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  1. The Dictionary of Sydney
  2. Roles
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  4. Saying

Saying

Type - Saying
A Botany Bay barfly
A King Street swell
A Sydney Cove
A Woolloomooloo Yank
A dial like Luna Park
Bottom of the harbour scheme
Crook as Rookwood
Getting off at Redfern
Gone to Gowings
More front than Anthony Horderns
More nuts than the Bridge
Pitt Street farmer
Seven miles from Sydney and a thousand miles from care
Shoot through like a Bondi tram
Sure to get it at Grace Bros
Sydney or the bush
The Botany-Bay Rothschild
The Darlo drop
While I live, I'll grow

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Saying

A Botany Bay barfly

Saying which refers to early Sydney's drinking habits.

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A King Street swell

Saying which refers to the rich and fashionable who frequented King Street.

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A Sydney Cove

Colloquial expression to describe a Sydney person or 'cove'.

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A Woolloomooloo Yank

A description of an Australian who acts like an American.

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A dial like Luna Park

Saying which compares a smiling face or 'dial' to the entrance to Luna Park.

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Bottom of the harbour scheme

Tax avoidance schemes used during the 1970s.

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Crook as Rookwood

Colloquial expression to describe being very unwell (or 'crook'). Rookwood, in Sydney's west, was the city's largest cemetery.

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Getting off at Redfern

Colloquial expression pertaining to contraception.

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Gone to Gowings

Advertising slogan of Gowings, one of Sydney's oldest clothing retailers.

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More front than Anthony Horderns

Saying referring to someone known for their impudence or cool assertion, the reference being to Anthony Hordern's department store which occupied a large city block.

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More nuts than the Bridge

Expression referring to someone who was thought to be "nuts", or a bit crazy, the reference being to the nuts and bolts used in building the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

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Pitt Street farmer

One who owns a country property, often for tax loss purposes, but who lives and works in Sydney.

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Seven miles from Sydney and a thousand miles from care

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Advertising slogan used since the 1920s to encourage tourism to Manly and patronage of the Manly ferry service.

Shoot through like a Bondi tram

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Colloquial expression meaning to leave in haste.

Sure to get it at Grace Bros

Grace Brothers department store advertising slogan, introduced in 1916

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Sydney or the bush

A phrase meaning, broadly, "all or nothing" i.e. either strive to achieve your aspirations or don't bother and give up.

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The Botany-Bay Rothschild

Nickname given to ex-convict Samuel Terry who became wealthy due to many astute business dealings.

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The Darlo drop

A slang phrase meaning any type of police brutality that takes place while the victim is in custody. Based on a notorious practice that came to light in corruption inquiries in the 1990s, when corrupt officers at Darlingurst police station who in groups of between two and four would hold a victim by the limbs and throw them at the ceiling of a cell and watch them fall to the ground.

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While I live, I'll grow

Advertising slogan, with a picture of a tree, used by Anthony Hordern's department store.

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