bung, to go

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

v.


to fail, to become bankrupt.This phrase of English school-boy slang, meaning to go off withan explosion, to go to smash (also according to Barrere andLeland still in use among American thieves), is in veryfrequent use in Australia. In Melbourne in the times thatfollowed the collapse of the land-boom it was a commonexpression to say that Mr. So-and-so had «gone bung,» sc. filedhis schedule or made a composition with creditors; or that aninstitution had «gone bung,» sc. closed its doors, collapsed.In parts of Australia, in New South Wales and Queensland, theword «bung» is an aboriginal word meaning «dead,» and eventhough the slang word be of English origin, its frequency ofuse in Australia may be due to the existence of the aboriginalword, which forms the last syllable in Billabong (q.v.),and in the aboriginal word milbung blind, literally,eye-dead.

(a) The aboriginal word.

1847. J. D. Lang, `Cooksland,' p. 430:

«A place called Umpie Bung, or the dead houses.»

[It is now a suburb of Brisbane, Humpy-bong.]

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. ii. p. 175[in Blacks' pigeon English]:

«Missis bail bong, ony cawbawn prighten. (Missis not dead,only dreadfully frightened.)»

1882. A. J. Boyd, `Old Colonials,' p. 73:

«But just before you hands 'im [the horse] over and getsthe money, he goes bong on you» (i.e. he dies).

1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia,' p: 142:

«Their [the blacks'] ordinary creed is very simple. `Directlyme bung (die) me jump up white feller,' and this seems to bethe height of their ambition.»

1895. `The Age,' Dec. 21, p. 13, col. 6:

«`Then soon go bong, mummy,' said Ning, solemnly.

`Die,' corrected Clare. You mustn't talk blacks' language.'

`Suppose you go bong,' pursued Ning reflectively, `then you goto Heaven.'»

(b) The slang word.

1885. `Australian Printers' Keepsake,' p. 40:

«He was importuned to desist, as his musical talent had`gone bung,' probably from over-indulgence in confectionery.»

1893. `The Argus,' April 15 (by Oriel), p. 13, col. 2:

«Still change is humanity's lot. It is but the space of a day

Till cold is the damask cheek, and silent the eloquent tongue,

All flesh is grass, says the preacher, like grass it is withered away,

And we gaze on a bank in the evening, and lo, in the morn 'tis bung.»

1893. Professor Gosman, `The Argus,' April 24, p. 7, col. 4:

«Banks might fail, but the treasures of thought could never go`bung.'»

1893. `The Herald' (Melbourne), April 25, p. 2, col. 4:

«Perhaps Sydney may supply us with a useful example. Onemember of the mischief-making brotherhood wrote the words `gonebung' under a notice on the Government Savings Bank, and he wasbrought before the Police Court charged with damaging thebank's property to the extent of 3d. The offender offered theBench his views on the bank, but the magistrates bluntly toldhim his conduct was disgraceful, and fined him L 3 with costs,or two months' imprisonment.»

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