Austral English Part 24

1890. `The Argus,' September 20, p. 13, col. 7:

"The shearers must make their clip clean and thorough. If it be done so incompetently that a `second blow' is needed, the fleece is hacked."

Blow,/2/ n. braggadocio, boasting.

1890. Lyth, `Golden South,' viii. p. 71:

"Is there not very much that the Australian may well be proud of, and may we not commend him for a spice of blow?"

1891. Rolf Boldrewood, `Sydney-Side Saxon,' p. 77:

"He can walk as fast as some horses can trot, cut out any beast that ever stood on a camp, and canter round a cheese-plate.

This was a bit of blow."

1893. `The Australasian,' Aug. 12, p. 102, col. 1:

"Now Digby Holland will think it was mere Australian blow."

Blow, v. to boast; abbreviated from the phrase "to blow your own trumpet." The word is not Australian though often so regarded. It is common in Scotland and in the United States.

1873. A. Trollope, `Australia and New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 387:

"The blast of the trumpet as heard in Victoria is louder than all the blasts--and the Melbourne blast beats all the other blowing of that proud colony. My first, my constant, my parting advice to my Australian cousins is contained in two words, `don't blow.'"

Blower, n. a boaster. (See Blow, v.)

1890. Rolf Boldrewood,' A Colonial Reformer,' p. 411:

"A regular Sydney man thinks all Victorians are blowers and speculators."

Blowing, verbal n. boasting.

1873. A. Trollope, `Australia and New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 387:

"A fine art much cultivated in the colonies, for which the colonial phrase of `blowing' has been created."

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. ii. p. 9:

"Blowing (that is, talking loudly and boastingly on any and every subject)."

1885. R. M. Praed, `Australian Life,' p. 45:

"He was famous for `blowing' in Australian parlance ...

of his exploits."

Bluebell, n. The name is given in Tasmania to the flower Wahlenbergia gracilis, De C., N.O.

Campanulaceae.

Blueberry, n. i.q. Native Currant (q.v.). The name is also given to Dianella longifolia, R. Br., N.O. Liliaceae.

Blueberry Ash, n. a Victorian tree, Elaeocarpus holopetalus, F. v. M.

1894. `Melbourne Museum Catalogue, Economic Woods,' p. 15:

"Blueberry Ash or p.r.i.c.kly Fig. A n.o.ble tree, attaining a height of 120 feet. Wood pale, fine-grained; exquisite for cabinet work."

Blue-bush, n. an Australian forage plant, a kind of Salt-bush, Kochia pyrainidata, Benth, N.O. Chenopodiaceae.

1876. W. Harcus. `South Australia,' p. 124:

"[The country] would do splendidly for sheep, being thickly gra.s.sed with short fine gra.s.s, salt and blue bush, and geranium and other herbs."

Blue-Cod, n. name given to a New Zealand fish, Percis colias, family Trachinidae. Called also in New Zealand Rock-Cod (q.v.). The fish is of a different family from the Cod of the northern hemisphere.

Blue-creeper, n. name given to the creeper, Comesperma volubile, Lab., N.O. Campanulaceae.

Blue-eye, n. a bird name. The Blue faced Honey-eater (q.v.).

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. iv. pl. 68:

"Entomyza cyanotis, Swains. Blue-faced Entomyza.

Blue-eye of the colonists."

Blue-fish, n. name given in Sydney to Girella cyanea, of the family Sparidae, or Sea-Breams. It is different from the Blue-fish of the American coasts, which is of the family Carangidae.

Blue-Groper, n. a fish of New South Wales and Tasmania, Cossyphus gouldii, one of the Labridae or Wra.s.ses, often called Parrot-Fish in Australia.

Called also Blue-head in Tasmania. Distinct from the fish called the Groper (q.v).

Blue-gum, n. See under Gum. It is an increasing practice to make a single word of this compound, and to p.r.o.nounce it with accent on the first syllable, as `wiseman,' `goodman.'

Blue-head, n. Tasmanian name for the fish called the Blue-Groper (q.v.)

Blue Lobelia, n. The indigenous species in Tasmania which receives this name is Lobelia gibbosa, Lab., N.O. Campanulaceae.

Blue-pointer, n. a name given in New South Wales to a species of Shark, Lamna glauca, Mull. and Heule, family Lamnidae, which is not confined to Australasia.

1882. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `Fish of New South Wales,'

p. 95:

"On the appearance of a `blue pointer' among boats fishing for schnapper outside, the general cry is raised, `Look out for the blue pointer.' ... These are high swimming fishes, and may be readily seen when about pushing their pursuits; the beautiful azure tint of their back and sides, and independent manner they have of swimming rapidly and high among the boats in search of prey, are means of easy recognition, and they often drive the fishermen away."

Bluestone, n. a kind of dark stone of which many houses and public buildings are built.

1850. `The Australasian' (Quarterly), Oct. [Footnote], p. 138:

"The ancient Roman ways were paved with polygonal blocks of a stone not unlike the trap or bluestone around Melbourne."

1855. R. Brough Smyth, `Transactions of Philosophical Society, Victoria,' vol. i. p. 25: