#44549
10/14/2001 3:20 PM
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Joined: Nov 2000
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old hand
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old hand
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I don't even know how to spell the word in question, but where does the slang term "burl" come from when it is used instead of go or turn.
eg:
"Stales, it's your turn to make a post"
(replies) "Righto, I'll give it a burl"
stales
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#44550
10/14/2001 3:48 PM
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Joined: Oct 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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) "Righto, I'll give it a burl"
definately some sort of ozzie slang.. Here in US, we'd
Give it a whirl if we wanted to take a turn or try at something.
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#44551
10/14/2001 4:01 PM
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Joined: Aug 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Agreed, Helen. Never heard of "give it a burl" (stales, are you pulling our collective legs?), but "give it a whirl" is well known. (pop song from the 60's, "C'on, baby let's give it a whirl / I wanna know if you'll be my girl." Title was "Hey, baby" [such wonderful writing, no?]; can't recall the singer.)
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#44552
10/14/2001 6:19 PM
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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And there's "give it a go" for a difficult task.
But "burl?" What's going on down there at the top of the world? Blood rushing to your head?
Later Ah-HA! Tried burl in OED and it gave reference to birl and birl means a spin, a twist, a whirl, a try, an attempt esp in writing!
Another entry gave it as "a knot" so that ties in with a dificult task.
Trumpets!
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#44553
10/14/2001 7:25 PM
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Posts: 3,146
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Yep, I could have given you this one had I checked the Board earlier, Stales. And no, it's not a leg-pull you doubting Thomases and Thomasinas. It's the straight poop. 
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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#44554
10/14/2001 10:49 PM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,074 Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Subject: birl
I've always thought of birling as what lumberjacks do on a log -- they have "birling contests" at which two of them stand at opposite ends of the same log and each tries to get each other to lose his balance (hopelessly chauvinistic and out of date, but then I don't know of too many in-the-water lumberjills) (neologism but it seems like the right appellation) by spinning the log aggressively. Yes? Are there other uses?
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#44555
10/14/2001 11:19 PM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866
old hand
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old hand
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WOW WOW (again)
Now that the fanfare has ceased ringing around the halls....
Thanks for that - at least we now have the spelling down pat. However, was there any reference to whether birl was slang, OzEnglish or whatever? Anything else on the etymology? It's a strange word.
I gotta start doing a few more serious posts....too many aren't taking me seriously.
stales
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#44556
10/15/2001 2:11 AM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,289
veteran
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veteran
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The lumberjacks' birling contests are no more outre or antiquated than those Scottish contests where big hefty guys heave telephone poles around (I believe they call them cabers or something like that); moreover, they do it while wearing a skirt!
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#44558
10/15/2001 4:03 AM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866
old hand
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Jackie
So what you're saying is that we're back where we started? Anybody else got any ideas? (pleading emoticon) I'm tempted by the Canadian application however. Do lumberpeople say that they are going to have a birl? If so, I think we've got a strong contender for the word's etymology.
BTW - thoroughly enjoyed the OzSpeak site - some of the phrases are beauties....."as flash as a rat with a gold tooth". Hehehehehe
The probable misspelling of "birl" (as "burl") reminds me of "burd" - which, I believe is the correct spelling of a word for "young woman". The slang of the 70's taught us all that it is spelt "bird".
stales
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#44559
10/15/2001 4:57 AM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866
old hand
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old hand
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Got it!! (I think)
The word "whirl" can be substituted for "birl" - ie, "C'mon stales, give it a whirl". Following the thought further, it's only a very small step to thinking of taking one's turn as taking one's chance (in trying to do something). Ergo, we are now considering whirling and birling in the context of a game of chance. Thus, surpise surprise, the expression may have had its origin in the famous Oz game of 2-up (which, as I'm sure you are all aware of, 2 pennies are spun in the air and the outcomes bet upon - 2 heads, 2 tails or a split). The person that flips the coins, the spinner, is giving the pennies a birl. As the spinner's role can be filled by any of the assembled punters, each could say, "I'll give it a birl" as they stepped into the circle.
Another game of chance contender is the "chocolate wheel" - that firm favourite of pubs, school fetes, returned serviceman's ("RSL") clubs etc. You know, the big wooden disk with nails around its perimeter against which a strip of rubber flaps.
Whaddya reckon? I think the "twirl" definition DID crack it - big thanks.
stales
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#44560
10/15/2001 5:03 AM
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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stales, it may be that we have two phrases (i.e., give it a burl/whirl) linked by coincidence (or not). the folks at OED don't seem to have made a direct connection, for they give us:
burl n. [App. var. north. dial. birl a whirring sound, a rapid twist or turn, etc. (see E.D.D. and Sc. Nat. Dict.); cf. birl v. to revolve, rotate.] 1. ? Roundness, fullness. poet.
2. Also birl. An attempt, a try, a test; esp. in phr. to give it a burl, to make an attempt. Austral. and N.Z. colloq.
birl v. Scot. [A modern word: apparently onomatopœic; having probably association with birr, whirr, whirl, hurl, and Sc. dirl, pirl, in all of which there is a reference to vibration or rotation and its sound.]
1. intr. To move on with rotatory motion, as a rifle bullet; also fig.
2. To revolve or rotate rapidly and with characteristic noise.
the vbl n. birling would seem to fall out of the lattermost sense.
-joe (I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay) friday
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#44561
10/15/2001 11:08 AM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Whirl, burl; whirly-burly; hurly-burly...hurdy-gurdy(?). ============================================================ tsuwm: you dress in women's clothing??? Well, that's ok...I guess... 
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#44562
10/15/2001 3:12 PM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605
Carpal Tunnel
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Helen: >definitely some sort of ozzie slang..
OED: >esp. in phr. to give it a burl, to make an attempt. Austral. and N.Z. colloq.
Nicely done, Helen!
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#44563
10/15/2001 3:53 PM
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Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Keiva, even a stopped clock gets to right twice a day!
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#44564
10/15/2001 4:37 PM
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Posts: 2,605
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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even a stopped clock Still, I have to hand it to you, Helen, for chiming in on this one!
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#44565
10/15/2001 4:54 PM
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
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Here in the US these are seen at carnivals, where they are called dice wheels.
They are used in Kentucky for determining when to wean horses. Basically, adult horses run faster if they are weaned sooner. Hence the expression "A foal and her mummy are soon parted."
TEd
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#44566
10/16/2001 10:45 PM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Carpal Tunnel
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TEd, do you have a licence or something? And does it cost much? Where do you get them? Time they put the fees up, I think!
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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#44567
10/17/2001 1:04 AM
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
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So we have:
Have a go = give it a birl = give it a whirl
What about "take a stab at it," which means the same thing but seems a tad more, um, rough. Does anybody have an idea as to origin of this particular variation?
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#44568
10/17/2001 1:14 AM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 618
addict
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addict
Joined: Jan 2001
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One of my favourite blackadder sequences... From http://www.totse.com/en/ego/science_fiction/ba2-2.htmlE = Edmund Blackadder C = a young crone E: Tell me young crone, is this Putney? C: That it be, that it be. E: "Yes it is". Not "that it be". You don't have to talk in that stupid voice to me. I'm not a tourist. I seek information about a Wisewoman. C: Ah, the Wisewoman.. the Wisewoman. E: Yes, the Wisewoman. C: Two things, my lord, must thee know of the Wisewoman. First, she is ... a woman, and second, she is ... E: .. wise? C: You do know her then? E: No, just a wild stab in the dark which is incidentally what you'll be getting if you don't start being a bit more helpful. Do you know where she lives? C: Of course. E: Where? C: Here. Do you have an appointment? E: No. C: Well, you can go in anyway. E: Thank you young crone. Here is a purse of money ... which I'm not going to give to you. And yes, I do realise this doesn't answer the question.
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#44569
10/17/2001 9:15 AM
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Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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#44570
10/17/2001 4:50 PM
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Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
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A chocolate wheel is a game in which you put up a small wager and spin the wheel, hoping to win a major prize. I am assuming that the mainstay prize is a chocolate candy that would have much lesser value than the wager.
Vanna
TEd
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#44571
10/21/2001 12:40 PM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866
old hand
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old hand
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Keiva
Nice of you to be nice to Helen - but the whole point of the post was where does this piece of Ozzie slang come from?
I now suspect that it's all to do with birling/burling = spinning and thus a reference to taking a chance.
stales
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