A ‘colloquialism’ comes from the spoken rather than the written language. Wherever there is a ‘standard’ and a ‘colloquial’ way of saying the same thing — a choice between Don’t try to impose on me and Don’t come the raw prawn — the colloquial expression will typically be the more informal and the less respectful.

One obvious foundation of Australian English is the language of the Aborigines, most often adopted for naming things with no exact counterpart in the other hemisphere. Colloquial applications were soon found for humpy, gibber, bingy and waddy, and later for dingo and within cooee.

Australian English grew as the settlement expanded, and as new conditions were encountered. Hence the dog-leg fence, the river running a banker, the bush telegraph and smoko.

Colloquialisms are also linked to Australian historical figures. These include game as Ned Kelly, doing a Melba, in like Flynn, and Up there, Cazaly!

The broader events of Australian history have also left an imprint. If we wonder how things will pan out, or what will emerge in the wash-up, we are using the language of the goldrush period. World War I contributed such terms as digger and furphy, and World War II troppo and jungle juice. Australian politics produced the donkey vote and the Dorothy Dix; industrial relations led to compo, sickie and sweetheart agreement, and sport contributed such items as the shirt front and the saloon passage.

As we enter the twenty-first century, the transition is indicated by the fridge magnet and the dog whistle, the barbecue-stopper and branch stacking, the black armband and the white blindfold, and — a little further afield — in recognition of the long-grassers and the grey nomads. We have moved from being relaxed and comfortable to alert but not alarmed, while remaining generally unperturbed.

The established colloquialisms continue to assert themselves. So many years after the arrival of decimal currency, there are still blokes who are not the full quid, or having two-bob each way, or sometimes not worth a zack. A typical Australian still tolerates nongs and drongos, knowing — as he didn’t come down in the last shower — that someone has to draw the crow, though eventually those who continue to big-note themselves and lairise around will be told to rack off.