The Aussie Diggers Parlance

The old Blokes had their own Lingo on the fields, much of it still in use today.



Aurophobia
Fear of various disasters to the country and to society arising from the discovery of gold.

Bandicoot
To fossick, especially in previously worked ground, in the hope of discovering particles of gold overlooked by the former diggers.

Californian Widow (also called a Turon Widow)
A woman left husbandless for a long period of time because her husband has left for the goldfields.

Celestial
An immigrant from China, especially one engaged in goldmining. Based on the term "Celestial Empire", an early Australian term for China.

Dancing
Thieves slang for a method of robbery in the goldfields.

Derwenter
An ex-convict from Tasmania

Diggeress
The wife or female companion of a digger.

Drop on it
To strike it lucky, to come upon gold.

Duffer
An unproductive shaft or hole that produces little to no gold.

Dufferdom
A condition of complete failure.

Duffer rush
A rush to a goldfield that proves unproductive.

Gold lace
A sneering term for officials, especially those connected with the diggings.

Gunya (also called a Mia Mia)
A term used in the NSW diggings for a temporary shelter usually made from sheets of bark and or branches, borrowed from the Aboriginal Dharuk language. The term Mia Mia was used on the Victorian Gold Fields, borrowed from the Wathawurung and Wuywurung languages.

Hatter
A miner who works independently, rather than in a partnership.

Hocus
To stupefy a person with drugs, especially by means of drugged liquor, for a criminal purpose.

Hump
To carry a load, especially on one’s back.

Hungry Quartz
Quartz with a very low yield of gold.

Jewellers Shop
A rich deposit of gold, sometimes the gold was merely hacked off in giant thick slabs
then rolled up like a carpet and taken directly to the Mint or gold buyer.

Joe
A mocking name for a policeman or trooper/
A cry warning the approach of such a person.
A term of derision or abuse, especially as applied to a person whose appearance, dress etc is not that of a miner.

Mullock
Mining refuse.

New Chum
A novice digger, a newcomer to the goldfields.

New Chum Gold
A name given to any of several mineral substances commonly mistaken for gold.

Paint Gold
Gold in thin paint-like strips.

Pepper (also called salting)
To make a mine appear profitable by fraudulently introducing samples of mineral sought.

Poor Man’s Diggings
Ground from which gold may be mined without substantial capital investment.

Roll Up
To assemble for a meeting.
A mass meeting of gold miners called to consider an individual grievance or an issue of common concern.
A summons to attend such meeting.

Tent Cutting (also called Tent Ripping)
Cutting a hole in a digger’s tent in order to steal the gold he had mined.

Tinned Dog
Canned meat. This term is especially associated with the Western Australian goldfields, where there was a shortage of fresh meat.

Trick
In the phrase "do the trick on the quiet", having found a source of gold, to keep it a secret and work it secretly.

ere's one i caught on Dirt Business the other night.

Tothersiders.

noun
noun, Austral

A person from one of the eastern states of Australia. (c.1872 —) .
Sydney Morning Herald Kalgoorlie was a huge seat with a big population of radical T'Othersider miners (1983).

.

Heres another: "Ratters"

Lowlife who work your opal lease while you are tuckering up in town (or at the pub)

Sometimes end up permanently underground (esp. Lightning Ridge)
Mike