kipper

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

n.


a youth who has been initiated,i.e. been through the Bora (q.v.). It is a Queenslandword. In Kabi, Queensland, the form is kivar: on theBrisbane River, it is kippa, whereas in the Kamilaroi ofNew South Wales the word is kubura.

1853. H. Berkeley Jones, `Adventures in Australia in 1852 and1853,' p. 126:

«Around us sat `Kippers,' i.e. `hobbledehoy blacks.'»

1885. R. M. Praed, `Australian Life,' p. 24:

«The young men receive the rank of warriors,and are henceforth called kippers.»

Kit, n. a flexible Maori basket; not the English kit used by soldiers, but the Maori word kete, a basket.

1855. Rev. R. Taylor, `Te Ika a Maui,' p. 199:

« Kete (Maori), pa-kete (Anglo-Maori), basket, kit(Eng.).»

1856. E. B. Fitton, `New Zealand,' p. 68:

«The natives generally bring their produce to market in neatlymade baskets, plaited from flax and known by the name of `Maorikits.'»

1857. C. Hursthouse, `New Zealand, the Britain of the South,'vol. i. p. 180:

«The kit is a large plaited green-flax basket.»

1877. An Old Colonist, `Colonial Experiences,' p. 31:

«Potatoes were procurable from the Maoris in flax kits,at from one to five shillings the kit.»

1884. Lady Martin, `Our Maoris,' p. 44:

«They might have said, as an old Maori woman long afterwardssaid to me, `Mother, my heart is like an old kete (i.e. acoarsely-woven basket). The words go in, but they fallthrough.'»

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