"wouldn't shout if a shark bit him" meaning in English

See wouldn't shout if a shark bit him in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Audio: en-au-wouldn't shout if a shark bit him.ogg
Etymology: A play on shout, which can mean either “to scream” or “to buy drinks”. Head templates: {{head|en|verb}} wouldn't shout if a shark bit him
  1. (Australia, idiomatic) To be frugal or miserly. Tags: Australia, idiomatic
{
  "etymology_text": "A play on shout, which can mean either “to scream” or “to buy drinks”.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "verb"
      },
      "expansion": "wouldn't shout if a shark bit him",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Australian English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English negative polarity items",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English predicates",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Money",
          "orig": "en:Money",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              54,
              68
            ],
            [
              83,
              101
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1988, James Oram, G'day America: The Paul Hogan Story, Topsfield, Mass.: Salem House Publishers, →ISBN, page 25:",
          "text": "'Yeah, he's as silly as a two-bob watch. And mean. He wouldn't shout [buy a drink] if a shark bit him.' 'Too right, he's got snakes in his pockets. Anyhow, how's the punting?' 'No luck, mate.[…]'",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              150,
              183
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2007, Andrea Mayes, Shearwater, Camberwell, Vic.: Penguin Books Australia, →ISBN:",
          "text": "'Must be Martin's shout,' says one of them. The others roar with laughter. It's always Martin's shout but he's never there when you need him. 'Martin wouldn't shout if a shark bit him,' Harry explains to the tourist, filling up his glass.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              258,
              291
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2010, John Pullinger, The Last Jeep to Baclaran, Fremantle, W.A.: Vivid Publishing, →ISBN:",
          "text": "Weasel was noted for the outlandish stories of his sexual and other exploits in Australia and the Philippines. No one believed him and he was generally considered a pain in the arse. To make matters worse he was known to have a \"death adder\" in his pocket. \"Wouldn't shout if a shark bit him\", was the general opinion.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              93,
              126
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2014 August 14, J. D. Frodsham, Fool's Mate, Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 66:",
          "text": "He was a fat, balding, bad-tempered man, with a deserved reputation for stinginess. \"Bastard wouldn't shout if a shark bit him,\" Dusty used to say, punning on \"shout.\"",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To be frugal or miserly."
      ],
      "id": "en-wouldn't_shout_if_a_shark_bit_him-en-verb-lYlx500D",
      "links": [
        [
          "frugal",
          "frugal"
        ],
        [
          "miserly",
          "miserly"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(Australia, idiomatic) To be frugal or miserly."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Australia",
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-wouldn't shout if a shark bit him.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/61/En-au-wouldn%27t_shout_if_a_shark_bit_him.ogg/En-au-wouldn%27t_shout_if_a_shark_bit_him.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/En-au-wouldn%27t_shout_if_a_shark_bit_him.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "wouldn't shout if a shark bit him"
}
{
  "etymology_text": "A play on shout, which can mean either “to scream” or “to buy drinks”.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "verb"
      },
      "expansion": "wouldn't shout if a shark bit him",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Australian English",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English negative polarity items",
        "English predicates",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English verbs",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "en:Money"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              54,
              68
            ],
            [
              83,
              101
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1988, James Oram, G'day America: The Paul Hogan Story, Topsfield, Mass.: Salem House Publishers, →ISBN, page 25:",
          "text": "'Yeah, he's as silly as a two-bob watch. And mean. He wouldn't shout [buy a drink] if a shark bit him.' 'Too right, he's got snakes in his pockets. Anyhow, how's the punting?' 'No luck, mate.[…]'",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              150,
              183
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2007, Andrea Mayes, Shearwater, Camberwell, Vic.: Penguin Books Australia, →ISBN:",
          "text": "'Must be Martin's shout,' says one of them. The others roar with laughter. It's always Martin's shout but he's never there when you need him. 'Martin wouldn't shout if a shark bit him,' Harry explains to the tourist, filling up his glass.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              258,
              291
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2010, John Pullinger, The Last Jeep to Baclaran, Fremantle, W.A.: Vivid Publishing, →ISBN:",
          "text": "Weasel was noted for the outlandish stories of his sexual and other exploits in Australia and the Philippines. No one believed him and he was generally considered a pain in the arse. To make matters worse he was known to have a \"death adder\" in his pocket. \"Wouldn't shout if a shark bit him\", was the general opinion.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              93,
              126
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2014 August 14, J. D. Frodsham, Fool's Mate, Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 66:",
          "text": "He was a fat, balding, bad-tempered man, with a deserved reputation for stinginess. \"Bastard wouldn't shout if a shark bit him,\" Dusty used to say, punning on \"shout.\"",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To be frugal or miserly."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "frugal",
          "frugal"
        ],
        [
          "miserly",
          "miserly"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(Australia, idiomatic) To be frugal or miserly."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Australia",
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-wouldn't shout if a shark bit him.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/61/En-au-wouldn%27t_shout_if_a_shark_bit_him.ogg/En-au-wouldn%27t_shout_if_a_shark_bit_him.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/En-au-wouldn%27t_shout_if_a_shark_bit_him.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "wouldn't shout if a shark bit him"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-06-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-05-20 using wiktextract (3dadd05 and f1c2b61). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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