Word Origin of the Day
dunny - (Australian English, slang) This word is a shortening of the earlier 'dunnekin' which occurs in many British dialects. The origin of 'dunnekin' is uncertain but the best guess is that '-ken' means 'house' and 'dunne-' is related to the word 'dung.' This means that 'dunny' is literally equivalent to that other well-known Australian term, 'shithouse.'
In British dialect 'dunny' retained its basic meaning, 'an outside privy,' but in Australian English it broadened its use to idioms such as 'lonely as a country dunny.' Its crowning glory was of course the imprecation, 'I hope your chooks turn into emus and kick your dunny down.'
courtesy The Dinkum Dictionary: The origins of Australian words (publisher of The Macquarie Dictionary)
hehehe!!!! Damn, I can't wait to get my books out of storage so I can bring my Macquarie's Aussie Slang Dictionary to work. I work with an Aussie sheila, and we're both forgetting all our slang! Of course, she's a Sydneysider and I was a Mexican. (The New South Wales term for Victorians.)
In British dialect 'dunny' retained its basic meaning, 'an outside privy,' but in Australian English it broadened its use to idioms such as 'lonely as a country dunny.' Its crowning glory was of course the imprecation, 'I hope your chooks turn into emus and kick your dunny down.'
courtesy The Dinkum Dictionary: The origins of Australian words (publisher of The Macquarie Dictionary)
hehehe!!!! Damn, I can't wait to get my books out of storage so I can bring my Macquarie's Aussie Slang Dictionary to work. I work with an Aussie sheila, and we're both forgetting all our slang! Of course, she's a Sydneysider and I was a Mexican. (The New South Wales term for Victorians.)