Australian Bush Terminology.
Artesian Bore: Hole drilled for underground water. Also the dam or 'turkey nest' that holds the water
The Babbler’s Brownie: The cooks fruit cake. ‘Babbler' is slang for ‘Babbling Brook` = cook.
Baitlayer: The Cook. Also known as "The Poisoner".
Bangtail Muster: A muster organised to make a correct count of
cattle on huge stations.Stockmen camp on a waterhole for sevreral days
, ride among the cattle cutting the tails hair off square so it will
not be counted twice, if it appears at another waterhole during the
muster.
Barcoo Rot: Outback form of scurvy
Bedourie Oven: See Camp Oven.
Bedourie Snow: A dust storm.
Blow: Take a blow. Have a rest. A strong wind.
Blue Dogs Fosters Beer. Also a name for the Australian Cattle dog.
Billy: A tin can with a wire handle used to boil water in which to make tea.
Blucher: A name commonly given to Blue Heeler Cattle Dogs. As pups they often slept in their owner’s blucher boots.
Bluey: Swag.("Hump ya Bluey") Carry your swag. Also known as a Matilda or Bedroll.
Billabong: A water hole in the bed of a river that is not
flowing. Tha aboriginal 'Billa' means a creek or river and 'Bong' means
dead (not running)
Buck: A derogatory word applied to Aboriginal men.
Bush Champagne: Methylated Spirits and Sal Vital.
Camp oven: A cast iron oven with a wire handle, capable of being buried in coals to effect ‘oven` type cooking on an open fire.
Cleanskins: Unbranded cattle.
Cigarette swags:Thin bedrolls. Early drovers used to ensure the
swags of their men would pass through the spokes of a wagon wheel to
minimize the load for their pack-horses.
Cockies Joy: Golden Syrup
Concertina leggins (leggins): Short, expandable (up and down), soft leather leggins worn over riding boots, especially in rough country.
Condamine Bell: A large bell hung around horse’s necks to locate them in heavy scrub when grazing. From the Condamine River area of Queensland.
Crossbar Motel: Jail.
Damper: A huge scone, cooked either in a camp oven or in the coals of a camp fire.
Dip: (the mob) Putting cattle through a ‘dip`; a long trough filled with disinfected water designed to kill ticks.
Dog's EyePie.
Drovers: People engaged in the long distance movement of stock.
Droughted in: Where stock can not be moved forward or backward due to lack of water and/or feed.
Duffing Stealing (cattle).
Drafting.Separating stock for specific purposes, like branding, weaning, selecting a mob for a droving trip.
Flat Dogs Crocodiles
Galah: A gregarious Australian parrot, but also a nickname applied to a person deemed to be stupid.
Gin: A derogartory word applied to Aboriginal women.
Greenhide: Untanned leather cut from cattle hide.
Horse-tailer: A first class stockman who looks after all the horses in a mustering camp.
Monkies A derogartory name for sheep.
Monkey holt: (hold): Greenhide handgrip near the pommel of a saddle.
Mob: A word used to describe a large, undomesticated group of cattle, as distinct from ‘herd`.
Mustering: The gathering together of stock.
Moleskins: The durable, tight-fitting cotton trousers (usually white) worn by Australian stockmen.
Never Never: Way out back where you could never ever leave, or would never ever go back.
Night horse. The reliable, intelligent horse kept tethered at night in case of emergency.
O.T.Line: The Overland Telegraph Line.
Overland Trout Goana
Plant: The drover’s horses, pack and riding gear.
Push: See also ‘stage'. A concerted effort.
Paraway: (Far away) The knickname given by Aboriginals to the legendary Nat Buchanan.
Quart Pot:A "Billy" that holds approx. a quart of water.
Redwater: Tick fever. Derived from blood-coloured urine from cattle with tick fevef.
Red-Eye Bream: Barramundi caught out of season.
Ringers: Stockmen. The Australian equivalent of the word, ‘Cowboy`, but Australian stockmen are never called ‘cowboys`.
Road trains: Huge motor trucks used to cart stock by road. (Double-decker semis with multiple "dogs")
Rooter: A horse that bucks.
Riders: (on gates) (as in ‘Andy’s Gone With Cattle). Timber slats used to lock two wooden gates together.
Rush: The wild, uncontrollable running of cattle, particularly
at night. The equivalent of the word ‘stampede`, but is never used in
Australia.
Shank's Pony: On foot. To walk.
Square Hook Illegal(undersize mesh) Fishing Net. Also Diamond Line.
Stages: (e.g. dry stages). The various parts of a cattle droving trip.
Station: A large area of land on which sheep or cattle are grazed. Equals ‘ranch`, but ‘ranch` is never used in Australian parlance.
Selection: A block of land ‘selected` for grazing.
Squatter: A large land holder.
Swag: Bedroll and belongings rolled in a canvas sheet and tied with straps.
Tucker: Food.
The Makeings: Tobacco and papers.
The ‘Wet`: The rainy season.
Underground Mutton: Rabbit meat.
Windbreak: Wife/Girlfriend.
Whipping: (water). Drawing water from a well using an animal to
‘whip up` the water by pulling ropes to raise and lower buckets
simultaneously.
Yeller Feller: A person of mixed race.
Yards: Stoutly built post and rail holding areas, used to hold
and/or draft cattle and sheep. Equals ‘corral` but ‘corral’ is not used
in Australian parlance.
