WHAT'S IN A NAME, MATE?

A Sideways Glance at the Hidden Meaning of Aussie Place Names

There are many place names around the world that cry out to tell you their true meaning. Well, perhaps not their ridgey didge true meaning, but who has ever looked at the name Footscray and not felt that it probably also exists as an entry in a medical dictionary? Or Patchewollock, or Humpty Doo? Exactly.

This work attempts to do for (or to) Australian place names what Douglas Adams and John Lloyd did for Britain and the rest of the world, in The Meaning of Liff and The Deeper Meaning of Liff.

Words by Duncan Waldron, illustrations by Matt Davis.

Creative Commons License
This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Licence.

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See Why am I doing this? for something approaching a motive.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Caboolture - Connewirrecoo

Caboolture n
Any suspicious mouldy growth in a taxi, a week after it has carried a vomiting drunk.

Catumnal adj
Descriptive of the time of year in which the cat decides that summer is over, and you should now light the open fire, please.

Chain of Lagoons n
Three or more concurrent instances of Bacchus Marsh (qv), in the same vicinity.

Chorkerup exclam
A request to provide goods on credit.

Clonduff
1. v To habitually misspell a word again and again on the computer, repeating the error perfectly each time. This can give rise to a paranoid concern about (i) your ability to spell, or (ii) a brain tumour.
2. n A false claim to belong to an ancient Celtic clan, and therefore to have the right to wear the kilt, eat haggis bare-handed and toss the caber on common ground.

Clontarf n
A pathetic expanse of grass, virtually destroyed by informal juvenile football games, drought, etc, especially if adjacent to an immaculately kept lawn.

Cocklebiddy n
A pleasantly inebriated person, who has reached the friendly but unstable stage.

Coffs Harbour n
The source of the minuscule amounts of tenacious mucous that are responsible for the sort of pathetic, tickly cough that is impossible to get rid of in one triumphant, satisfying "harrumph", such as a Euroka Clearing (qv).

Connangorach n
A proud fondness for porridge, especially where salt is the only embellishment.

Connewirrecoo n
Any question asked in a strange and utterly unintelligible dialect or accent, for which no answer will be convincing enough to save face. cf Barnie Bolac, Tullochgorum.

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