plant

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

v. tr. and n.


common in Australiafor to hide, and for the thing hidden away. As remarkedin the quotations, the word is thieves' English.

1827. P. Cunningham, `Two Years in New South Wales,'vol. ii. p. 59:

«A number of the slang phrases current in St. Giles's Greek bid fair to become legitimatized in the dictionaryof this colony: plant, swag, pulling up, andother epithets of the Tom and Jerry school, are established – – the dross passing here as genuine, even among all ranks.»

1848. Letter by Mrs. Perry, given in `Canon Goodman's Churchin Victoria during the Episcopate of Bishop Perry,' p. 78:

«. . . Shady Creek, where he `planted' some tea and sugar forhis brother on his return. Do you know what `planting' is? Itis hiding the tea, or whatever it may be, in the hollow of atree, or branch, or stone, where no one is likely to find it,but the one for whom it is meant.»

1855. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes,' p. 22:

«Some refreshments planted there for us by the Major – – for thatis the colonial phrase, borrowed from the slang of Londonburglars and thieves, for any article sent forward or leftbehind for consumption in spots only indicated to thoseconcerned – – after the manner of the câches of the FrenchCanadian trappers on the American prairies. To `spring' aplant is to discover and pillage it.»

1872. C. H. Eden, `My Wife and I in Queensland,' p. 36:

«The way he could hide, or, as it is called in the bush,`plant' himself, was something wonderful.»

1889. Cassell's' Picturesque Australasia,' vol. iv. p. 178:

«The gold had not been handed over to the Commissioner at all,but was planted somewhere in the tent.»

1893. `The Age,' May 9, p. 5, col. 4:

«A panic-smitten lady plants her money.»

[Title of short article giving an account of an old lady duringthe bank panic concealing her money in the ground and beingunable to find it.]

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

← plain wanderer   ×   plantain, native →

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