Austral English Part 181

1852. G. F. P., `Gold Pen and Pencil Sketches,' canto xiv.:

"The summit gained, he pulls up at the Valley, To drain a farewell `nobbler' to his Sally."

1859. Frank Fowler, `Southern Lights and Shadows,' p. 52:

"To pay for liquor for another is to `stand,' or to `shout,'

or to `sacrifice.' The measure is called a `nobbler,' or a `break-down.'"

1873. A. Trollope, `Australia and New Zealand,' vol. ii.

p. 201:

"A nobbler is the proper colonial phrase for a drink at a public-house."

1876. J. Brenchley, `May Bloom,' p. 80:

"And faster yet the torrents flow Of nobblers bolted rapidly."

1880. Fison and Howitt, `Kamilaroi and Kurnai,' p. 249:

"When cruising about ... with a crew of Kurnai ... I heard two of my men discussing where we could camp, and one, on mentioning a place, said, speaking his own language, that there was `le-en (good) nobler.' I said, `there is no nobler there.'

He then said in English, `Oh! I meant water.' On inquiry I learned that a man named Yan (water) had died shortly, before, and that not liking to use that word, they had to invent a new one."

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 36:

"Only to pull up again at the nearest public-house, to the veranda of which his horse's bridle was hung until he had imbibed a nobbler or two."

Nobblerise, v. to drink frequent nobblers (q.v.).

1864. J. Rogers, `The New Rush,' p. 51:

"And oft a duffer-dealing digger there Will nobblerize in jerks of small despair . ."

1882. A. J. Boyd, `Old Colonials,' p. 268:

"The institution of `nobblerising' is carried out in far different places."

Noddy, n. common English name for the sea-bird.

The species observed in Australia are--

The Noddy-- Anous stolidus, Linn.

Black-cheeked N.-- A. melanogenys, Gray.

Grey N.-- A. cinereus, Gould.

Lesser N.-- A. tenuirostris, Temm.

White-capped N.-- A. leucocapillus, Gould.

Nonda, n. aboriginal name for a tree, Parinarium Nonda, F. v. M., N.O. Rosaceae, of Queensland. It has an edible, mealy fruit, rather like a plum.

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 315:

"We called this tree the `Nonda,' from its resemblance to a tree so called by the natives in the Moreton Bay district."

Noogoora Bur, n. a Queensland plant, Xanthium strumarium, Linn., N.O. Compositae.

Noon-flower, n. a rare name for the Mesembryanthemum. See Pig-face.

1891. `The Argus,' Dec. 19, p. 4, col. 2:

"The thick-leaved noon-flower that swings from chalk cliffs and creek banks in the auriferous country is a delectable salad."

Norfolk Island Pine, n. See Pine.

Note, n. short for Bank-note, and always used for a one-pound note, the common currency. A note = L1.

1864. J. Rogers, `New Rush,' pt. ii. p. 28:

"A note's so very trifling, it's no sooner chang'd than gone; For it is but twenty shillings."

1875. Wood and Lapham, `Waiting for Mail,' p. 39:

"And even at half fifty notes a week You ought to have made a pile."

1884. Marcus Clarke, `Memorial Volume,' p. 92:

"I lent poor Dick Snaffle a trotting pony I had, and he sold him for forty notes."

Notornis, n. a bird of New Zealand allied to the Porphyrio (q.v.), first described from a fossil skull by Professor Owen (1848), and then thought to be extinct, like the Moa. Professor Owen called the bird Notornis mantelli, and, curiously enough, Mr. Walter Mantell, in whose honour the bird was named, two years afterwards captured a live specimen; a third specimen was captured in 1879. The word is from the Greek notos, south, and 'ornis, bird. The Maori names were Moho and Takahe (q.v.).

Notoryctes, n. the scientific name of the genus to which belongs the Marsupial Mole (q.v.).

Nugget, n. a lump of gold. The noun nugget is not Australian, though often so supposed. Skeat (`Etymological Dictionary,' s.v.) gives a quotation from North's `Plutarch'

with the word in a slightly different shape, viz., niggot. "The word nugget was in use in Australia many years before the goldfields were heard of. A thick-set young beast was called `a good nugget.' A bit of a fig of tobacco was called `a nugget of tobacco.'" (G. W. Rusden.)

1852. Sir W. T. Denison, `Proceedings of the Royal Society of Van Diemen s Land,' vol. ii. p. 203:

`In many instances it is brought to market in lumps, or `nuggets' as they are called, which contain, besides the gold alloyed with some metal, portions of quartz or other extraneous material, forming the matrix in which the gold was originally deposited, or with which it had become combined accidentally."

1869. Marcus Clarke, `Peripatetic Philosopher' (reprint), p. 51:

"They lead a peaceful, happy, pastoral life--dig in a hole all day, and get drunk religiously at night. They are respected, admired, and esteemed. Suddenly they find a nugget, and lo!

the whole tenor of their life changes."

Nugget, v. Queensland slang. See quotation.

1887. R. M. Praed, `Longleat of Kooralbyn,' c. iii. p. 25: