Austral English Part 286

Weka, Rail, n. See Weka.

Well-in, adj. answering to `well off,' `well to do,' `wealthy'; and ordinarily used, in Australia, instead of these expressions.

1891. Rolf Boldrewood, `A Sydney-side Saxon,' p. 1:

"He's a well-in squatter that took up runs or bought them cheap before free-selection, and land-boards, and rabbits, and all the other bothers that turn a chap's hair grey before his time."

Western Australia, the part of the Continent first sighted in 1527 by a Portuguese, and the last to receive responsible government, in 1890. It had been made a Crown colony in 1829.

Westralia, n. a common abbreviation for Western Australia (q.v.). The word was coined to meet the necessities of the submarine cable regulations, which confine messages to words containing not more than ten letters.

1896. `The Studio,' Oct., p. 151:

"The latest example is the El Dorado of Western Australia, or as she is beginning to be more generally called `Westralia,'

a name originally invented by the necessity of the electric cable, which limits words to ten letters, or else charges double rate."

1896. `Nineteenth Century,' Nov., p. 711 [t.i.tle of article]:

"The Westralian Mining Boom."

Weta, n. Maori name for a New Zealand insect-- a huge, ugly gra.s.shopper, Deinacrula megacephala, called by bushmen the Sawyer.

1857. C. Hursthouse, `New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 123:

"The weta, a suspicious-looking, scorpion-like creature, apparently replete with `high concocted venom,' but perfectly harmless."

1863. S. Butler, `First Year in Canterbury Settlement,'

p. 141:

"One of the ugliest-looking creatures that I have ever seen.

It is called `Weta,' and is of tawny scorpion-like colour, with long antenna and great eyes, and nasty squashy-looking body, with (I think) six legs. It is a kind of animal which no one would wish to touch: if touched, it will bite sharply, some say venomously. It is very common but not often seen, and lives chiefly among dead wood and under stones."

1888. J. Adams, `On the Botany of Te Moehau,' `Transactions of New Zealand Inst.i.tute,' vol. xxi. art. ii. p. 41:

"Not a sound was heard in that lonely forest, except at long intervals the sharp noise produced by the weta."

W. F.'s, old Tasmanian term for wild cattle.

1891. James Fenton, `Bush Life in Tasmania Fifty Years Ago,'

p. 24:

"Round up a mob of the wildest W.F.'s that ever had their ears slit."

[Note]: "This was the brand on Mr. William Field's wild cattle."

Whalebone-Tree, n. i.q. Mint-Tree (q.v.).

Whaler, n. used specifically as slang for a Sundowner (q.v.); one who cruises about.

1893. `Sydney Morning Herald,' Aug. 12, p. 8. col. 8:

"The nomad, the `whaler,' it is who will find the new order hostile to his vested interest of doing nothing."

Whaler/2, n. name given in Sydney to the Shark, Carcharias brachyurus, Gunth., which is not confined to Australasia.

Whare, n. Maori word for a house; a dissyllable, variously spelt, rhyming with `quarry.'

It is often quaintly joined with English words; e.g. a sod-whare, a cottage built with sods. In a Maori vocabulary, the following are given: whare-kingi, a castle; whare-karakia, a church; whare-here, the lock-up.

1820. `Grammar and Vocabulary of Language of New Zealand'

(Church Missionary Society), p. 225:

"Ware, s. a house, a covering."

1833. `Henry Williams' Journal: Carleton's Life,' p. 151:

"The Europeans who were near us in a raupo whare (rush house)."

1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' vol. i.

p. 26:

"We were much amused at seeing the ware-puni, or sleeping- houses, of the natives. These are exceedingly low, and covered with earth, on which weeds very often grow. They resemble in shape and size a hot-bed with the gla.s.s off."

1852. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes,' c. x. p. 265 (Third Edition, 1855):

"Sitting in the sun at the mouth of his warree, smoking his pipe."

1854. W. Golder, `Pigeons' Parliament,' [Notes] p. 76:

"I fell upon what I thought a good place on which to fix my warre, or bush-cottage."

1857. `Paul's Letters from Canterbury,' p. 89:

"Then pitch your tent, or run up a couple of gra.s.s warres somewhat bigger than dog-kennels."

1871. C. L. Money, `Knocking About in New Zealand,' p. 33:

"The old slab wharry."

Ibid. p. 132:

"The village was sacked and the wharries one after another set fire to and burnt.'"

1877. Anon., `Colonial Experiences or Incidents of Thirty-Four Years in New Zealand,' p. 87:

"In the roughest colonial whare there is generally one or more places fitted up called bunks."

1882. R. C. Barstow, `Transactions of the New Zealand Inst.i.tute,' vol. xv. art. liii. p. 428: