The Great Australian Adjective

Last updated
"The Great Australian Adjective" 
by W. T. Goodge
First published in The Bulletin
Country Australia
Language English
Publication date 12 November 1897 (1897-11-12)
Preceded by "The Oozelum Bird"
Followed by "The Australian (New South Wales Variety)"
Read online "The Great Australian Adjective" at Wikisource

The Great Australian Adjective is a humorous poem by English writer and poet W. T. Goodge. It was first published in The Bulletin magazine on 11 December 1897, the Christmas issue of that publication, [1] and later in the poet's only collection Hits! Skits! and Jingles!. The poem was originally published with the title "-----!", a subtitle of "The Great Australian Adjective" and was signed as by "The Colonel", a regular pseudonym of Goodge's. [2]

English people Nation and ethnic group native to England

The English people are a nation and an ethnic group native to England who speak the English language. The English identity is of early medieval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Angelcynn. Their ethnonym is derived from the Angles, one of the Germanic peoples who migrated to Great Britain around the 5th century AD. England is one of the countries of the United Kingdom, and the majority of people living there are British citizens.

William Thomas Goodge was an English writer and journalist, who arrived in Australia in 1882, after jumping ship in Sydney. He worked in various jobs in New South Wales, including as a coal-miner, until he was engaged to write for "The Tribune" in North Sydney, a small weekly associated with the "Daily Telegraph". From there he was chosen by Harry Newman to edit "The Leader" newspaper in Orange, NSW. Goodge remained in Orange, becoming part-owner of "The Leader" at some point, until in the early 1900s he returned to Sydney and began writing for that city's newspapers, especially "The Sunday Times".

Contents

Analysis

The poem is written with a number of words "blanked out", allowing the reader to substitute whatever they choose. For example:

The sunburnt ---- stockman stood
And, in a dismal ---- mood,
   Apostrophized his ---- cuddy;
"The ---- nag's no ---- good,
He couldn't earn his ---- food -
   A regular ---- brumby,
                     ----!"

Bill Hornadge, in The Australian Slanguage, his survey of Australian English and its usage, states that "The word BLOODY has for so long been called the Great Australian Adjective", [3] and explains that "The Bulletin is generally given the credit for naming 'bloody' as The Great Australian Adjective (in 1894) explaining that it called it this: '...because it is more used and used more exclusively by Australians than by any other allegedly civilised nation.'" [4]

In 1927, in a piece in The Sydney Morning Herald, A. G. Stephens lamented the over-use of the word "bloody" in everyday speech, though he himself doesn't use the word in his essay. "We are not referring to the literary use of one particular word. An American author so well known as Fenimore Cooper, for example, uses it frequently in some of his nautical romances, in order to depict the character of a rough seaman at the beginning of the last century. That does not excuse its vulgar use nowadays, and the literary jesting with the word by such Australian writers as Goodge and Dennis, however excusable, is not the most creditable feature of their writings." [5]

Cultural references

C. J. Dennis acknowledged this poem when he came to publish his own work, "The Austra-laise", which uses the same stylistic trick of leaving the reader to supply missing words of their choice.

C. J. Dennis Australian poet

Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis, better known as C. J. Dennis, was an Australian poet known for his humorous poems, especially "The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke", published in the early 20th century. Though Dennis's work is less well known today, his 1916 publication of The Sentimental Bloke sold 65,000 copies in its first year, and by 1917 he was the most prosperous poet in Australian history.

"The Austra-laise" is a poem by Australian writer C.J. Dennis that was first published in The Bulletin magazine on 12 November 1908 as an entry in a National Song Competition which drew 74 entries. The entry was entitled "A Real Australian Austra--laise", and won its author a special prize.

Further publications

See also

Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature.

This article presents lists of the literary events and publications in 1897.

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1897.

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References

  1. ↑ Austlit - "The Great Australian Adjective" by W. T. Goodge
  2. ↑ The Bulletin, 11 December 1897, p26
  3. ↑ The Australian Slanguage by Bill Hornadge, 1986 edition, p149
  4. ↑ The Australian Slanguage by Bill Hornadge, 1986 edition, p150
  5. ↑ The Sydney Morning Herald, "Street Language" by A.G.S., 28 March 1927, p19
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