government stroke

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

n.


a lazy style of doingwork, explained in quotations. The phrase is not dead.

1856. W. W. Dobie, `Recollections of a Visit to Port Phillip,'p. 47:

«Government labourers, at ten shillings a-day, were breakingstones with what is called `the Government stroke,' which is aslow-going, anti-sweating kind of motion. . . .»

1873. A. Trollope, `Australia and New Zealand,' c. ix. [nearend] p. 163:

«In colonial parlance the government stroke is that light andeasy mode of labour – – perhaps that semblance of labour – – which noother master will endure, though government is forced to put upwith it.»

1893. `Otago Witness,' December 2r, p. 9, col. 1:

«The government stroke is good enough for this kind of job.»

1897. `The Argus,' Feb. 22, p. 4, col. 9:

«Like the poor the unemployed are always with us, but they havea penchant for public works in Melbourne, with a good daily payand the `Government stroke' combined.»

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

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