Australianisms; more illness; March’s poem

I’ve begun another Peter Temple novel, The Broken Shore. It has a glossary of Australian terms.

Abo. Abbreviation for “Aboriginal.” The usage is derogatory or racist except in Aboriginal English.

Aggro. “Aggression” or “aggressive.” (Just takes two or three drinks, then he gets aggro.)

Ambo. An ambulance or an ambulance worker. (The following sentence is possible: Mate, the last thing I needed was an ambo with an aggro ambo.)

Bickie. A cookie. Abbreviation of biscuit.

Bloodhouse. A hotel known for its fights.

Blow-in. A term of scorn for a newcomer, particularly one who voices an opinion about local affairs or tries to change anything. (Bloody blow-in, what does she know about this town?) [Is Temple a blow-in? He immigrated from South Africa.]

Bludger. Once, a man living off a prostitute’s earnings; now applied to anyone who shirks work, duty or obligation. A dole bludger is someone who would rather live on unemployment benefits than take a job.

Bluey. A workman’s hard-wearing cotton jacket. It can also be a blanket, a cattle dog, or a red-haired person. [Also, a children’s cartoon series on Disney Plus (in the U.S.), and a character therein – a talking dog.]

And so on. A few more:

Hoon. Once a procurer of prostitutes, but now any badly behaved person, usually a young male. Irresponsible young drivers are hoons who go for a hoon in their cars. Mark Twain uses the expression as drunk as hoons in Sketches Old and New, where it presumably derives from “Huns.”

Macca’s. The popular name for McDonald’s. It is also used for anything eaten at McDonald’s. (We had Macca’s for lunch.)

Pommy. Someone from England. The English are often known as Pommy bastards. This has been known to be said affectionately. The term derives from “pomegranate” as rhyming slang for “immigrant.”

Salvo. A member of the Salvation Army. [“Sally” or, less commonly, “Sally Ann” in Britain, Canada, or the U.S.]

Spaggy bol. Spaghetti bolognese. Also called spag bol. Italian immigrants to Australia were once called spags.

Suckhole. A vulgar term for one who curries favor with others, an obsequious person. A future leader of the Australian Labor Party once described those in the Liberal Party who looked to America for leadership as a conga line of suckholes.

Swaggie. An itinerant, a person of no fixed address who carries all his belongings in a swag. (A celebrated note passed to a speaker in the Australian Federal Parliament advising him to change the subject read: Pull out, digger, the dogs are pissing on your swag [other terms not in glossary].) A distinction was formerly made between swaggies and travellers, the latter being people looking for work. The expression Nice day for travelling means: You’re fired.

Temple’s protagonist wasn’t much of a reader until a period of convalescence. Then he read In Cold Blood in a day and a night and The Executioner’s Song in the same amount of time. I don’t believe the part about reading The Executioner’s Song so quickly.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

The boys are on the up (but Daniel sleeps more than usual); Karin, having caught the bug and missed one workday, is on the up; I now am the sickest person in the house. This will be a Mucinex-and-water day for me. I shall try to do some productive coughs.

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Dear March – Come in –

How glad I am –

I hoped for you before –

Put down your Hat –

You must have walked –

How out of Breath you are –

Dear March, how are you, and the Rest –

Did you leave Nature well –

Oh March, Come right upstairs with me –

I have so much to tell –

I got your Letter, and the Birds –

The Maples never knew that you were coming –

I declare – how Red their Faces grew –

But March, forgive me –

And all those Hills you left for me to Hue –

There was no Purple suitable –

You took it all with you –

Who knocks? That April –

Lock the Door –

I will not be pursued –

He stayed away a Year to call

When I am occupied –

But trifles look so trivial

As soon as you have come

That blame is just as dear as Praise

And Praise as mere as Blame –

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(Emily Dickinson)