hand, old

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

n.


one who has been a convict.

1861. T. McCombie, `Australian Sketches,' p. 141:

«The men who have been convicts are termed `old hands';they are mostly rude, rough men, with no moral principle orreligious feeling, and who have little sympathy for humanity.»

1865. J. O. Tucker, `Australian Story,' c. i. p. 85:

«Reformed convicts, or, in the language of their proverbialcant, `old hands.'»

1865. F. H. Nixon, `Peter Perfume,' p. 102:

«`Boshman' in the old-hand vernacular signifies a fiddler.»

[«Bosh in gypsy means music and also violin.» – Barrere and Leland.]

1885. J. Rae, `Chirps by an Australian Sparrow,' p. 99:

«The old hands were quite tidy too

With hats of cabbage-tree.»

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