have you clocked that game yet?

(transitive, British, New Zealand, Australia, slang) To beat a video game.


date

From Middle English date, from Old French date, datil, datille, from Latin dactylus, from Ancient Greek δάκτυλος (dáktulos, “finger”) (from the resemblance of the date to a human finger), probably a folk-etymological alteration of a word from a Semitic source such as Arabic دَقَل (daqal, “variety of date palm”) or Hebrew דֶּקֶל (deqel, “date palm”).

der

The bullet took the middle finger of his right hand clean off […]. ‘He sure won't be sticking that finger up his date again,’ said Max.

Black Superman could kiss his date, the little faggot.

2018, Melissa Lucashenko, Too Much Lip, University of Queensland Press, published 2023, page 88:


hell

From Middle English helle, from Old English hell, from Proto-West Germanic *hallju, from Proto-Germanic *haljō (“concealed place, netherworld”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to cover, conceal, save”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Hälle (“hell”), West Frisian hel (“hell”), Dutch hel (“hell”), German Low German Hell (“hell”), German Hölle (“hell”), Norwegian helvete (“hell”), Icelandic hel (“the abode of the dead, death”). Also related to the Hel of Germanic mythology. See also hele.

cog

Hell (alternative proper-noun)
hel (alternative obsolete)
helle (alternative obsolete)

That was hell good!

They're hell sexy.

(Australia, New Zealand, colloquial, sometimes vulgar) Very; used to emphasize strongly.


Asian

From Latin āsiānus. The popular American definition referring to East and Southeast Asians collectively seems to be a shortened form of "Asian American", a term whose origins activists and academics trace back to 1968 and University of California, Berkeley (UCLA) students Yuji Ichioka and Emma Gee, who, inspired by the Black Power Movement and the protests against the Vietnam War, founded the "Asian American Political Alliance" as a way to unite Japanese, Chinese, and Filipino American students on campus. It replaced the term "Mongoloid", but still continued the racial grouping of "Mongoloid". South Asians are also sometimes called "Asian" in the English settler colonies (US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) but rarely (if ever) Near Easterners and Central Asians. The British term exclusively referring to South Asians was due to South Asians forming a majority of immigrants from the continent of Asia in the United Kingdom.

Asiër

person from or descended from people from the Indian sub-continent

One of a supernational region within Asia

One of a transcontinental nation partially within Asia

One of a partially-recognized or unrecognized country or nation within Asia

One of a former country or nation within Asia

A person from the continent of Asia, or a descendant thereof - especially:

(US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) A person from or with ancestry in East or Southeast Asia, occasionally South Asia.

東亞裔 /东亚裔

person from or descended from people from east Asia


gas

en-noun

gas (countable and uncountable, plural gases or gasses)

Clipping of gasoline. Slang forms popularized on TikTok by Gen Z.

New York City, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Baltimore

(uncountable, Canada, US, New Zealand, Philippines) Gasoline, a light derivative of petroleum used as fuel.


accountancy

accountancy (countable and uncountable, plural accountancies)

(uncountable, British, New Zealand, often Philippines, accounting) The function of compiling and providing financial information primarily by reports referred to as financial statements, including bookkeeping, systems design, analysis and interpretation of accounting information.


fuck

en-verb

fuck (third-person singular simple present fucks, present participle fucking, simple past and past participle fucked)

fucks (present singular third-person)
fucking (participle present)
fucked (participle past)
fucked (past)
fuck (infinitive)
fuck (first-person present singular)
fucked (first-person past singular)
fuck (present second-person singular)
fuckest (archaic present second-person singular)
fucked (past second-person singular)
fuckedst (archaic past second-person singular)
fucks (present singular third-person)
fucketh (archaic present singular third-person)
fucked (past singular third-person)
fuck (plural present)
fucked (past plural)
fuck (present subjunctive)
fucked (past subjunctive)
fuck (imperative present)
fucking (participle present)
fucked (participle past)
f##k (alternative)
f#$k (alternative)
f#%k (alternative)
f#*k (alternative)
f*** (alternative)
f**k (alternative)
f*ck (alternative)
f--k (alternative)
fck (alternative)
fk (alternative)
fsck (alternative)
fu#k (alternative)
fu$k (alternative)
fu*k (alternative)
fu-k (alternative)
fu...k (alternative)
fu©k (alternative)
fvck (alternative)
f—k (alternative)
f&!k (alternative)
f...k (alternative)
f…k (alternative)
fu…k (alternative)
fuxk (alternative)
F-bomb (alternative euphemistic)
F-word (alternative euphemistic)
fuk (alternative)
fuq (alternative)
phuck (alternative)
uckfay (alternative)

Flen flyys
Slate.com
University of Minnesota Press

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *pewǵ-
Proto-Germanic *fukkōną
Old English *fuccian
Middle English *fukken
English fuck
From Middle English *fukken, probably of Germanic origin: either from Old English *fuccian or Old Norse *fukka, both from Proto-Germanic *fukkōną, from Proto-Indo-European *pewǵ- (“to strike, punch, stab”). Compare windfucker and its debated etymology.
Possibly attested in a 772 C.E. charter that mentions a place called Fuccerham, which may mean "ham (“home”) of the fucker" or "hamm (“pasture”) of the fucker"; a John le Fucker in a record from 1278 may just be a variant of Fulcher; compare Fucher, Foker, etc. The earliest unambiguous use of the word in a clearly sexual context, in any stage of English, appears to be in court documents from Cheshire, England, which mention a man called Roger Fuckebythenavele (possibly tongue-in-cheek or directly suggestive of a depraved sexual act) on 8 December 1310. It was first listed in a dictionary in 1598. Scots fuk or fuck is attested slightly earlier, probably reinforcing the Northern Germanic/Scandinavian origin theory. From 1500 onward, the word has been in continual use, superseding jape and sard and largely displacing swive. See windfucker and fuckwind for more information.
A range of folk-etymological backronyms, such as "fornication under consent of the king" and "for unlawful carnal knowledge", are all demonstrably false.
Sense 10 from related sense feck.

der

The sergeant fucked me upside down.

(transitive, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, India, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, military slang) To scold.


smallgoods

He worked at a smallgoods manufacturer.

Some smallgoods are cooked to kill harmful micro-organisms, but cooking changes the taste and texture of the food.

2000, Peter Cerexhe, John Ashton, Risky Foods, Safer Choices: Avoiding Food Poisoning, page 47:

The Garibaldi incident has also been credited with a change in culture among smallgoods manufacturers in Australia.

2001, John Spriggs, Grant Isaac, Food Safety and International Competitiveness: The Case of Beef, page 112:

The types of smallgoods discussed include uncooked and cooked fermented meats, cured meats and fish, and some specialty products such as pâté.

2010, CSIRO Food and Nutritional Sciences, Make It Safe: A Guide to Food Safety, page 124:

(Australia, New Zealand, often attributive) Cooked, dried, cured and otherwise processed meat products, such as salami; manufactured meats.


mental

en-adj

mental (comparative more mental, superlative most mental)

more mental (comparative)
most mental (superlative)

Borrowing from Middle French mental, from Late Latin mentālis, from mēns (“mind, disposition; heart, soul”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix).

af

Audio (US)

He is the most mental freshman I've seen yet.

He went mental on us.

Of, relating to, or affected by a psychiatric disorder.

(colloquial, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, dated in the US, Canada, comparable) Mentally disordered; insane, mad, crazy.

That was a mental party last night.

(colloquial, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, comparable) Enjoyable or fun, especially in a frenetic way.


bench

benches (plural)
benk (alternative dialectal)
bink (alternative dialectal)

→ Hindi: बेंच (beñc)

→ Japanese: ベンチ (benchi)

→ Korean: 벤치 (benchi)

→ Swahili: benchi

→ Urdu: بِنْچ (binc)

From Middle English bench, benk, bynk, from Old English benċ (“bench”), from Proto-West Germanic *banki, from Proto-Germanic *bankiz (“bench”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeg-.
Cognate with Scots benk, bink (“bench”), West Frisian bank (“bench”), Dutch bank (“bench”), German Bank (“bench”), Danish bænk (“bench”), Swedish bänk (“bench”), Icelandic bekkur (“bench”). Doublet of banc, banco, and bank.

эскәмйә

sports: where players sit when not playing

(Australia, New Zealand) A kitchen surface on which to prepare food, a counter.

mesado

a kitchen surface used for preparing food, a counter

(Australia, New Zealand) A bathroom surface which holds the washbasin, a vanity.


cane

en-verb

cane (third-person singular simple present canes, present participle caning, simple past and past participle caned)

canes (present singular third-person)
caning (participle present)
caned (participle past)
caned (past)

From Middle English cane, canne, from Old French cane (“sugar cane”), from Latin canna (“reed”), from Ancient Greek κάννα (kánna), from Akkadian 𒄀 (qanû, “reed”), from Sumerian 𒄀𒈾 (gi.na). Doublet of canna and kaneh. Related to channel and canal.

Mudchester Rovers were caned 10-0.

(UK, New Zealand, slang) To destroy; to comprehensively defeat.

(UK, New Zealand, slang) To do something well, in a competent fashion.


soccer

→ Afrikaans: sokker

→ French: soccer

→ Irish: sacar

→ Japanese: サッカー (sakkā)

→ Kannada: ಸಾಕರ್ (sākar)

→ Manx: soccar

Originally British English; as an abbreviation for association football, via abbreviation assoc. + -er (suffix); earlier socker (1885), also socca (1889), with soccer attested 1888.
Compare contemporary rugger, from Rugby. Similarly constructed coinages from the same period include: brekker (“breakfast”), fresher (“freshman”) and footer (“football”). See Oxford -er.

socker (alternative)
socca (alternative)

The 'Varsity played Aston Villa and were beaten after a very exciting game; this was pre-eminently the most important "Socker" game played in Oxford this term.

1885 December 10, “Our Oxford Letter”, in The Oldhallian, page 171:

Golf is perhaps seven or eight years old in Oxford, ... football, seu Rugger, sive Soccer, not more than sixteen or seventeen.

1888 February 15, “Charley Symonds”, in The Oxford Magazine, page 224:

Those who play under the "Socker" (Association) rules in the North of England, the Midlands, and Scotland take no heed of the warmness of the weather

1889 September 16, “Football Prospects in the West of England”, in The Western Daily Press, volume 63, number 9757, Bristol, page 7:

Socker (public schools), football played according to the Association Rules

1890, Albert Barrère, Charles Leland, A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant, volume 2, Ballantyne, page 275:

1987, Charles Hughes, The Football Association Coaching Book of Soccer: Tactics and Skills, London: BBC, →ISBN:

Association football
association football

ball

in all varieties of English and in all games called "football"

(originated, late 19th C, now often US, Australia, Ireland, Philippines, and other countries; see usage notes) Association football.

originated; late 19th C; and other countries; originated; late 19th C; and other countries


football

en-noun

football (countable and uncountable, plural footballs)

footballs (plural)
foot-ball (alternative dated)
foot ball (alternative dated)

⇒ Azerbaijani: futbol

desc

→ Bengali: ফুটবল (phuṭbol) (transliteration)

→ Bulgarian: фу́тбол (fútbol)

→ Czech: fotbal

desctree

→ Dutch: voetbal (calque)
→ Caribbean Hindustani: futbál khele

→ French: football

desc

→ Georgian: ფეხბურთი (pexburti) (calque)

→ German: Football

desctree

→ German: Fußball, Fussball (Switzerland, Liechtenstein, sometimes Luxembourg, South Tyrol) (calque)
→ English: foosball
⇒? Luxembourgish: Foussball

desc

→ Greek: ποδόσφαιρο (podósfairo) (calque)

→ Hebrew: כדורגל (calque)

→ Hindustani:

Hindi: फ़ुटबॉल (fuṭbŏl)

→ Hungarian: futball

→ Japanese: フットボール (futtobōru)

→ Korean: 풋볼 (putbol)

→ Latvian: futbols

→ Latvian: kājbumba (calque)

→ Lithuanian: fùtbolas

→ Macedonian: фу́дбал (fúdbal)

→ Maori: whutupōro

→ Maltese: futbol

→ Norwegian Nynorsk: fotball (calque)

desctree

→ Ottoman Turkish: فوتبول
Turkish: futbol

→ Polish: futbol

→ Polish: piłka nożna (calque)

→ Portuguese: futebol

→ Romanian: fotbal

→ Russian: футбо́л (futból)
→ Armenian: ֆուտբոլ (futbol)
→ Kazakh: футбол (futbol)

⇒ Serbo-Croatian:

Cyrillic script: фу̏дба̄л

Latin script: fȕdbāl

→ Spanish: balompié (calque)

→ Spanish: fútbol, futbol (Mexico), fúbol
→ Guaraní: húvol
→? Tagalog: putbol

→ Swedish: fotboll (calque)
⇒ Finnish: futis

→ Thai: ฟุตบอล (fút-bɔn)

⇒ Tok Pisin: soka

⇒ Ukrainian: футбо́л (futból)

[ˈfʊʔt̚bɔːl]

[ˈfʊʔtʰbɔːl]

[ˈfʷʊʔt̚bɑɫ]

From Middle English fotbal, footbal, equivalent to foot + ball, which may refer to the act of kicking a ball with the feet or to the fact the game was played on foot (as opposed to on horseback or with players in fixed positions). The name for the briefcase is a play on “dropkick”, the code name of an early version of the nuclear war plan.

ավստրալական ֆուտբոլ

game in Northern Territory, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia

ball

in all varieties of English and in all games called "football"

(Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, uncountable) rugby union.


laugh

laughs (plural)
laff (alternative)
laughe (alternative)
larf (alternative)

From Middle English laughen, laghen, from (Anglian) Old English hlæhhan, hlehhan, (West Saxon) hliehhan, from Proto-West Germanic *hlahhjan, from Proto-Germanic *hlahjaną.
Cognates
Germanic: (with j-present) Scots lauch, Icelandic hlæja, Norwegian, Swedish and Danish le; (without) Low German lachen, Dutch lachen, German lachen.
Indo-European: Russian клекота́ть (klekotátʹ), клокота́ть (klokotátʹ), клохта́ть (kloxtátʹ) ‘to cluck, cackle’, Ancient Greek κλώζω (klṓzō), κλώσσω (klṓssō) ‘to cackle, clack’, Welsh cloch ‘bell’, possibly Latin glōcīre ‘to cluck’.

2010, The Times, March 14, 2010, Tamzin Outhwaite, the unlikely musical star
Outhwaite is a good laugh, yes, she knows how to smile: but deep down, she really is strong and stern.


chook

From Irish English chuck (call made to poultry or pigs), from Irish tsiug, tsiuc. Compare English buck buck.

Worm chickens once every three months and, if an occasional lice problem occurs, spray the inside of the chook shed with Coopex.

2005, Don Burke, The Complete Burke′s Backyard: The Ultimate Book of Fact Sheets, page 683:

2006, Judith Brett, The Chook in the Australian Unconscious, in Peter Beilharz, Robert Manne, Reflected Light: La Trobe Essays, page 329,
This little book, with its meticulous pencil drawings of chooks in mechanical contraptions and photos to show the machine in operation with a white leghorn called Gregory Peck, is evidence of both the sadism inspired by the chook′s comparatively flightless fate and the laughter we use to defend ourselves against the knowledge of that sadism.

She decided to dig her way under the fence into their chook house and had great fun running around and biting the necks of about eight chooks and leaving them half-dead and bleeding. The neighbour was furious, and unfortunately it was Dad′s birthday, so when he arrived home from work, Mum said ‘Happy birthday and^([sic]) darling. Guess what? Your dog has half-killed most of the neighbour′s chooks.

2011, Helen Maczkowiack, An Awkward Fit, page 21:

Letting your chooks clean the compost of curl grubs will make it fairly safe to put on the garden.

2025 June 7, The Australian Weekend Magazine, Australia, page 45, column 1:

(Australia, New Zealand, informal) A chicken, especially a hen.

(Australia, New Zealand, informal) A cooked chicken; a chicken dressed for cooking.


trapezoid

/ˈtɹæpəzɔɪd/

/ˈtɹæpəzɔɪd/

From Ancient Greek τραπέζιον (trapézion, “irregular quadrilateral”, literally “a little table”) + -oid (“resembling”).

der

(geometry, British, Australia, New Zealand) A convex quadrilateral with no sides parallel.

irregular quadrilateral

convex quadrilateral with no parallel sides


tick

From Middle English *tik, tek, tyche (“light touch, tap”), from the verb (see Etymology 3 below). Compare Dutch tik (“a pat, tap”), Middle High German zic (“a slight touch”).

cog

Indicate that you are willing to receive marketing material by putting a tick in the box

Kate's choice to don her pink suit again now, at the height of the Barbiecore trend, shows the royal really does have her finger on the pulse. That, paired with her statement belt and the fact pearls are having a real fashion moment (courtesy of the Met Gala) is three big ticks from us.

2023 May 26, Natasha Harding, Alexandria Dale, “Kate Middleton just re-wore her Alexander McQueen baby pink trouser suit”, in Women's Health:

(Australia, New Zealand, British, Ireland) A mark (✓) made to indicate agreement, correctness or acknowledgement.

oikein-merkki (note that a different sign is used in Finland to indicate correctness)


shit

en-verb

shit (third-person singular simple present shits, present participle shitting, simple past shat or (rare) shitted or (US) shit, past participle shat or (rare) shitted or (US) shit or shitten)

shits (present singular third-person)
shitting (participle present)
shat (past)
shitted (past rare)
shit (US past)
shat (participle past)
shitted (participle past rare)
shit (US participle past)
shitten (participle past)

From Middle English schiten, shiten, from Old English sċītan, from Proto-West Germanic *skītan, from Proto-Germanic *skītaną, from Proto-Indo-European *skéydt, from *skeyd-, *skeh₁i-d (“to cut”) (compare *skey-).
Cognate with West Frisian skite, Low German schieten, Dutch schijten, German scheißen, Danish skide. More at shed.

you can't put the shit back in the horse

I saw red and smashed a plate and a bowl. […] I swept up the mess. I bawled a lot as I swept […] I also thought, I am about to get my period. It absolutely shits me that this should explain anything.

1983, Helen Garner, Yellow Notebook: Diaries Volume I, Text Publishing, published 2022, page 70:

(transitive, vulgar, colloquial, Australia, New Zealand, UK, Ireland) To annoy.


toe

en-noun

toe (countable and uncountable, plural toes)

heel

antonym(s) of “each of the five digits on the end of the foot”

From Middle English to, from Old English tā, (Mercian) tāhe, from Proto-West Germanic *taihā, from Proto-Germanic *taihwǭ, from *tīhwaną (“to show, announce”), from Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- (“to show”).
See also Dutch teen, German Zehe, Danish tå, Swedish tå; also Old English teōn (“to accuse”), German zeihen (“to accuse, blame”); also Hittite [script needed] (tekkuššāi), Latin dīcere (“to say”), digitus (“finger”), Ancient Greek δείκνυμι (deíknumi, “to point out, show”), Sanskrit दिदेष्टि (dídeṣṭi), दिशति (diśáti).

cog

to have a lot of toe

(Australia, New Zealand, slang, uncountable) Speed, energy, vigor.


Aussie

en-adj

Aussie (not generally comparable, comparative more Aussie, superlative most Aussie)

more Aussie (comparative)
most Aussie (superlative)

From the Marvel Mixmaster to the Miracle Microwave, every time a new-fangled gadget has lobbed into the Aussie kitchen, Aussie mums have changed their cooking styles accordingly.

1987, Kerry Cue, Hang On To Your Horses Doovers, page 5:

Most Aussie officers seemed this way to me; always cool, deliberate, and extremely rational in their decision making, a far cry from the American leadership I had seen during my first year in the army.

1998, Gordon L. Steinbrook, Allies and Mates: An American Soldier with the Australians and New Zealanders in Vietnam 1966-1967, page 63:

Here's something I learned the hard way: The very best time of year to start off with accounting software is the beginning of the financial year (1 July for most Aussie businesses, and 1 April for most Kiwi businesses).

2010, Veechi Curtis, Lynley Averis, Bookkeeping For Dummies, page 81:

For example, if you buy US dollars (USD) using Australian dollars (AUD) and the Aussie dollar falls, you can then sell your US dollars and you will have made money as you will have more Aussie dollars than you started with.

2011, Wiley Trading Guide, volume 2, John Wiley & Sons Inc, page 153:

They′re the ‘Almost Aussies’ who embrace their new culture with a vengeance – some becoming more Aussie than Aussies.

2008, Lois Nicholls, Aussie, Actually, page 111:

You couldn't get more Aussie than the cast he chose—or their cars. The goodies drive Holdens and the baddies cruise around in a big, grunting, chocolate-brown Monaro.

2008, Janet Fife-Yeomans, Heath: A Family's Tale, page 65:

‘I'm a perfectionist, mate,’ he said, his accent becoming noticeably more Aussie, as it always did in private.

2010, Quintin Jardine, Screen Savers, unnumbered page:

'Every fucking aussie. Go to Cronulla Beach Sunday for some Leb and wog bashing Aussie Pride ok.'

2015, Johnny Lieu, “Cronulla Riots: What happened on one of Australia's darkest days”, in Mashable:

(chiefly Australia, New Zealand, British, South Africa, colloquial) Australian.


pom

A clipping of pomegranate. In reference to the British, first attested in Australia in 1912 as rhyming slang for immigrant with additional reference to the likelihood of sunburn turning their skin pomegranate red. As a cocktail, originally American.

I could see more than mere humour in car stickers that read ‘Grow your own Dope: Plant a Pom’ ... ‘Keep Australia Beautiful: Shoot a Pom’.

1987, Linda Christmas, The Ribbon and the Ragged Square: An Australian Journey, page 27:

The prize for being Australia′s original pom goes to the enterprising pirate William Dampier, who made the first investigations ashore about 40 years after Tasman and nearly 100 years before Cook.

1989, Tony Wheeler, Australia: A Travel Survival Kit, Lonely Planet, page 10:

At one stage a group called British People Against Racial Discrimination complained to the Advertising Standards Board in Australia about an advert for Tooheys beer that claimed it was ‘cold enough to scare a Pom’.

2008, Lawrence Booth, Cricket, Lovely Cricket?, page 214:

(Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, mildly derogatory slang) An Englishman; a Briton; a person of British descent.


pommy

From pom + -y (“diminutive suffix”). Australian from 1912.

Though Sir Oswald had taken on enough London veneer to be sneered at as a pommy in certain Australian circles, he had never acquired the high-class Englishman′s apparent equanimity or indifference before the prospect of cuckolding.

1931, Miles Franklin, Back to Bool Bool, page 140:

Rhona nodded her agreement. ‘That′s a very interesting answer from a new Aussie – and a Pommy into the bargain,’ she added.

2007, Tony Parsons, Silver in the Sun, unnumbered page:

During one of these acts of bravery by the English pilots I saw a great big tough Aussie with tears of frustration streaming down his face. He was shouting, ‘You magnificent, stupid Pommy bastard!’

2009, Robert Holman, On Paths of Ash: The Extraordinary Story of an Australian Prisoner of War, unnumbered page:

(Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, often derogatory) A pom; a person of British descent, a Briton; an Englishman.


pommy

A gleam of humour, a moment of beautiful pommy arrogance.

1991, A Stranger's Trust, Emma Richmond:

That is, of course, until Australian movie stars like Cate Blanchett and Nicole Kidman proved that they could sell tickets in the West End so long as they could play at being what Rees calls a ‘movie siren’ with a convincing ‘fake pommy accent’.

2003, Susan Bradley Smith, “12: Rhetoric, reconciliation and other national pastimes: showcasing contemporary Australian theatre in London”, in Elizabeth Schafer, Susan Bradley Smith, editors, Playing Australia: Australian Theatre and the International Stage, page 201:

athol wrote:[…]> IIRC, "hood lining" is the more pommy terminology. :-)

2005 February 24, feral, “Hello, Hello”, in aus.cars (Usenet):

(Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, derogatory) English; British.


bull bar

bull bars (plural)
bullbar (alternative)

2003 October, Cliff Gromer (article editor), GreatStuff, Popular Mechanics, page 120,
Bull bars give your SUV a macho look, as well as add protection and versatility. ARB's bull bars for the Jeep Liberty offer all of the above, with added features that include Hi-Lift jacking points, auxiliary driving-light mounts, a provision for relocating the factory foglights and accommodation for Warn winches.

I got the job of buying the after-market products, such as the bull bar and tow bar, so Ruth and I set out for ARB, the 4X4 shop at Caboolture.

2010, Gary Hatcher, You Probably Have Parkinson Disease, page 129:

Front protection bars, known as bull bars, brush bars, roo bars, and even nerf or nudge bars are probably the most contentious piece of equipment that can be fitted to a car. In some countries they are banned outright.[…]In some countries where risk of damage is very high, bull bars are considered essential safety equipment.

2011, Ralph Hosier, Land Rover Discovery, Defender & Range Rover: How to Modify for High Performance & Serious Off-Road Action, page 61:

(chiefly Australia, New Zealand) A welded framework of metal bars at a vehicle's front, designed to protect it during collisions with animals, but often purchased as a fashion accessory.

bosbreker

a device fitted to the front of a vehicle

kangaroo bar

protective framework at front of a vehicle


g'day

"G'day, Missus," said he, with a jerk of his head, and he shifted from one leg to the other, and turned his hat over and over uneasily in his great brown hands.
[…]
"G'day," said 'Lizer, with a bright smile that revealed the prettiest of white teeth. The girl's mouth was as fresh as a rose.
[…]
"G'day, Missus, hope you're keepin' well, an' the Boss, an' the children. Got back sooner'n I expected; Well, how's my mate shapin?" said he.
[…]
It ain't no one's fault but mine," he said, generously. "G'day, Missus; I'm goin' ter find my mate, alive-or dead;" and he galloped away.

1901 December 14, Bushwoman, “Lizer o' th' Overshot”, in Australian Town and Country Journal:

G'day, Muck.
[…]
Ned

2012 February 20, Ned Latham, “Odd behaviour UPLOAD”, in aus.computers.linux (Usenet):

(Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Ottawa Valley, colloquial) Hi, hello.


as

Shortening of as hell or as fuck or similar.

sweet as

It also appears in other positions in the sentence: his big as car could hardly fit.
It's pretty scratched, and dented as.

2021 May 17, “Language Matters: Sweet as is Kiwi as”, in Stuff:

(New Zealand, slang) Used to intensify an adjective; very much; extremely


Strine

From a pronunciation spelling of Australian spoken with this accent. Coined by “Afferbeck Lauder” (Alastair Ardoch Morrison) and popularised with his 1965 book Let Stalk Strine. Australian from 1965.

strine (alternative)
'Strine (alternative)
'strine (alternative)

Several Strine forms depend on an assumed equivalence between Strine fortis consonants and Cultivated/RP lenis ones, thus garbler mince (couple of minutes), egg jelly (actually). It is doubtful whether this reflects any real phonetic difference.

1982, J. C. Wells, Accents of English, volume 3: Beyond the British Isles, page 595:

A TEAM at Griffith University in Brisbane is working on the development of what the university’s newspaper calls a bionic snorter. Translating into English from Strine, this is a bionic hooter, conk, bugle or nose.

1989 July 8, “Ariadne”, in New Scientist, page 120:

Dell’Oso describes the encounter of an Asian woman with a surly bus driver whose only language is Strine (a form of Australian English, barely intelligible to many of the native-speakers).

1992, Gillian Bottomley, From Another Place: Migration and the Politics of Culture, published 2009, page 133:

(Australia, New Zealand, UK, informal, humorous) Broad Australian English.


tutu

(New Zealand) Any of certain members of genus Coriaria of shrubs and trees found in New Zealand, including Coriaria arborea and Coriaria pottsiana, used by the Maori to make a sweetener, but toxic when not properly prepared.


tutu

en-verb

tutu (third-person singular simple present tutus, present participle tutuing, simple past and past participle tutued)

tutus (present singular third-person)
tutuing (participle present)
tutued (participle past)
tutued (past)

From Maori tutū (“mischievous, disobedient”).

"There were seven dudes here for a week just showing me how to use it and I just wanted them to leave so I could start tutuing with it."

2016 July 14, “New Plymouth sign maker invests in enormous flatbed printer”, in Stuff:

(New Zealand, childish) to fiddle or mess around with something.


tortoise

From Middle English tortuse, tortuce, tortuge, from Medieval Latin tortuca, of uncertain origin. May be from Late Latin tartarūcha, from tartarūchus, from Ancient Greek ταρταροῦχος (tartaroûkhos, “holder of Tartaros, Tartarus, the land of the dead in ancient stories”), because it used to be thought that tortoises and turtles came from the underworld and they were commonly paired with such infernal beasts; see Τάρταρος (Tártaros). Or, from Latin tortus (“twisted”). The French-looking Modern English spelling tortoise may be influenced by porpoise. Displaced native Old English byrdling.

der

Any of various land-dwelling reptiles, of the family Testudinidae (chiefly Canada, US) or the order Testudines (chiefly UK, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, India), whose body is enclosed in a shell (carapace plus plastron). The animal can withdraw its head and four legs partially into the shell, providing some protection from predators.


tin

en-noun

tin (countable and uncountable, plural tins)

From Middle English tin, from Old English tin, from Proto-West Germanic *tin, from Proto-Germanic *tiną.

a tin of baked beans; a tobacco tin; a tin of shoe polish

Several tins of paint were needed to paint the house.

empty tins, cans, and plastic containers are recycled in the blue bins.

When it arrived, the train was headed by a "K" class 4-6-0 wood-burning locomotive, and a water-tank wagon next to the tender was immediately besieged by women and girls, clad in their picturesque national costume, all with empty kerosene tins for water, a scene which was re-enacted at each stop down the line.

1943 November and December, G. T. Porter, “The Lines Behind the Lines in Burma”, in Railway Magazine, page 325:

(New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Ireland, British, countable) An airtight container, made of tin or another metal, used to preserve food, or hold a liquid or some other product.


egg

egg (countable and uncountable, plural eggs)

→⇒ German: not the yellow from the egg

Jamaican Creole: eg

Sranan Tongo: eksi

The noun is derived from Middle English eg, egg, egge (“egg of a domestic or wild fowl; egg of a snake”) [and other forms] (originally Northern England and Northeast Midlands), from Old Norse egg (“egg”), from Proto-Germanic *ajją (“egg”) (by Holtzmann’s law), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm (“egg”), probably from *h₂éwis (“bird”), from *h₂ew- (“to clothe oneself, dress; to be dressed”) (in the sense of an animal clothed in feathers). Doublet of huevo, oeuf, and ovum.
The native English ey [and other forms] (plural eyren) (obsolete), from Old English ǣġ, is also derived from Proto-Germanic *ajją. It survived into at least c. 16th century before being fully displaced by egg.
The verb is derived from the noun.

wôwan

approximately spherical or ellipsoidal body produced by birds, insects, reptiles, and other animals, housing the embryo within a membrane or shell during its development

ou

thing which looks like or is shaped like an egg

egg

person regarded as having not yet realized they are transgender, or who has not yet come out as transgender or is in the early stages of transitioning; one’s lack of awareness that one is transgender

kill the goose that lays the golden eggs

there's more than one way to cook an egg

there's more than one way to crack an egg

Shut up, you egg!

(New Zealand, derogatory) A foolish or obnoxious person.

Senses relating to people.
A foolish or obnoxious person.


toilet

→ Japanese: トイレット, トイレ

Krio: tɔylɛt

Tok Pisin: toilet

From Middle French toilette, diminutive of toile (“cloth”), from their use to protect clothing while shaving or arranging hair. From its use as a private room, toilet came to refer euphemistically to lavatories and then to its fixtures, beginning in the United States in the late 19th century.

ашьашьма

room used for urination and defecation — see also bathroom, men's room, ladies' room, outhouse, portable toilet, latrine, shitter

toilet

fixture used for urination and defecation — see also flush toilet, squat toilet, chemical toilet, urinal, latrine

Appendix:Roget MICRA thesaurus/Class II § 191. Receptacle

(UK, Australia, Hong Kong) A room, enclosed area or single-purpose building containing a fixture or fixtures used for urination and defecation; a bathroom or water closet.

(New Zealand) A small secondary lavatory having a fixture used for urination and defecation and sink but no bathtub or shower.


QC

en-noun

QC (countable and uncountable, plural QCs)

QCs (plural)
Q.C. (alternative)
Q. C. (alternative)

(UK, Canada, New Zealand, occasionally Australia) Initialism of Queen's Counsel and postnominal.


CA

CA (countable and uncountable, plural CAs)

chartered accountant
chartered accountant#English

(Scotland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, accounting) Initialism of chartered accountant.


me

There don't seem much to say just now. / (Yer what? Then don't, yer ruddy cow! / And give us back me cigarette!)

a. 1918, Wilfred Owen, “The Letter”, in Douglas Kerr, editor, The Works of Wilfred Owen, page 54:

I want me money back!

1994, John Hodge, Shallow Grave, spoken by Alex Law (Ewan McGregor):

Get off me cheese! Get off! Get off!

"What have I ever done to prove me worth, or where I could at least say as I'd made a difference?"

2016, Alan Moore, Jerusalem, Liveright, page 99:

(UK regional, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, colloquial) Alternative form of my.


pants

pants pl (plural only, attributive pant)

desctree

→ Japanese: パンツ (pantsu)
→ English: pantsu
→ Mandarin: 胖次 (pàngcì)
→ Korean: 빤스 (ppanseu)

Etymology tree
Ancient Greek πᾶς (pâs)
Ancient Greek ἔλεος (éleos)
Proto-Indo-European *-eti
Proto-Indo-European *-eyéti
Proto-Indo-European *-esyéti
Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁ti
Proto-Indo-European *-yeti
Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁yeti
Proto-Indo-European *-yeti
Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti
Ancient Greek -έω (-éō)
Ancient Greek ἐλεέω (eleéō)
Proto-Indo-European *-mṓ
Ancient Greek -μων (-mōn)
Ancient Greek ἐλεήμων (eleḗmōn)
Ancient Greek Παντελεήμων (Panteleḗmōn)bor.
Spanish Pantaleónder.
Italian Pantaloneder.
French pantalonbor.
English pantaloon
English pantaloons
English pants
Shortened from pantaloons (“trousers”): borrowed from French pantalon, itself derived from Italian Pantalone, one of the principal characters found in commedia dell'arte, who wore tight trousers. Doublet of pantsu. The verb is from the noun.

etymon

get glad in the same pants one got mad in

by the seat of one's pants

drive by the seat of one’s pants, fly by the seat of one’s pants

“But they cover the legs,” Joseph explained. “That is the only reason my people wear pants: to cover the legs in the winter, or when traveling through rough country, full of thorns. In warm weather, or in open country, pants are unnecessary, uncomfortable, and foolish.”

1933, Kenneth Roberts, Rabble in Arms, published 1996, page 220:

It's in the evening after dark when the blackleg miner creeps to work. With his moleskin pants and his dirty shirt, there goes the blackleg miner.

1970 June 10, traditional, “The Blackleg Miner” (track 4), in Hark! The Village Wait, performed by Steeleye Span:

Then he gave me a last desperate push and I tripped over the shorts caught around my ankles and fell down. I tried to pull my pants up with my boxing gloves but without success.[…]In those days nobody wore underpants and I was bare-arsed and fancy free in front of everyone.

1989, Bryce Courtenay, The Power of One, Penguin, published 2006, page 427:

Look for pants with reinforced seats and knees and full-length side zippers that make it possible to put the pants on while you are wearing boots, crampons, skis, or snowshoes.

2010, Ronald C. Eng, editor, Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills, 8th edition, US: The Mountaineers Books, page 24:

I rolled up the legs of the pants, then I went back into the trees.

2005, Octavia E. Butler, Fledgling, page 12:

The episode also opens with an inspired bit of business for Homer, who blithely refuses to acquiesce to an elderly neighbor’s utterly reasonable request that he help make the process of selling her house easier by wearing pants when he gallivants about in front of windows, throw out his impressive collection of rotting Jack-O-Lanterns from previous Halloweens and take out his garbage, as it’s attracting wildlife (cue moose and Northern Exposure theme song).

2012 May 27, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “New Kid On The Block” (season 4, episode 8; originally aired 11/12/1992)”, in The Onion AV Club:

Taylor was seen nearby and had a three foot machete down his pants.

2014 January 13, “Blackburn man hid machete down his trousers”, in The Lancashire Telegraph:

(chiefly Canada, US, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Philippines, Singapore, Northern England) An outer garment that covers the body from the waist downwards, covering each leg separately, usually as far as the ankles; trousers.

broek

garment covering the body from the waist downwards


expressway

expressways (plural)
expy (alternative contraction)
expwy (alternative contraction)

(UK, New Zealand) A road built for high speed traffic, but not up to motorway standards or designated a motorway.

motortrafikvej

high speed road, not built to motorway standards


motorway

All the R. R.'s of America will have to be furnished with a biking way and a motor way on each side of the rails.

1895 October, “Real Estate”, in California Banker's Magazine, page 429:

Work of constructing the Texas Motorway, a stone highway which when completed will extend from Fort Worth to Del Rio, Tex., a distance of 500 miles, has been commenced and a section between 18 and 20 miles long running out from Glenrose, the county seat of Somervell County, has been completed.

1913 September 20, Good Roads, page 137:

It is presumed that in the working out of the program the motor trucks will automatically have the major use of the local low-speed highways paralleling the motorway.

1925 December, C. L. Norton, “Our Industrial Highways”, in Trade Winds, volume 4, number 10:

In 1959, Ernest Marples became the new Minister of Transport. His business career had been as a road builder and he saw the future in a network of motorways, whereas he believed there was serious overcapacity in the railway network.

2023 March 8, David Clough, “The long road that led to Beeching”, in RAIL, number 978, page 43:

One national agency is responsible for developing and maintaining the national motorway system, which typically is a small fraction of the entire roadway network. (page 8)

2001 June 10, Jim Brewer, John German, ..., “Geometric Design Practices for European Roads”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), Office of International Programs, U.S. Dept. of Transportation, Washington:

An alternative transit route that bypasses the metropolis’ traffic-filled streets, the 400-kilometer (248.5-mile) North Marmara Motorway starts on the western side of Istanbul and ends in the eastern Marmara province of Sakarya.

2021 May 21, “Turkey opens last section of new highway connecting Asia to Europe”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), Daily Sabah:

Charging stations for electric vehicles must be placed along the main European motorways at least every 60 kilometres from 2026, the European Parliament decided on Tuesday.

2023 July 12, “Electric vehicle charging stations to be installed every 60 km on European motorways”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), The Brussels Times:

freeway

in parts of Australia, Canada and the U.S.

(UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Queensland, New South Wales) A highway with grade-separated crossings (rather than level crossings) and designed (and only permitted) for high-speed motor-traffic (in Europe motor vehicles with a higher speed limit than 40 km/h) running in two directions on one separate carriageway each.

snelweg

highway designed for high-speed motor-traffic

αυτοκινητόδρομος υπερταχείας κυκλοφορίας


chat

'Do officers have chats, then, the same as us?'
'Not the same, no. The chats they got is bigger and better, with pips on their shoulders and Sam Browne belts.'

1977, Mary Emily Pearce, Apple Tree Lean Down, page 520

May a thousand chats from Belgium crawl under their fingers as they write.

2007, How Can I Sleep when the Seagull Calls?, →ISBN, page 18:

Trench foot was a nasty and potentially fatal foot disease commonly caused by these conditions, in which chats or body lice were the bane of all.

2013, Graham Seal, The Soldiers' Press: Trench Journals in the First World War, →ISBN, page 149:

(British, Australia, New Zealand, World War I military slang) A louse (small, parasitic insect).


unit

Formerly unite, a later form of unity; see unity.

This air-conditioner is the most efficient unit we sell.

(US, UK, Australia, New Zealand) Any piece of equipment, such as an appliance, power tool, stereo system, computer, tractor, or machinery.

The new apartment complex will have 50 units.

(US, Australia, New Zealand) a measure of housing equivalent to the living quarters of one household; an apartment where a group of apartments is contained in one or more multi-storied buildings or a group of dwellings is in one or more single storey buildings, usually arranged around a driveway.


Down syndrome

tlb

(chiefly US, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand)

Named after John Langdon Haydon Down (1828–1896), an English physician who first described the condition as a distinct form of mental disability in the 1860s.

(neurology, medical genetics) A genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21 (a chromosomal excess), whereby the patients typically have a delay in cognitive ability and physical growth, as well as a small head and tilted eyelids.

مُتَلَازِمَة دَاوْن

genetic disorder caused by a chromosomal excess

唐氏綜合症 /唐氏综合症

tong⁴ si⁶ zung³ hap⁶ zing³, tong⁴ si⁶ zung¹ hap⁶ zing³


blow

From Middle English blowe, blaw, northern variant of blēwe, from Proto-Germanic *blewwaną (“to beat”) (compare Old Norse blegði (“wedge”), German einbläuen, Middle Dutch blouwen). Related to block.

"Blows" of quartz, crop out above the layers of slate, granite, and sandstone formation.

1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 315:

(Australia, New Zealand) An outcrop of quartz from surrounding rock, thought to indicate mineral deposits below.


cut

en-adj

cut (comparative more cut, superlative most cut)

more cut (comparative)
most cut (superlative)

From Middle English cutten, kitten, kytten, ketten (“to cut”) (compare Scots kut, kit (“to cut”)), of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse *kytja, *kutta, from Proto-Germanic *kutjaną, *kuttaną (“to cut”), of uncertain origin, perhaps related to Proto-Germanic *kwetwą (“meat, flesh”) (compare Old Norse kvett (“meat”)). Akin to Middle Swedish kotta (“to cut or carve with a knife”) (compare dialectal Swedish kåta, kuta (“to cut or chip with a knife”), Swedish kuta, kytti (“a knife”)), Norwegian Bokmål kutte (“to cut”), Norwegian Nynorsk kutte (“to cut”), Icelandic kuta (“to cut with a knife”), Old Norse kuti (“small knife”), Norwegian kyttel, kytel, kjutul (“pointed slip of wood used to strip bark”). Displaced native Middle English snithen (from Old English snīþan; compare German schneiden), which still survives in some dialects as snithe or snead. See snide. Adjective sense of "drunk" (now rare and now usually used in the originally jocular derivative form of half-cut) dates from the 17th century, from cut in the leg, to have cut your leg, euphemism for being very drunk.

silvottu

colloquial: circumcised — see also circumcised

‘Here y'are,’ says the happy butcher, dragging out a bucket. ‘Good riddance. But me dogs'll be cut tonight, I tell ya. That's their grub.’

1999, Julia Leigh, The Hunter, Faber & Faber 2012, p. 41

(Australia, New Zealand, slang) Upset, angry; emotionally hurt.

I was dev’lish cut—uncommon—been dining with some chaps at Greenwich.

1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 51, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:

(slang, New Zealand, formerly UK) Intoxicated as a result of drugs or alcohol.

päihtynyt

intoxicated as a result of drugs or alcohol


exeat

Borrowed from Latin exeat, third-person singular subjunctive of exeō (“depart”) used as an impersonal imperative, literally “let him go forth”.

[I]t was impossible to imagine her doing anything except eating ice-cream and smoking, like a child on an exeat from school.

1984, Anita Brookner, Hotel du Lac, Penguin, published 2016, page 66:

(dated, UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa) Leave of absence from a public school or college.


feed

en-noun

feed (countable and uncountable, plural feeds)

From Middle English fede, fed, from the verb (see above). Alternatively, perhaps from Old Norse fœða (“nourishment, food”), from Proto-Germanic *fōdijaną (“to feed”), whence also Old English fēdan (“to feed”).

184?, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor
One proposed going to Hungerford-market to do a feed on decayed shrimps or other offal laying about the market; another proposed going to Covent-garden to do a 'tightener' of rotten oranges, to which I was humorously invited; […]

"There won't be any more blessed concerts for a million years or so; there won't be any Royal Academy of Arts, and no nice little feeds at restaurants."

1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 257:

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, colloquial, countable) A meal.


have

They advertise it as a great deal, but I think it's a bit of a have.

"Open your eyes" is the company's tagline and part of its mission is to wake us up to the area's history, to the fact that New Zealand's '100% pure' marketing is a bit of a have, as well as to share the encouraging conservation efforts under way.

2017 November 14, Joanna Davis, “Go with the flow in Abel Tasman National Park”, in stuff.co.nz:

(Australia, New Zealand, informal) A fraud or deception; something misleading.


bog

bogs (plural)
bogg (alternative)
bogge (alternative)
boghe (alternative)

Inherited from Middle English bog (originally chiefly in Ireland and Scotland), from Irish and Scottish Gaelic bogach (“soft, boggy ground”), from Old Irish bog (“soft”), from Proto-Celtic *buggos (“soft, tender”) + Old Irish -ach, from Proto-Celtic *-ākos.
The frequent use to form compounds regarding the animals and plants in such areas mimics Irish compositions such as bog-luachair (“bulrush, bogrush”).
Its use for toilets is now often derived from the resemblance of latrines and outhouse cesspools to bogholes, but the noun sense appears to be a clipped form of boghouse (“outhouse, privy”), which derived (possibly via boggard) from the verb to bog, still used in Australian English. The derivation and its connection to other senses of "bog" remains uncertain, however, owing to an extreme lack of early citations due to its perceived vulgarity.

der

I'm on the bog

I'm in the bog

Fearing I should catch cold, they out of pity covered me warm in a Bogg-house.

1665, Richard Head et al., The English Rogue Described in the Life of Meriton Latroon, volume I:

...That no dirt... be thrown out of any window, or down the bogs...

a. 1789, Verses to John Howard F.R.S. on His State of Prisons and Lazarettos, published 1789, page 181:

Bog, or bog-house, a privy as distinguished from a water-closet.

1864, J.C. Hotten, The Slang Dictionary, page 79:

Our lodger had our upstairs, use of the stove, our tap, and our bog.

1959, William Golding, chapter I, in Free Fall, page 23:

(UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, slang) A place to defecate: originally specifically a latrine or outhouse but now used for any toilet.

(Australia and New Zealand, slang) An act or instance of defecation.


wool

en-noun

wool (usually uncountable, plural wools)

→ Japanese: ウール (ūru)

From Middle English wolle, from Old English wull, from Proto-West Germanic *wullu, from Proto-Germanic *wullō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wĺ̥h₁neh₂.
Cognates
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Wulle, German Low German Wull, Dutch wol, German Wolle, Norwegian ull; also Welsh gwlân, Latin lāna, Lithuanian vi̇̀lna, Russian во́лос (vólos), Slovak vlna, Bulgarian влас (vlas), Albanian lesh (“wool, hair, fleece”). Doublet of lana.
The vowel development u → o → oo is purely graphical. Modern English generally avoids the string ⟨wu⟩ in favour of ⟨wo⟩, and the resulting woll was then altered to wool (as supposedly better representing the pronunciation).

(British, New Zealand) Yarn, including that made from synthetic fibers.


boot

Solombala English: бучь (bučʹ)

→ Maltese: buz

→ Russian: бутса (butsa)

→ Serbo-Croatian:

Cyrillic script: бу́це

Latin script: búce

→ Swahili: buti

From Middle English boote, bote (“shoe”), from Old French bote (“a high, thick shoe”). Of obscure origin, but probably related to Old French bot (“club-foot”), bot (“fat, short, blunt”), from Old Frankish *butt, from Proto-Germanic *buttaz, *butaz (“cut off, short, numb, blunt”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewt-, *bʰewd- (“to strike, push, shock”); if so, a doublet of butt. Compare Old Norse butt (“stump”), Low German butt (“blunt, plump”), Old English bytt (“small piece of land”), buttuc (“end”). More at buttock and debut.

cog

a lie can run around the world before the truth can get its boots on

couldn't pour water out of a boot with the instructions on the heel

He heaved the bag and its contents over the lip of the boot and on to the flagstones. When it was out, no longer in that boot but on the ground, and the bag was still intact, he knew the worst was over.

1998, Ruth Rendell, A Sight For Sore Eyes, published 2010, page 260:

The body is constructed of welded steel panels, with the bonnet, doors and boot lid in aluminium on steel frames.

2003, Keith Bluemel, Original Ferrari V-12 1965-1973: The Restorer's Guide, unnumbered page:

Peers leant against the outside of the car a lit up her filter tip and watched as Bauer and Putin placed their compact suitcases in the boot of the BMW and slammed the boot lid down.

2008, MB Chattelle, Richmond, London: The Peter Hacket Chronicles, page 104:

(Australia, British, New Zealand, South Africa, automotive) The luggage storage compartment of a sedan or saloon car.


cruel

en-verb

cruel (third-person singular simple present cruels, present participle cruelling, simple past and past participle cruelled)

cruels (present singular third-person)
cruelling (participle present)
cruelled (participle past)
cruelled (past)
cruell (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English cruel, borrowed from Old French cruel, from Latin crūdēlis (“hard, severe, cruel”), akin to crūdus (“raw, crude”); see crude.

What cruelled him was that Imperial Hotel contract.

1937, Vance Palmer, Legend for Sanderson, Sydney: Angus & Robertson, page 226:

He was on the fringes of Test selection last year before a shoulder injury cruelled his chances.

2014 April 1, The Sydney Morning Herald:

A shortage of berth space for mega container ships will restrict capacity at Melbourne's port, cruelling Labor's attempts to get maximum value from its privatisation, a leading shipping expert has warned.

(chiefly Australia, New Zealand) To spoil or ruin (one's chance of success)


cell

Ellipsis of cell phone, itself a clipping of cellular phone, from cellular + phone.

(US, New Zealand, Australia, Philippines, informal) A cellular phone.

selfoon

informal: a cellular telephone — see also mobile phone


ring

ring (third-person singular simple present rings, present participle ringing, simple past rang or (nonstandard) rung, past participle rung)

rings (present singular third-person)
ringing (participle present)
rang (past)
rung (nonstandard past)
rung (participle past)

From Middle English ringen, from Old English hrinġan (“to ring”), from Proto-Germanic *hringijaną. Cognate with Dutch ringen, Swedish ringa. Of imitative origin.

զանգել

(tr.) to make something produce a resonant sound

I will ring you when we arrive.

(transitive, colloquial, British, Australia, New Zealand) To telephone (someone).


rise

From Middle English risen, from Old English rīsan, from Proto-West Germanic *rīsan, from Proto-Germanic *rīsaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rey- (“to rise, arise”). According to Kroonen (2013), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃er- (“to stir, rise”). See also raise.
Cognates
Cognate with West Frisian rize, Saterland Frisian riese (“to arise”), Dutch rijzen (“to rise, ascend, lift”), German Low German riesen (“to rise; arise”), German dialectal reisen (“to fall”), Norwegian Nynorsk risa (“to rise”), Icelandic rísa (“to rise”). Related also to German reisen (“to travel, fare”), Dutch reizen (“to travel”), Danish rejse (“to travel”), Swedish resa (“to travel”). Non-Germanic cognates include Albanian rris (“I raise, grow”) and Russian рост (rost, “growth”).

cog

(chiefly UK, also Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa) An increase in a quantity, price, etc.


run

runs (plural)
rin (alternative dialectal)
ren (alternative dialectal)

rise

antonym(s) of “horizontal part of a step”

rise

antonym(s) of “horizontal distance of a set of stairs”

From Middle English runnen, rennen (“to run”), alteration (due to the past participle runne, runnen,
yronne) of Middle English rinnen (“to run”), from Old English rinnan, iernan (“to run”) and Old Norse rinna (“to run”), both from Proto-Germanic *rinnaną (“to run”) (compare also *rannijaną (“to make run”)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reyH- (“to boil, churn”).
Cognate with Scots rin (“to run”), West Frisian rinne (“to walk, march”), Dutch rennen (“to run, race”), Alemannic German ränne (“to run”), German rennen (“to run, race”), rinnen (“to flow”), Danish rende (“to run”), Swedish ränna (“to run”), Swedish rinna (“to flow”), Icelandic renna (“to flow”). Non-Germanic cognates include Albanian rend (“to run, run after”). See random.

der

(Australia, New Zealand) A rural landholding for farming, usually for running sheep, and operated by a runholder.


shot

(colloquial, New Zealand) An expression of gratitude, similar to thank you.


show

en-noun

show (countable and uncountable, plural shows)

shows (plural)
shew (alternative archaic)
shewe (alternative obsolete)
showe (alternative obsolete)

→ Catalan: xou

→ Danish: show

→ Dutch: show

→ Finnish: show

→ French: show

→ German: Show

→ Hindi: शो (śo)

→ Hungarian: show

→ Japanese: ショー (shō)

→ Korean: 쇼 (syo)

→ Norwegian Bokmål: show

→ Norwegian Nynorsk: show

→ Portuguese: show

→ Russian: шоу (šou)

→ Spanish: show

→ Swedish: show

→ Turkish: şov

→ Urdu: شو (śo)

From Middle English schewe, from the verb (schewen).

I'm taking the kids to the show on Tuesday.

E. C. McEnulty, who won the chop at the show on Thursday, cut through a foot lying block in 34 seconds

1924 October 6, The Examiner, Launceston, page 2, column 6:

(Australia, New Zealand, countable) An agricultural show.


sit

en-verb

sit (third-person singular simple present sits, present participle sitting, simple past sat or (dated, poetic) sate, past participle sat or (archaic, dialectal) sitten)

sits (present singular third-person)
sitting (participle present)
sat (past)
sate (dated past poetic)
sat (participle past)
sitten (archaic dialectal participle past)
sit (infinitive)
sit (first-person present singular)
sat (first-person past singular)
sate (dated first-person past poetic singular)
sit (present second-person singular)
sat (past second-person singular)
sate (dated past poetic second-person singular)
sattest (past second-person singular)
sits (present singular third-person)
sat (past singular third-person)
sate (dated past poetic singular third-person)
sit (plural present)
sat (past plural)
sate (dated past plural poetic)
sit (present subjunctive)
sat (past subjunctive)
sate (dated past poetic subjunctive)
sit (imperative present)
sitting (participle present)
sat (participle past)
sitten (archaic dialectal participle past)

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *sed-
Proto-Indo-European *-yeti
Proto-Indo-European *sédyeti
Proto-Germanic *sitjaną
Proto-West Germanic *sittjan
Old English sittan
Middle English sitten
English sit
From Middle English sitten, from Old English sittan, from Proto-West Germanic *sittjan, from Proto-Germanic *sitjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *sed- (“sit”).
Cognates
Cognate with West Frisian sitte, Low German sitten, Dutch zitten, German sitzen, Swedish sitta, Norwegian Bokmål sitte, Norwegian Nynorsk sitja; and with Irish suigh, Latin sedeo, Russian сиде́ть (sidétʹ).

etymon

do not sit in Rome and strive with the Pope

where you stand depends on where you sit

(transitive, Australia, New Zealand, UK) To take, to undergo or complete (an examination or test).


stink

en-adj

stink (comparative more stink, superlative most stink)

more stink (comparative)
most stink (superlative)

From Middle English stinken, from Old English stincan, from Proto-Germanic *stinkwaną, from Proto-Indo-European *stengʷ-, *stegʷ- (“to push, thrust, strike”). Cognate with West Frisian stjonke (“to stink”), Dutch stinken (“to stink”), German stinken (“to stink”), Danish stinke (“to stink”), Swedish stinka (“to stink”), Icelandic stökkva (“to spring, leap, jump”).

cog

The concert was stink. / That was a stink concert.

(slang, New Zealand) Bad; inferior; worthless.


flat

→ Portuguese: flate

From 1795, alteration of Scots flet (“inner part of a house”), from Middle English flet (“dwelling”), from Old English flet, flett (“ground floor, dwelling”), from Proto-Germanic *flatją (“floor”), from Proto-Germanic *flataz (“flat”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleth₂- (“flat”). Akin to Old Frisian flet, flette (“dwelling, house”). More at flet, flat₁.

The excellence of French flats is so well known in America, that the owner will often refer to his property as "first class French flats."

1905, Sydney Perks, Residential flats of all classes, including artisans' dwellings: a practical treatise on their planning and arrangement, together with chapters on their history, financial matters, etc.,with numerous illustrations, page 204:

A kiss may be grand but it won’t pay the rental on your humble flat or help you at the automat.

1953 January 1, “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend”, in My Heart Belongs to Daddy, performed by Marilyn Monroe:

[NICELY]When you meet a gent paying all kinds of rent for a flat that could flatten the Taj Mahal. [BOTH]Call it sad, call it funny but it’s better than even money that the guy’s only doing it for some doll.

1955 November 3, “Guys and Dolls”, in Guys and Dolls (Original Broadway Cast Recording), performed by Stubby Kaye (as Nicely Nicely Johnson) and Johnny Silver (as Benny Southstreet):

Fifteen percent of this group said that they were not satisfied with the public housing estates and their HDB^([Singapore Housing & Development Board]) flats (see Tables 11 and 12 respectively).

1983, Tai Ching Ling, “Relocation and Population Planning: A Study of the Implications of Public Housing and Family Planning in Singapore”, in Wilfredo F. Arce, Gabriel C. Alvarez, editors, Population Change in Southeast Asia, page 184:

The Greater London Council formed the Estmanco company to manage a block of 60 council-owned flats. The council entered into an agreement with the company to sell off the flats to owner-occupiers.

2002, MIchael Ottley, Briefcase on Company Law, page 76:

When the Dolphin Square's flats were first offered to the public in 1936, the South Block was still under construction, and the North Block was a building site.

2014, Terry Gourvish, Dolphin Square: The History of a Unique Building, page 75:

Of course, closure of the West station took away the hotel's raison d'être. In May 2012, the local newspaper reported that this historic hotel, by then rated the town's worst (exemplified by its final review: "Please avoid at all costs"), was to be converted into 31 first-time-buyer one-bedroom flats.

2021 December 29, Stephen Roberts, “Stories and facts behind railway plaques: Bournemouth (circa 1880)”, in RAIL, number 947, page 60:

(chiefly British, New England, South Africa, India, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, archaic elsewhere) A complete domicile occupying only part of a building, especially one for rent


rooster

From roost + -er. In the regions where it is used, displaced cock through taboo avoidance.

Their other dish […] contain'd a number of roast fowls—half a dozen, we suppose, & all roosters at this season no doubt.

The produce of two hens and a cock, or rooster, as the Yankees term that bird.

1836, Catharine Parr Traill, The Backwoods of Canada, page 308:

Chalk a circle for a rooster.

1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 16]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC, part III [Nostos], page 616:

(Canada, US, Kent, Australia, New Zealand) A male domestic chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) or other gallinaceous bird.

(figuratively, originally US slang, now chiefly New Zealand) A man.


rumour

en-noun

rumour (countable and uncountable, plural rumours)

From Middle English rumour, from Old French rumour, rumor, from Latin rūmor (“common talk”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *rewH- (“to shout, roar”).

der

Rumour had it (though not proved) that she descended from the house of the lords Talbot de Malahide

1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 16]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:

There were rumours, new rumours every morning, delightful and outrageous rumours, so that the lumps in the porridge were swallowed without comment and the fish-cakes were eaten without contumely.

1922, Michael Arlen, “1/1/2”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days:

"Keep off Conductor Rails" said red-painted notices at the platform ends, for third-rails were laid in many places even where electric trains never normally ran, and there had been many rumours of impending electrification of the Wirral, as a natural extension of the Mersey system, a quarter of a century before the change was actually made.

1954 March, W. A. Tuplin, “Recollections of the Wirral Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 167:

I myself gave support to the summoning of the Estates General ... as merely mistaken . Similarly it might be held that Paradise originated in a rumour invented in hell to make society the more interesting . ' ' We need a saviour .

1969, Peter Vansittart, Pastimes of a Red Summer: A Novel, Owen, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 140:

Dame Rumour outstrides me yet again.

1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 1, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, section I, page 18:

British, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and Ireland spelling of rumor.


mole

From moll (from Moll, an archaic nickname for Mary), influenced by the spelling of the word mole (“an internal spy”), and due to /mɒl/ and /məʊl/ merging as [ˈmɔʊɫ] in the Australian accent.

(slang, derogatory, chiefly Australia and New Zealand) A moll, a bitch, a slut.


dairy

en-noun

dairy (countable and uncountable, plural dairies)

Origin 1250–1300 (Middle English daierie and other forms), from dey (“dairymaid”) + -ery.

(New Zealand) A corner store, superette or minimart.


heavy

en-verb

heavy (third-person singular simple present heavies, present participle heavying, simple past and past participle heavied)

heavies (present singular third-person)
heavying (participle present)
heavied (participle past)
heavied (past)

From Middle English hevy, heviȝ, from Old English hefiġ, hefeġ, hæfiġ (“heavy; important, grave, severe, serious; oppressive, grievous; slow, dull”), from Proto-West Germanic *habīg (“heavy, hefty, weighty”), from Proto-Germanic *habīgaz (“heavy, hefty, weighty”), from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂p- (“to take, grasp, hold”).
Cognate with Scots hevy, havy, heavy (“heavy”), Saterland Frisian heeuwich, häwich (“violent, angry”), West Frisian hevich (“violent”), Dutch hevig (“violent, severe, intense, acute”), German Low German hevig (“violent, fierce, intense, angry”), German hebig (compare heftig (“fierce, severe, intense, violent, heavy”)), Icelandic höfugur (“heavy, weighty, important”), Latin capāx (“large, wide, roomy, spacious, capacious, capable, apt”).

cog

The union was well known for the methods it used to heavy many businesses.

[…]the Prime Minister sought to evade the simple fact that he heavied Mr Reid to get rid of Dr Armstrong.

1985, Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives Weekly Hansard, Issue 11, Part 1, page 1570:

2001, Finola Moorhead, Darkness More Visible, Spinifex Press, Australia, page 557,
But he is on the wrong horse, heavying me. My phone′s tapped. Well, he won′t find anything.

2005, David Clune, Ken Turner (editors), The Premiers of New South Wales, 1856-2005, Volume 3: 1901-2005, page 421,
But the next two days of the Conference also produced some very visible lobbying for the succession and apparent heavying of contenders like Brereton, Anderson and Mulock - much of it caught on television.

(Australia, New Zealand, informal) To use power or wealth to exert influence on, e.g., governments or corporations; to pressure.


guts

(Australia, New Zealand) The ring in the gambling game two-up in which the spinner operates; the centre.


lift

en-noun

lift (countable and uncountable, plural lifts)

→ Cantonese: 𨋢 /䢂 (lip¹)

→ Dutch: lift
→ Papiamentu: left

→ Malay: lif

desctree

→ Russian: лифт (lift)
→ Armenian: լիֆտ (lift)
→ Georgian: ლიფტი (lipṭi)
→ Kazakh: лифт (lift)
→ Mongolian: лифт (lift)
→ Uyghur: لىفت (lift)
→ Uzbek: lift
→ Yakut: лифт (lift)

→ Swahili: lifti

→ Swedish: lift

From Middle English liften, lyften, from Old Norse lypta (“to lift, air”, literally “to raise in the air”), from Proto-Germanic *luftijaną (“to raise in the air”), related to *luftuz (“roof, air”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *lewp- (“to peel, break off, damage”) or from a root meaning roof (see *luftuz). Cognate with Danish and Norwegian Bokmål løfte (“to lift”), Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish lyfta (“to lift”), German lüften (“to air, lift”), Old English lyft (“air”). See above. 1851 for the noun sense "a mechanical device for vertical transport".
(To steal): For this sense Cleasby suggests perhaps a relation to the root of Gothic 𐌷𐌻𐌹𐍆𐍄𐌿𐍃 (hliftus) "thief", cognate with Latin cleptus and Greek κλέπτω (kléptō)).

der

Take the lift to the fourth floor.

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, India, puristic elsewhere) Mechanical device for vertically transporting goods or people between floors in a building.

hysbak

mechanical device for vertically transporting goods or people


handle

desctree

→ Japanese: ハンドル (handoru)
→ Hokkien: 捍多路 (hăn-tó͘-luh)
→ Sakizaya: handulu

From Middle English handel, handle, from Old English handle (“a handle”), from handlian (“to handle, feel, deal with, discuss”). See verb below. Cognate with Danish handel (“a handle”).

A shudder passes over him and he orders another handle of beer.

2002, Kate Duignan, Breakwater, Victoria University Press, →ISBN, page 86:

Imagine staring into the heavens on a clear night and seeing a handle of beer floating amongst the stars, or an angel, or the face of a famous celebrity.

2006, Rod Hylands, Lateral Connection, →ISBN, page 68:

When ordering a beer, you'll get either a handle (mug) or a one-liter jug (pitcher).

2008, Stephanie E. Butler, Fodor's 2009 New Zealand, →ISBN, page 571:

(Australia, chiefly Northern Territory, New Zealand) A 10 fluid ounce (285 mL) glass of beer.


de facto

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-de facto.wav

Unadapted borrowing from Latin dē factō (literally “according to fact”), from dē (“according to”) + ablative of factum (“fact, deed, act”).

ubor

One of the vendors was simple and straight; he said that it was his policy not to rent a house to de factos.

1984, Sotirios Sarantakos, Living Together in Australia, page 141:

An incidental sideline to this little farce, I suppose we can call it, is that the Opposition, in this policy, seems to have reversed its so often stated policy in this place on de factos.

1984, Australian Senate, Senate Weekly Hansard, volume 105, page 2213:

2008, David de Vaus, Chapter 15: Australian Families: Social and Demographic Patterns, in Charles B. Hennon, Stephan M. Wilson (editors), Families in a Global Context, 2011, page 383,
The parental rights and responsibilities of de factos are the same as for legally married parents but, because property and maintenance of de factos is a state responsibility, there are differences between married and de factos in some states.

(Australia, New Zealand) A legally undeclared spouse; a partner in a spousal relationship which is not officially declared as a marriage, comparable to a common law husband or wife.


carburettor

Both affect the performance of the machine, especially the carburettors, and both are important to the final appearance of the model.

2005, Mick Walker, How to Restore Your BMW Twin 1955-1985, page 92:

In a carburettor the pressure drop (or viewed another way, suction) is used to draw fuel out of a reservoir, usually via a jet, and into the venturi to mix with the air flowing through it.

2008, Daniel Stapleton, David Vizard, John Sprinzel, The MG Midget & Austin Healey Sprite High Performance Manual, page 36:

For a large part of the twentieth century the majority of light vehicles used petrol engines that were equipped with a carburettor.

2011, Allan Bonnick, A Practical Approach to Motor Vehicle Engineering and Maintenance, page 81:

(automotive, Australia, New Zealand, UK) Alternative spelling of carburetor (“device in an internal combustion engine”).


flash

en-adj

flash (comparative more flash, superlative most flash)

more flash (comparative)
most flash (superlative)

In some senses, from Middle English flasshen, a variant of flasken, flaskien (“to sprinkle, splash”), which was likely of imitative origin; in other senses probably of North Germanic origin akin to Swedish dialectal flasa (“to burn brightly, blaze”), related to flare. Compare also Icelandic flasa (“to rush, go hastily”).

onomatopoeic

imitative

The barber man was small and flash, as barbers mostly are,
He wore a strike-your-fancy sash, he smoked a huge cigar;

1892, Banjo Paterson, The Man from Ironbark:

(British, Australia and New Zealand, slang) Expensive-looking and demanding attention; stylish; showy.


blower

From Middle English blowere, blower, from Old English blāwere; equivalent to blow + -er.

Get on the blower and call headquarters right away!

(slang, chiefly British, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, usually preceded by the) Telephone.

(slang, UK, Ireland, historical) A telephone service providing betting odds and commentary, relayed to customers in a bookmaker's shop via loudspeaker.


civilisation

en-noun

civilisation (countable and uncountable, plural civilisations)

Borrowed from French civilisation, equivalent to civilise + -ation or civil + -isation.

From Keighley onwards we had obviously returned to civilisation, for the surrounding country was now studded with the sodium street lights of suburbia and a thickening industrial haze was blotting out the moon.

1960 January, G. Freeman Allen, “"Condor"—British Railways' fastest freight train”, in Trains Illustrated, page 48:

UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Hong Kong, and Commonwealth spelling of civilization.


lash

From Middle English lashe, lasshe, lasche (“a stroke; the flexible end of a whip”), from Proto-Germanic *laskô (“flap of fabric, strap”).
Cognate with Dutch lasch, las (“a piece; seal; joint; notch; seam”), German Low German Laske, Lask (“a flap; dag; strap”), German Lasche (“a flap; joint; strap; tongue; scarf”), Swedish lask (“scarf”), Icelandic laski (“the bottom part of a glove”).

cog

I'll have a lash.

Much-loved characters living on after their author’s death is not so unusual these days. Every second bloke in possession of a keyboard seems to have had a lash at a James Bond thriller, including Kingsley Amis, John Gardner, Raymond Benson, Jeffery Deaver, William Boyd, Anthony Horowitz, Christopher Wood and Sebastian Faulks.

2021 August 28, Grant Smithies, “The Dark Remains: Ian Rankin's 'terrifying' return”, in Stuff:

“I felt I’d go out and grab the bull by the horns and give it a good lash and I’m very pleased to come away with second in my very first Diamond League final.”

2022 September 9, Cathal Dennehy, “Ciara Mageean shines in Diamond League to claim second”, in Irish Examiner:

(Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, informal) An attempt; a go at something.


wee

en-adj

wee (comparative weer, superlative weest)

From Middle English wey, weygh, wegh, weȝe, wæȝe (“little bit”), from Old English wǣġ, wǣġe (“weight”), from Proto-West Germanic *wāgu, from Proto-Germanic *wēgō (“scales, weight”) and *wēgǭ (“weight”), related to Middle English weġan (“to move, weigh”) (15c).

You looked a little cold, so I lit a wee fire.

The beat of its wee heart held against her own, sent her intense maternity surging like the spring sap in a young tree.

1907, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Human Toll (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, published 1980, page 275:

I had not seen a wee boy do it like that before. He was weer than me and his swimming was just like splashing about.

2008, James Kelman, Kieron Smith, Boy, Penguin, published 2009, page 73:

(Scotland, Ireland, Northern England, New Zealand, Ottawa Valley, Mid-Ulster) Small, little.


paper

en-noun

paper (countable and uncountable, plural papers)

Tok Pisin: pepa
→ Rotokas: pepa

→ Dutch: paper

→ Eastern Arrernte: pipe

→ Esperanto: papero
Ido: papero

→ Hawaiian: pepa

→ Japanese: ペーパー (pēpā)

→ Malayalam: പേപ്പർ (pēppaṟ)

→ Maori: pepa

→ Marshallese: peba

→ Mokilese: peipa

→ Niuean: pepa

→ Scottish Gaelic: pàipear

→ Southern Ndebele: iphepha

→ Spanish: paper

→ Swazi: líphepha

→ Xhosa: iphepha

→ Yoruba: bébà, pépà

→ Zulu: iphepha

From Middle English paper, from Anglo-Norman paper, from Old Catalan paper, borrowed from Latin papȳrus (and given the Catalan suffix -er), from Ancient Greek πάπυρος (pápuros).


spider

spider (countable and uncountable, plural spiders)

[ˈspʌɪ̯ɾə(ɹ)]

From Middle English spiþre, spydyr, spider, spiþer, from Old English spīþra (“spider”), from Proto-West Germanic *spinþrijō, from Proto-Germanic *spinnaną (“to spin”). Mostly displaced attercop (“spider, unpleasant person”), now a dialectal term.

2002, Katharine Gasparini, Cranberry and vanilla ice cream spider, recipe in Cool Food, page 339.

(chiefly Australia and New Zealand) A float (drink) made by mixing ice-cream and a soda or fizzy drink (such as lemonade).

(Australia, New Zealand, obsolete) An alcoholic drink made with brandy and lemonade or ginger beer.


damper

damper (countable and uncountable, plural dampers)

From damp (verb) + -er.
The name of the type of bread is first attested in 1825, and originally likely refers to damping the appetite.

1827, Peter Cunningham, Two Years in New South Wales, ii.190, quoted in G. A. Wilkes, A Dictionary of Australian Colloquialisms, 1978, →ISBN,
The farm-men usually bake their flour into flat cakes, which they call dampers, and cook these in the ashes.

The flour bespattering Squeaker's now neglected clothes spoke eloquently of his clumsy efforts at damper making.

1902, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Bush Studies (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, published 1980, page 15:

You hypocritically claim that you are trying to ‘protect’ us; but your modern policy of ‘protection’ (so-called) is killing us off just as surely as the pioneer policy of giving us poisoned damper and shooting us down like dingoes!

1938, William Ferguson, John Patten, “Aborigines Claim Citizen Rights!”, in Anita Heiss, Peter Minter, editors, Macquarie PEN Anthology of Aboriginal Literature, Allen & Unwin, published 2008, page 31:

(countable, uncountable, chiefly New Zealand, Australia) Bread made from a basic recipe of flour, water, milk, and salt, but without yeast.


pitch

From Middle English picchen, pycchen (“to thrust in, fasten, settle”), from Old English *piċċan, from Proto-West Germanic *pikkijan, a variant of Proto-West Germanic *pikkōn (“to pick, peck”), whence Middle English pikken, picken (“to pick, pierce”), modern English pick.

nyökkääminen

rotation angle about the transverse axis

килово клатене

nautical: measure of extent to which a vessel's bow and stern go up and down

The teams met on the pitch.

(sports, UK, Australia, New Zealand) The field on which cricket, soccer, rugby, gridiron or field hockey is played. (In cricket, the pitch is in the centre of the field; see cricket pitch.) (Not often used in the US or Canada, where "field" is the preferred word.)


NRA

w:National Rifle Association of New Zealand

(New Zealand) Initialism of National Rifle Association of New Zealand.


dummy

dummies (plural)
dumbie (alternative rare)
dumby (alternative rare)

From dumb + -y. Pacifier sense from dummy teat where dummy is in the sense of a nonfunctional replica.

мор

bridge: the partner of the winning bidder, who shows his or her hand

The baby wants her dummy.

Then on the fifth day, at the first sleep of the day, remove the dummy and follow my settling guide for your baby′s age. You should throw all her dummies in the bin to ensure you are not tempted to use them again – even outside sleep times.

2006, Tizzie Hall, Save Our Sleep: A Parents′ Guide Towards Happy, Sleeping Babies from Birth to Two Years, MacMillan, published 2009, page 200:

No Fairy baby has ever been seen to suck its thumb or to use a dummy.

2008, Bern, Bern's Fairy Tales, page 15:

We′ve found that going cold turkey works best – you check that your baby isn't ill or teething, then throw all dummies away. When your baby cries for her dummy, you can look her in the eye and say, ‘It′s gone,’ and really mean it.

2011, Simone Cave, Caroline Fertleman, Baby to Toddler Month by Month, page 85:

(Australia, New Zealand, UK, Ireland) A pacifier; a plastic or rubber teat used to soothe or comfort a baby.


legend

en-noun

legend (countable and uncountable, plural legends)

From Middle English legende, from Old French legende, from Medieval Latin legenda (“a legend, story, especially the lives of the saints”), from Latin legenda (“things which ought to be read”), from lego (“I read”).

legende

any person of extraordinary accomplishment

I've lost my pen! —Here mate, borrow mine. —You legend.

A person related to a legend or legends.

A person of extraordinary fame or accomplishments.

(UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, colloquial, slang) A cool, nice or helpful person, especially one who is male.


munt

(New Zealand, slang, used by schoolchildren) Something or someone dumb or annoying.


mint

From Middle English mynt, münet (“money, coin”), from Old English mynet (“coin”), from late Proto-West Germanic *munit, from Latin monēta (“place for making coins, coined money”), from the temple of Juno Moneta (named for Monēta mother of the Muses), where coins were made. Doublet of money and manat. The verb is from the noun; Old English mynetian (“to mint”) is a parallel formation.

(UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, slang) Attractive; beautiful; handsome.


bicycle

→ Burmese: ဘိုင်စကယ် (bhuingca.kai)

→ Central Dusun: bosikol

→ Hawaiian: paikikala

desc

→ Kashubian: bajsykla (Canada, United States)

→ Malay: basikal

→ Maltese: bajsikil

→ Maori: paihikara

→ Papiamentu: baiskel

→⇒ Serbo-Croatian: bajs

→ Sranan Tongo: baisigri

Aukan: baisigii

Saramaccan: baisígi

→ Kari'na: paisiki

→ Swahili: baiskeli

→ Tausug: basikul

→ Urdu: بائیسِکَل (bāīsikal)

→ Welsh: beisicl

Borrowed from French bicycle (modern bicyclette), from bi- (“bi-”) + cycle (“cycle”). First attested in English in 1868, and in French in 1847.
(promiscuous woman): From double meaning of ride ("to transport oneself upon" vs. "to mount someone to have sex with them"). A communal bicycle would have many riders.

a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle

a woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle

(British, Australia, New Zealand) A motorbike.


CTV

Canterbury Television
w:Canterbury Television

(New Zealand) Initialism of Canterbury Television, a Canterbury Region television station located in Christchurch, New Zealand.


thrice

PIE word
 *tréyes
From Middle English thrice, thries (“three times, thrice; a third time; repeated three times”), from earlier thrī, thrīe (“three times, thrice; a third time”) (from Old English þriwa, þreowa) + -es (suffix forming adverbs of time, place, and manner) (from Old English -es (suffix forming adverbs)). The word is cognate with Old Frisian thria ("thrice"; > Saterland Frisian träie (“thrice”)), Middle Low German drîes (“thrice”), Middle High German drīes, drīs (“thrice”).

gloss

"thrice"; > Saterland Frisian <i class="Latn mention" lang="stq">träie</i> (“thrice”)

Thrice ore the caddow I mine armes outſpred: / Thrice did I fall, before I once could riſe: / Leaning vpon mine elbow for a reſt, / Nodding, I knockt my chin againſt my breſt. // Then ſigh’d, ſlipt downe, and twixt the ſheete and pillow / I nuzled in, joyn’d knees and chin together: / I dream’d I wore a garland of greene willow. / But ſnuffling low, I prickt me with a fether; / So wakt, the bolſter for my backe I choſe, / And yawning thrice, I rub’d mine eyes and roſe.

1601, Io[hn] Weeuer [i.e., John Weever], The Mirror of Martyrs, or The Life and Death of that Thrice Valiant Captaine, and Most Godly Martyre Sir Iohn Old-castle Knight Lord Cobham, [London]: Printed by V[alentine] S[immes] for William Wood, →OCLC:

The weyward Siſters, hand in hand, / Poſters of the Sea and Land, / Thus doe goe, about, about, / Thrice to thine, and thrice to mine, / And thrice againe, to make vp nine, / Peace, the Charme’s wound vp.

c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii], page 132, column 1:

And the second time the cocke crew : and Peter called to minde the word that Jesus ſaid unto him, Before the cocke crow twiſe, thou ſhalt denie me thriſe. And when he thought thereon, he wept.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Mark 14:72:

How far might I have been on my way by this time! I am made to tread thoſe ſteps thrice over, which I needed not to have trod but once: Yea, now alſo I am like to be benighted, for the day is almoſt ſpent.

1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC, page 47:

Once, twice, thrice, I met Young Lubin on the Green, / once, twice, thrice, Young Lubin he met me, / the firſt time I beheld the Lad he made a humble bow, / I bluſh'd and hung my ſilly head and felt I don't know how, […]

[1805?], [James] Hook, Once, Twice, Thrice, Sung with Great Applause by Mrs. Bland at Vauxhall Gardens, London: Printed for J. Dale, […], →OCLC, stanza 1, pages 4–5:

Roger Wildrake, also, who had twice or thrice put to his eyes what remained of a kerchief, interested by the lady's evident distress, though unable to comprehend the mysterious cause, hastened to assist the divine in supporting so fair a burthen.

1826, [Walter Scott], chapter IV, in Woodstock; Or, The Cavalier. […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, →OCLC, page 107:

And then he [Bedivere] threw the sword into the water as far as he might, and there came an arm and a hand above the water, and met it and caught it, and so shook it thrice and brandished. And then the hand vanished away with the sword in the water.

1918, Thomas Malory, “The Sword Excalibur”, in William Patten, compiler, Heroes and Heroines of Chivalry (The Junior Classics; IV), New York, N.Y.: P[eter] F[enelon] Collier & Son Corporation, →OCLC, page 29:

Seven hours after giving birth […] Kate [Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge] gave the world a first glimpse of their third child, a new Prince of Cambridge. […] Minutes after the brief photocall, the couple headed home with William [the Duke of Cambridge] emerging with his son in a car seat and holding Kate’s hand. “Thrice the worry now,” a smiling William said, holding up three fingers.

2018 April 24, Richard Palmer, “Royal baby: ‘Thrice the worry now!’: Prince William captures the reality of parenthood”, in The Sunday Express, London, archived from the original on 2018-06-15:

In his young Major League career, Paul Skenes has thrice pitched at least eight innings. In those three outings, he allowed a total of four runs and struck out at least eight batters all three times.

2025 June 4, Alex Stumpf, “'Win or Lose,' Skenes out to control what he can control”, in MLB:

(somewhat dated outside Asia, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) Three times.


dag

Perhaps a back-formation from daggy, or, a specialised sense of British dialect dag, a daring feat amongst boys.

(Australia slang, New Zealand, obsolete) An odd or eccentric person; someone who is a bit strange but amusingly so.


TVNZ

(New Zealand) Initialism of Television New Zealand: the national state-owned broadcaster of New Zealand.


ne

Then, he had only chuckled again and said, “Well, we got him on the way, ne?”

1983, Keri Hulme, The Bone People, Penguin, published 1986, page 6:

(New Zealand) "Isn't that so?" (used in representations of Maori English).


OE

(New Zealand) Initialism of Overseas Experience.


GST

goods and services tax
goods and services tax#English

(Australia, Canada, New Zealand, India, Singapore) Initialism of goods and services tax.


po

Yoruba: póò

‘Pos’ or ‘chamber pots’ were provided under the beds.

1988, Richard Hoggart, A Local Habitation, 1918-40, Chatto & Windus, →ISBN, page 67:

There are always several spitoons & pos [chamber pots] about the room & a loathesome smell of consumption, which I expect I shall catch.

1989, Leonard Woolf, edited by Frederic Spotts, Letters of Leonard Woolf, page 86:

Shaking the last few drops from off the end he looked down in surprise at the great head of steam that brimmed above the po, belatedly apprised of just how icy the October garret was.

2016, Alan Moore, Jerusalem, Liveright, published 2016, page 44:

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, colloquial, dated) A chamberpot.


pa

The very existence of fortified pā was often a sign that those who lived near such complexes sought to discourage attack and wanted to make conflict less likely, not more so.

2003, Michael King, The Penguin History of Aotearoa New Zealand, Penguin, published 2023, page 71:

A pa or Māori defence fortification appears at a height on the hill above the bay.

2020, Sujit Sivasundaram, Waves Across the South, William Collins, published 2021, page 68:

(New Zealand, now historical) A fortified Maori settlement, especially of pre-European times.

(New Zealand) Any Maori village or settlement; a kainga.


milkshake

(New England, Australia, New Zealand) A thin beverage, similar to the above, but with no ice cream or significantly less of it.


bach

The New York Times
The New York Times Company

Abbreviation of bachelor (or, in later senses, of bachelor pad).

(New Zealand) A small hut, epecially for a man living alone.

She stops the car by an ochre-coloured bach at the end of the beachline, by the shelter of a massive thicket of African thorn.

1983, Keri Hulme, The Bone People, Penguin, published 1986, page 163:

Even before he began his chores he sunbathed naked against the east wall of the bach for half an hour.

1984, Janet Frame, An Angel at my Table, Virago, published 2024, page 263:

From 1931 until his death in 1982, Sargeson lived a monastic life in a bach at Takapuna, writing in the mornings and tending his garden and entertaining friends in the latter part of the day.

2003, Michael King, The Penguin History of Aotearoa New Zealand, Penguin, published 2023, page 371:

(New Zealand) Now specifically, a holiday home, typically a small, simple house of one or two rooms on the beach.


bach

en-verb

bach (third-person singular simple present baches, present participle baching, simple past and past participle bached)

baches (present singular third-person)
baching (participle present)
bached (participle past)
bached (past)

I hurried home to the tent—I was batching with a carpenter.

(Canada, US, Australia, New Zealand, now rare) To live as a bachelor; (chiefly of a man) to live without women, and do one's own cooking, housekeeping etc.


ordinary

en-adj

ordinary (comparative more ordinary, superlative most ordinary)

more ordinary (comparative)
most ordinary (superlative)
ordinarie (alternative obsolete)

extraordinary

antonym(s) of “having no special characteristics”

/ˈɔɹdɪnɛ(ə)ɹi/

From Anglo-Norman ordenarie, ordenaire et al., Middle French ordinaire, and their source, Medieval Latin ordinarius, noun use of Latin ōrdinārius (“regular, orderly”), from ōrdō (“order”).

1983 September 20, Bruce Stannard, Australia II Joins Our Greats, The Age, republished 2003, David Headon (editor), The Best Ever Australian Sports Writing: A 200 Year Collection, page 480,
It was, in some ways a sad, almost pathetic sight to see this great American boat which had fought so hard throughout the cup summer, now looking very ordinary indeed.

1961, Joanna White, quoted in 2005, A. James Hammerton, Alistair Thomson, Ten Pound Poms: Australia′s Invisible Migrants, page 80,
For myself, I loved adventure and travelling. I′d already done quite a bit of travelling in Europe and — couldn′t get enough of it and whilst my marriage, at that stage, was very happy, he was very entrenched as a Londoner, Cockney, absolutely Cockney Londoner, and I could see that our future was pretty ordinary and so my hidden agenda I suppose was to drag him out to Australia and hope that both our lifestyles would improve and there would be new opportunities.

Everyone started making suggestions as to what to do but they were all pretty ordinary ideas such as lighting a fire and hope someone would see the smoke and come to rescue us and so on.

2007, Chris Viner-Smith, Australia′s Forgotten Frontier: The Unsung Police Who Held Our PNG Front Line, page 28:

Since the general public gained access to the Internet in 1993-4, firstly by narrowband dial-up access and since 1998 by very ordinary, so-called broadband speeds (generally less than 1 Mbps), a social and cultural revolution has been underway.

2010, Mal Bryce, Australia's First Online Community Ipswich Queensland, page 125:

(Australia, New Zealand, colloquial, informal) Bad or undesirable.


college

colleges (plural)
colledg (alternative obsolete)
colledge (alternative obsolete)

⇒ Bengali: কলেজ (kolej)

→ Finnish: college

⇒ Hindustani:

desc

Hindi: कालिज (kālij), कॉलेज (kŏlej), कालेज (kālej)

Urdu: کالِج (kālij)

→ Russian: ко́лледж (kólledž), колле́дж (kollédž)

→ Serbo-Croatian:

Cyrillic script: ко̀леџ

Latin script: kòledž

→ Slovene: koledž

→ Ukrainian: ко́ле́дж (kólédž)

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *ḱe-?
Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm
Proto-Italic *kom
Old Latin com
Latin cum
Latin con-
Latin lēx
Latin -ō
Latin lēgō
Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂
Proto-Italic *-ā
Latin -a
Latin collēga
Proto-Indo-European *-yós
Old Latin -ios
Latin -ius
Latin -ium
Latin collēgiumbor.
Old French college
Middle French collegebor.
Middle English college
English college
From Middle English college, from Middle French college, from Old French college, from Latin collēgium. Doublet of collegium.

大專 /大专

postsecondary institution that does not award bachelor's degrees

مَعْهَد

non-specialized, semi-autonomous division of a university

Eton College

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa) A high school or secondary school.

An academic institution.
A high school or secondary school.

私立高中

in the formal names of private schools: secondary school


public school

public schools (plural)
public-school (alternative)

From public (originally, "communal" and contrasted with personal tutors; later, "state-run" and contrasted with private schools) + school.

The Court voted for the erecting a Publick Schooll or Colledge in Cambridge.

1636, Harvard College Records, published 1925, I.171:

The Governor and Provincial Council shall erect and order all public Schooles.

1683, Pennsylvania Frame of Government, §10:

By Act of Parliament no school is to be kept within two miles of a publick school.

1702, Henry Paton, Minnigaff Parish Records: the Session Book of Minnigaff, 1694-1750, published 1939:

A subscription... by a great part of the settlers and others to build a Public School at the Green Hills.

1804 August 12, Sydney Gazette, section 1:

Hardly anywhere in France... can the private boys' schools, whether they be lay or congreganist, hold their own in the competition with the public schools.

1861, Matthew Arnold, The Popular Education of France, with Notices of that of Holland and Switzerland, x.105:

Every school under the management of the school board of a parish shall be deemed a parish school, and every school under the management of the school board of a burgh shall be deemed a burgh school, and all such schools are hereby declared to be public schools within the meaning of this Act.

1872, Acts of Parliament 35 & 36 under Victoria (Scotland), c.62, §25

Public Schools... are distinguished from those which until recently were entitled Grammar Schools.

As to the two races involved in this question of public schools the difference is this: the negroes do not wish mixed schools; the white people will not have them.

If our public schools fail to furnish an education fully as good as can be obtained in private schools, intelligent, conscientious, and well-to-do parents will withdraw their children.

Public Schools. Course of Instruction... Class III. To include at least reading, writing, arithmetic, outlines of history and geography, and lessons on natural objects.

1904, Cape of Good Hope C.S. List, section 267:

The term ‘public school’ has a different connotation in New Zealand. It implies the Borough or County school; the school provided by the State.

1932, Nelle Scanlan, Pencarrow, section 256:

(Canada, US, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Philippines, formerly Scottish) A publicly funded and administered school; (UK, Ireland) such schools in the context of other countries