Obscure Aussie slang #297: ''Gin burglar'
halcombe
anywhere on the Web or in NGs.
(I reckon I got it from the OUP "Dictionary of Australian
Colloquialisms" by Wilkes.)
Decades ago, there was a chronic shortage of white women in the
outback; so the (cattle) station hands ('jackaroos' - obsolete?),
however unreconstructed ('ocker'), were hormonally obliged to resort
to the local 'abos' or 'gins' (from 'aborigines').
[While 'abo' is known around the world, I had never heard of 'gin'
before reading it in the Wilkes. It is, in a way, an example of a pair
of synonyms, one used by the general public, the other by experts.
In the same way that, while Joe Public would refer to 'the
[Provisional] IRA', security forces amongst themselves would always
says 'PIRA' (no article, pronounced to rhyme with 'firer').]
'Gin', by the way, seems to be far from obsolete - to judge from
Aussie NGs!
The activities of the 'gin burglar' led to the existence of the
'Stolen Generations' (media shorthand for the products of such unions
who were often removed from their mothers and farmed out to white
families for assimilation).
Such children were (and are) popularly called 'half-caste'.
Presumably, the derivation is from India, and the Eurasians, or
Anglo-Indians - but, so far as I know, is the only generally available
description for a person of mixed European and other ancestry that
does not reek of 'PC disinfectant'.
(In Britain, the 'PC' term is 'mixed race'; in the 'Stolen
Generations' inquiry report [1], the term 'mixed descent' is used.)
While on the subject, there seems to be a marked reluctance in the
Australian media to use the word 'Aborigines' (in full - no one would
say 'abo', surely?). They say 'Aboriginal people'.
This seems to be something of a piece with a similar media reluctance
(discussed before in this NG) to use the word 'Jews', preferring
'Jewish people'.
In Australia, there is a further twist: somewhere along the line, the
Torres Strait Islanders got themselves a status distinct from
Aborigines - hence the omnibus phrase 'indigenous people' used in the
'Stolen Generations' report; I am not sure whether this has yet caught
on in the Aussie media. (The Canadians use 'First Nations' to cover
Eskimos (PC: 'Inuit') and Indians (PC: Indians, apparently.)
[1] http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/special/rsjproject/rsjlibrary/hreoc/stolen/
David Tomkins
news:d7fa3848.02033...@posting.google.com...
> According to Google, not a single instance of this succinct expression
> anywhere on the Web or in NGs.
Try a google search for "gin jockey". This term is more common than 'gin
burglar' and has a similar meaning.
> (I reckon I got it from the OUP "Dictionary of Australian
> Colloquialisms" by Wilkes.)
>
> Decades ago, there was a chronic shortage of white women in the
> outback; so the (cattle) station hands ('jackaroos' - obsolete?),
> however unreconstructed ('ocker'), were hormonally obliged to resort
> to the local 'abos' or 'gins' (from 'aborigines').
'Jackaroo' is not obsolete. It has quite a specific meaning. I would not use
'jackaroo' to describe a station-hand in the United States, for example. The
female equivalent is of course a 'jillaroo'.
> [While 'abo' is known around the world, I had never heard of 'gin'
> before reading it in the Wilkes. It is, in a way, an example of a pair
> of synonyms, one used by the general public, the other by experts.
'Gin' is definitely NOT synonymous with 'abo'. 'Gin' means an Aboriginal
WOMAN. 'Abo' just means an Aboriginal person (either male or female). Also,
in Australia 'gin' is a relatively common slang word. It is not a word used
by 'experts'. If you were to walk into a pub in any country town in
Australia, everyone thre would know what a 'gin' is (and quite a few might
use it in their everyday speech).
> In the same way that, while Joe Public would refer to 'the
> [Provisional] IRA', security forces amongst themselves would always
> says 'PIRA' (no article, pronounced to rhyme with 'firer').]
AmE 'Joe Public' = AusE 'Joe Bloggs'
> 'Gin', by the way, seems to be far from obsolete - to judge from
> Aussie NGs!
Not at all obsolete, but a little politically incorrect/offensive for a
'whitefella' to say. The word is not considered as offensive when
originating from the mouth of an Aborigine.
> While on the subject, there seems to be a marked reluctance in the
> Australian media to use the word 'Aborigines' (in full - no one would
> say 'abo', surely?). They say 'Aboriginal people'.
'Abo', is considered somewhat offensive. Your observation about the use of
"Aboriginal Person" (or 'Aboriginal Australian') for "Aborigine" is by and
large correct. I can only speculate as to why this is the case. I suspect it
has to do with some sort of a PC agenda. "Aborigine" might implicate an
us-and-them mentality: There's 'Australians' (= white people) and
'Aborigines' (=black people). The newspeak OTOH suggests there are
_Australians_ (or 'people') some of whom are 'Aboriginal', 'Torres Strait
Islander' (or the global term 'Indigenous') and the rest of whom ipso facto
are not.
> In Australia, there is a further twist: somewhere along the line, the
> Torres Strait Islanders got themselves a status distinct from
> Aborigines - hence the omnibus phrase 'indigenous people' used in the
> 'Stolen Generations' report; I am not sure whether this has yet caught
> on in the Aussie media. (The Canadians use 'First Nations' to cover
> Eskimos (PC: 'Inuit') and Indians (PC: Indians, apparently.)
Torres Strait Islanders are racially and culturally different from
Aborigines. Have a close look at a map and see where the Torres Strait
Islands lie in relation to the Australian mainland and Papua New Guinea.
They stretch from Cape York almost all the way to Papua New Guinea. The
Torres Strait Islands were only annexed by Queensland as late as 1879. The
people are essentially Melanesian -- which means they have far more in
common with the peoples of Papua New Guinea than they do with Australian
Aborigines. IMHO it would be as insensitive to lump together Torres Strait
Islanders with Aborigines as it would Native Americans (or 'Indians') with
African Americans (or 'blacks' or 'negroes') because both groups are not
'white'. They are completely different races and cultures and should not be
arbitrarily lumped together.
Hope this clarifies a few things for you,
DT
Thomas A Lawson
The Torres Strait Islanders certainly see themselves as distinct.
In 1964 in Queensland we employed (briefly) a TSI named Thelma. She
felt ill, and I took her to my doctor.
He asked: "Are you an Aborigine?"
Thelma flared:
"I'm no bloody Abo! I'm a Torres Strait Islander.
BTW, her indisposition was due to the fact that she had got herself
pregnant.
Sol Taibi
>
> In Britain, the 'PC' term is 'mixed race'
>
Interesting. In the USA "mixed race" is not a PC term,
it's what people always said.
PC would be "biracial" or "multiracial", depending.
Tony Cooper
>
> In 1964 in Queensland we employed (briefly) a TSI named Thelma. She
> felt ill, and I took her to my doctor.
>
> He asked: "Are you an Aborigine?"
>
> Thelma flared:
>
> "I'm no bloody Abo! I'm a Torres Strait Islander.
>
> BTW, her indisposition was due to the fact that she had got herself
> pregnant.
Well, that's two virgin births on record now. Assuming she
carried to full-term, of course.
--
Tony Cooper aka: tony_co...@yahoo.com
Provider of Jots and Tittles
Thomas A Lawson
<tony_co...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>Thomas A Lawson wrote:
>>
>> In 1964 in Queensland we employed (briefly) a TSI named Thelma. She
>> felt ill, and I took her to my doctor.
>>
>> He asked: "Are you an Aborigine?"
>>
>> Thelma flared:
>>
>> "I'm no bloody Abo! I'm a Torres Strait Islander.
>>
>> BTW, her indisposition was due to the fact that she had got herself
>> pregnant.
>
>Well, that's two virgin births on record now. Assuming she
>carried to full-term, of course.
No such luck. Just an old expression from Kentucky:
"D'ya hear about Sue Ellen?"
"Nope. What's she done now?"
"Went and got herself pregnant."
John Holmes
"David Tomkins" <dtomkinsD...@pnc.com.au> wrote in message
news:3ca8...@occy.pnc.com.au...
> "halcombe" <halc...@subdimension.com> wrote in message
> news:d7fa3848.02033...@posting.google.com...
>
> > Australian media to use the word 'Aborigines' (in full - no one
would
> > say 'abo', surely?). They say 'Aboriginal people'.
>
> 'Abo', is considered somewhat offensive. Your observation about the
use of
> "Aboriginal Person" (or 'Aboriginal Australian') for "Aborigine" is by
and
> large correct. I can only speculate as to why this is the case. I
suspect it
> has to do with some sort of a PC agenda. "Aborigine" might implicate
an
> us-and-them mentality: There's 'Australians' (= white people) and
> 'Aborigines' (=black people). The newspeak OTOH suggests there are
> _Australians_ (or 'people') some of whom are 'Aboriginal', 'Torres
Strait
> Islander' (or the global term 'Indigenous') and the rest of whom ipso
facto
> are not.
There's something about the sound of the word 'aborigine' that makes it
sound a bit more like a 'thing' than a person. Perhaps it is the
Latin-ness of the word that recalls taxonomic nomenclature, or something
like that. 'Aboriginal' souinds more like a description of an attribute
of a person. In any case, there is a bit of a trend generally in English
towards adjectival names for national origins: eg a Chinese rather than
a Chinaman.
--
Regards
John