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Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread Page 1 of 2 1 2 #3389 - 06/09/00 06:16 PM Australian words   Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,538 tsuwm Carpal Tunnel tsuwm   Carpal Tunnel Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,538 this too shall pass Today's M-W word-of-the-day is the Aussie gem 'wowser', an obtrusively puritanical person -- which it also gives as origin unknown. Any ideas from down under? #3390 - 06/10/00 10:05 AM Re: Wowser   Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 140 lusy member lusy   member Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 140 Melbourne, Australia The following is largely from The Oxford Companion To Australian Literature: Defined by the Macquarie Dictionary as 'a prudish teetotaller' or 'a killjoy' and by C.J. Dennis (read him for heaps of Aussie culture and folklore) as an 'ineffably pious person who mistakes this world for a penitentiary and himself for a warder'. A term of uncertain origin, popularly accepted to be an acronym coined by by John Norton, owner of the (bloody marvellous, now defunct newspaper Truth) signifying "We Only Want Social Evils Remedied—or Righted". Another suggestion is from "rouser" a term for religious fanatics current in Victoria in the 1870s. The wowser had his heyday from the 1880s to the end of WW1 and was frequently depicted in cartoons as bearded, wearing a small, flat hat or a gimlet, and carrying the universal symbol of a wowser, an umbrella. Rgds, lusy #3391 - 06/10/00 07:21 PM Re: Wowser   Joined: May 2000 Posts: 112 David108 member David108   member Joined: May 2000 Posts: 112 Auckland, New Zealand Here it is, folks - the definitive (?) Australian slang site, with thanks to http://www.Google.com http://goaustralia.about.com/travel/goaustralia/library/weekly/blstrine.htm #3392 - 06/10/00 07:54 PM Re: Australian words   Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,538 tsuwm Carpal Tunnel tsuwm   Carpal Tunnel Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,538 this too shall pass here's one that's mystified me ever since I happened upon it -- how did the word bluey come to be the nickname for a redhead?! #3393 - 06/10/00 10:04 PM avagoodweegend   Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 1,981 jmh Pooh-Bah jmh   Pooh-Bah Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 1,981 Well spotted. I would give a XXXX for that! It's a bit of a beut. Yours A pom #3394 - 06/11/00 07:42 AM Re: avagoodweegend   Joined: May 2000 Posts: 112 David108 member David108   member Joined: May 2000 Posts: 112 Auckland, New Zealand >>I would give a XXXX for that! << ...thanks - will you come to New Zealand, or will it keep until I visit your part of the Planet? #3395 - 06/11/00 04:59 PM Re: avagoodweegend   Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 11,613 Jackie Jackie   Carpal Tunnel Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 11,613 Louisville, Kentucky Tell you what, David-- Jo and I will meet you at paulb's party. She can bring her XXXX, I'll bring a slab ot two, and you can introduce us to Adrian Quist! AnnaS's Jack Daniels would be nice to meet, too, if she can bring him. Once again, Tsuwm--thanks for the neat site! #3396 - 06/11/00 07:43 PM Re: avagoodweegend   Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,538 tsuwm Carpal Tunnel tsuwm   Carpal Tunnel Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,538 this too shall pass Friday night we attended 'Eric Idle shamelessly exploits Monty Python'; of course, he reprised the Four Bruces sketch, which included the Philosopher's Song... http://www.library.adelaide.edu.au/guide/hum/philosophy/philos_song.html #3397 - 06/12/00 05:01 AM Re: Wowser   Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 3,065 Bingley Carpal Tunnel Bingley   Carpal Tunnel Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 3,065 Jakarta In reply to: The wowser had his heyday from the 1880s to the end of WW1 and was frequently depicted in cartoons as bearded, wearing a small, flat hat or a gimlet, and carrying the universal symbol of a wowser, an umbrella. How do you wear a gimlet? Is it the name of the type of hat? I thought a gimlet was a cobbler's tool for making holes in leather. Bingley Bingley #3398 - 06/12/00 11:59 AM Re: Wowser   Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 460 paulb addict paulb   addict Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 460 Hobart, Tasmania, Australia Bingley: SOED, in addition to the tool to which you are referring, also has 'piercing, penetrating' (as of eyes) and a 20th century cocktail (which sounds most unlikely in the circumstances!). Perhaps there's a link with umbrellas here (or screwdrivers -- in the drinks department). An Australian journalist, Keith Dunstan, wrote a book called 'Wowsers' a few years ago. If I can find a copy I'll let you know. Page 1 of 2 1 2 Moderated by  Jackie  Hop To General Topics ------   Information and announcements   Q&A about words   Wordplay and fun   Words and languages in schools   Miscellany   Weekly Themes   Looking for (writers, speakers, ...) (Old) Weekly themes. 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