blind-your-eyes

Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris

n.


another name for the Milky Mangrove. See mangrove.

~, doing the

v. lounging in thefashionable promenade. In Melbourne, it is Collins Street,between Elizabeth and Swanston Streets. In Sydney, «The Block» is that portion of the city bounded by King, George, Hunter,and Pitt Streets. It is now really two blocks, but was all inone till the Government purchased the land for the present PostOffice, and then opened a new street from George to PittStreet. Since then the Government, having purchased more land,has made the street much wider, and it is now called Martin's Place.

1869. Marcus Clarke, `Peripatetic Philosopher,' (in an Essay on`Doing the Block') (reprint), p. 13:

«If our Victorian youth showed their appreciation for domesticvirtues, Victorian womanhood would `do the Block' lessfrequently.»

1872. `Glimpses of Life in Victoria by a Resident,' p. 349:

«A certain portion of Collins street, lined by the bestdrapers' and jewellers' shops, with here and there a bank orprivate office intervening, is known as `the Block,' and is thedaily resort of the belles and beaux. . . .»

1875. R. and F. Hill, `What We Saw in Australia,' p. 267:

«To `do the block' corresponds in Melbourne to driving in Hyde Park.»

1876. Wm. Brackley Wildey, `Australasia and the Oceanic Region,'p. 234:

«The streets are thronged with handsome women, veritabledenizens of the soil, fashionably and really tastefullyattired, `doing the block,' patrolling Collins-street, orgracefully reclining in carriages. . . .»

1890. Tasma, `In her Earliest Youth,' p. 126:

«You just do as I tell you, and we'll go straight off to townand `do the block.'»

1894. `The Herald' (Melbourne), Oct. 6, p. 6, col. 1:

«But the people doing the block this morning look very nice.»

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