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Australian phrases

Posted by Victoria S Dennis on May 05, 2011 at 18:17

In Reply to: Australian phrases posted by Baceseras on May 05, 2011 at 15:51:

: : There are some common Australian phrases that I am interested to know the origins of:

: : "Sparrow's fart" meaning "the crack of dawn" e.g. I'll be up at sparrow's fart tomorrow.

: : "I'll go hee" e.g. If he doesn't [do something very likely], I'll go hee.

: : "I'm here all week - try the veal."

: [The last of these ("I’m here all week – try the veal.") isn’t commonly used here in the US, but it’s well known to originate in the patter of a comic to the audience at a supper club. American comics, such as Letterman and Conan, have sometimes used it out of that context: for instance, to acknowledge a more muted response than they had hoped for from an audience. – Baceseras.]

"Sparrow's fart" is a jokey variation on the very ancient phrase "at cock's crow", meaning dawn. (VSD)

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