Australian Tea Ceremonies

This may be a little bit complicated, so sit down. I am only going to deal with the absolute essentials.

We drink tea in Australia.

Rule 1: Wherever you are, you cannot boil the water more than once. Boil it twice and the water is ruined – chuck it out.

Rule 2: When you are onthewallaby (working, travelling or looking for tucker (food) for a legitimate reason in the wilderness) or gonewalkabout (travelling about for no other reason than it seems to be the right thing to do at the time), stockmen (jackaroos) or stockwomen (jillaroos) must stop to drink tea a couple of times a day and night.

Rule 3: On your nag (horse) you must carry a large light-metal can with a metal handle (1-2 litres, called a billy) - filled with ingredients for making tea - tea leaves, sugar, matches and gum leaves.

Rule 4: At night, in the high country, when you boil the billy (make a small camp fire and boil water and water and gum leaves in the billy) you are expected to tell a yarn (a story which must have some semblance of truth, but which is exceptional in some way) while the dingo come sit around the camp, just out of distance of a stone (a goodstonethrowaway) and howl at you.

Rule 5: Bread with real butter must accompany tea when it is available. 

 Now you know onthewallaby, tucker, gonewalkabout, jackaroo, jillaroo, nag, yarn, billy, boil the billy and a goodstonethrowaway. Practice these, in case you end up getting transported to the never-never. 

Supplementary list (noting that the above is a bit light on)

a fair knock out: well dressed in a rigout

a sport: the best

bats on: infatuated with

blinkin nark: informant

bull headed: conceited

clearing out: leaving

cop out: take or avoid a punishment

cripes: something to say while thinking of something meaningful to say

dead broke: insufficient cash to get stonkered

gadding: walking forth with the appearance of doing one thing while intent on another

goat: nerve

hot as mustard: cool

onion, noggin: head

pandy: to throw tennis balls at, maliciously

peacherino topnotch knock out: a fair knock out with the highest possible accolade

rigout: clothing attended with advanced engineering

ropeable: beyond the reach of reasonable argument

smooging up to: abandoning principles in order to be accepted

snout: nose

stonkered, inked to  the eyebrows, full up to the back teeth, blithered, full as a tick: intoxicated but still standing

to bear up: to get close enough to hug another

to bull up: to approach another (intending to bear up), without showing any trepidation

to own up fair and square: to commit to something

whang opinion: corporal punishment

This came about in a G+ exchange https://plus.google.com/+PeterQuinton/posts/jXNXjs6XAww which reminds me why I love this place. To own up fair and square, +Nina Anthonijsz, who is a good sport, prompted this.

This post was used in the novel Dragons Eye which also includes an attempt to use the language of New Zealanders as well.

Peter Quinton

Palerang

February 2015