Free Settler or Felon
Convict and Colonial History




Australian Slang - Local Lingo

Unique Phrases - Memorable Quotes - E


A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z


EAGLE-HAWKING - plucking wool off dead sheep (Morris 1898)

EAR BASH - talk non stop

EARLY MARK - let out of school early

EARWIG - eavesdropper

EASY AS - something that is easily done

EASY ON - take it easy; slow down

EKKA - Brisbane Exhibition (annual show)

ELBOW GREASE - hard work

E-LEE-MONG - aboriginal shield made of bark (Threlkeld; Morris 1898)

EMANCIPIST - an ex-convict who has served out his sentence

EMPIRE DAY - The celebration of Queen Victoria's birthday on May 24 was renamed Empire Day in 1903 after her death in 1901. It was celebrated throughout the British Empire culminating in fireworks and bonfires in the evening. The last celebration of Empire Day in Australia took place in 1958

EMPTIES - empty beer bottles

EMU PARADE - picking up litter in a group

ENZEDDER - Australian term for a soldier of the New Zealand forces (1914-1918)

ESKY – An insulated container to keep food and drink cold

EUCHRED - done in; exhausted; beaten

EUREKA FLAG - First used in the Eureka Rebellion of 1854. Has a dark blue field with a central white symmetric cross consisting five eight-pointed stars, representing the Crux constellation

EUREKA STOCKADE - a battle which took place at Ballarat on 3rd December 1854 after diggers' opposition to miners' licenses. Often regarded as the birthplace of Australian democracy

EURO - one of the aboriginal names for a kangaroo (Morris 1898)

EVEN STEVENS - equal after repaying a debt

EVERY COUNTRY NEEDS ITS HEROES, AND WE MUST FOLLOW THEM - Colonel Sir Ernest Edward Weary Dunlop 1907 – 1993 was an Australian surgeon who was renowned for his leadership while being held prisoner by the Japanese during World War II

EVERY MAN AND HIS DOG - extremely crowded place

EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY - your day will come eventually

EYES LIKE A HAWK - 20/20 vision

EXCLUSIONIST - one subdivision of the emigrant class was termed the exclusionist party from their strict exclusion of the emancipists for their society (Morris 1898)

EXILES - after cessation of the convict system Earl Grey ordered that convicts were in future to be called exiles (Morris 1898)

EXPIREE - a convict whose term of sentence had expired

EXXY - high price