Austral English Part 197

Pheasant's Mother, n. an old name of an Australian bird. See Orthonyx.

1860. G. Bennett, `Gatherings of a Naturalist,' p. 180:

"That remarkable little bird, the `Pheasant's Mother' of the colonists, or Spine-tailed Orthonyx (Orthonyx spinicauda), about which also ornithologists have some difference of opinion respecting its situation in the natural system:'

Philander, n. an old scientific name, now abandoned, for certain species of the Kangaroo family. The word was taken from the name of the explorer, Philander de Bruyn. See quotation.

1894. R. Lydekker, `Marsupialia,' p. 36:

"Aru Island Wallaby. Macropus brunnii, Cuvier (1817).

Didelphys brunnii, Schreber (1778)... Distribution.-- Aru and Kei Islands. This species has an especial interest as being the first member of the Kangaroo-family known to Europeans, specimens having been seen in the year 1711 by [Philander de] Bruyn living in the gardens of the Dutch Governor of Batavia. They were originally described under the name of Philander or Filander."

Phormium, n. scientific name of the genus to which New Zealand Flax (P. tenax) belongs. See Flax. (Grk. phormion, dim. of phormos, anything plaited of reeds or rushes.)

Pialler, v. used as pigeon-English, especially in Queensland and New South Wales, in the sense of yabber, to speak.

1834. L. E. Threlkeld, `Australian Grammar,' p. 10:

[As a barbarism] "piyaller, to speak."

1885. R. M. Praed, `Head Station,' p. 314:

"Hester seized the shrinking black and led him forward, wildly crying that she would `pialla' the Great Spirit, so that no evil should befall him."

Piccaninny, and Pickaninny, n. a little child. The word is certainly not Australian. It comes from the West Indies (Cuban piquinini, little, which is from the Spanish pequeno, small, and nino, child). The English who came to Australia, having heard the word applied to negro children elsewhere, applied it to the children of the aborigines. After a while English people thought the word was aboriginal Australian, while the aborigines thought it was correct English. It is pigeon-English.

1696. D'Urfey's `Don Quixote,' pt. iii. c. v. p. 41 (Stanford):

"Dear pinkaninny [sic], If half a guiny To Love wilt win ye."

1830. R. Dawson, `Present State of Australia,' p. 12:

"`I tumble down pickaninny here,' he said, meaning that he was born there."

1845. R. Howitt, `Australia,' p. 103:

"Two women, one with a piccaninny at her back."

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 520:

"Bilge introduced several old warriors ... adding always the number of piccaninies that each of them had."

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 305:

"We can even trace words which the Europeans have imported from the natives of other countries--for example picaninny, a child. This word is said to have come originally from the negroes of Africa, through white immigrants. In America the children of negroes are called picaninny. When the white men came to Australia, they applied this name to the children of the natives of this continent."

Piccaninny, used as adj. and figuratively, to mean little.

1848. W. Westgarth, `Australia Felix,' p. 104:

"The hut would be attacked before `piccaninny sun.'"

[Footnote]: "About daylight in the morning."

1884. J. W. Bull, `Early Life in South Australia,' p. 69:

[An Englishman, speaking to blacks] "would produce from his pocket one of his pistols, and say, `Picaninny gun, plenty more.'"

Pick-it-up, n. a boys' name for the Diamond bird (q.v.).

1896. G. A. Keartland, `Horne Expedition in Central Australia,' part ii. Zoology, Aves, p. 69:

"Pardalotus ornatus and Pardalotus affinis give forth a treble note which has secured for them the name of `Pick-it-up' from our country boys."

Picnic, n. Besides the ordinary meaning of this word, there is a slang Australian use denoting an awkward adventure, an unpleasant experience, a troublesome job. In America the slang use is "an easy or agreeable thing."

(`Standard.') The Australasian use is an ironical inversion of this.

1896. Modern:

"If a man's horse is awkward and gives him trouble, he will say, `I had a picnic with that horse,' and so of any misadventure or disagreeable experience in travelling. So also of a troublesome business or other affair; a nursemaid, for instance, will say, `I had a nice picnic with Miss Nora's hair.'"

Picton Herring, n. a name for several fishes when dried (like "kipper"), especially for the Sea-Mullet, or Makawhiti or Aua (q.v.) (Maori names); and for the New South Wales fish called Maray (q.v.).

Pieman Jolly-tail, n. See Jolly-tail.

Pig-Dog, n. a dog used in hunting wild pigs.

1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' c. ii.

p. 6:

"The pig-dogs are of rather a mongrel breed, partaking largely of the bull-dog, but mixed with the cross of mastiff and greyhound, which forms the New South Wales kangaroo-dog" [q.v.]

1877. R. Gillies, `Transactions of New Zealand Institute,'

vol. x. art. xliii. p. 321:

"A pig-dog of the bull-terrier breed."

Pigeon, n. The Australian species are--

Bronze-wing Pigeon (q.v.)-- Phaps chalcoptera, Lath.

Brush Bronze-wing P.-- P. elegans, Temm.

Crested P.-- Ocyphaps lophotes, Temm.

Flock or Harlequin Bronze-wing (called also Squatter, q.v.)-- Phaps histrionica, Gould.

Little-Green P.-- Chalcophaps chrysochlora, Wagl.