shiralee

Definition

Burden; load.

Etymology

First attested in print 1892. Later popularised through its use in the title of D'Arcy Niland′s 1955 novel The Shiralee (and two film adaptations, in 1957 and 1987)). Its meaning is no longer well known. Sometimes claimed to be from an (unidentified) Australian Aboriginal language. Alternatively, an anglicisation of Irish tiarálaí (“itinerant roustabout”) which came to be applied to his swag or matilda, and later (inspired by Niland's novel) to mean not only a physical burden but also a psychological one.

Example Sentences

• "The bag of food like a shiralee across his shoulders, the water container stuffed into the looseness of his shirt, the compass, not required for awhile^([sic]) yet, in his side pocket, and the rifle balanced in his hand."
• "2006, Pip Wilson, Faces in the Street: Louisa and Henry Lawson and the Castlereagh Street Push, page 8, “Nothin′. A prickly gecko, mate. He dropped off your shiralee.”"