stick-up

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

v. tr.


1) The regular word for theaction of bushrangers stopping passers-by on the highway androbbing them.

2) In the case of a bank or a station, simply to rob.

1846. J. L. Stokes, `Discoveries in Australia,' vol. ii.c. xiii. p. 502:

«It was only the previous night that he had been `stuck up'with a pistol at his head.»

1855. W. Howitt, `Two Years in Victoria,' vol. ii. p. 187:

«Unless the mail came well armed, a very few men could `stickit up,' without any trouble or danger.»

1857. `Melbourne Punch,' Feb. 19, p. 26, col. 1:

«I have been stuck up, trampled in the mud.»

1869. J. Townend, `Reminiscences of Australia,' p. 140:

«Five or six bushrangers took up a position about a mile fromtown, and (to use a colonial phrase) `stuck up' every personthat passed.»

1869. Mrs. W. M. Howell, `The Diggings and the Bush,'p. 93:

«The escort has been `stuck up,' and the robbers have takennotes to the value of L700, and two thousand ounces of gold.»

1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia,' p. 253:

«We had a revolver apiece in case of being `stuck up' on theroad.»

1888. Rolf Boldrewood, `Robbery under Arms,' p. 168:

«We could make more money in one night by `sticking up' acoach or a bank than in any other way in a year . . . Anyone who has been stuck up himself knows that there's not muchchance of doing much in the resisting line.» [The operation isthen explained fully.]

1890. Lyth, `Golden South,' c.viii. p. 68:

«Accounts of bushrangers `sticking up' stations, travellers,and banks were very frequent.»

1893. `Sydney Morning Herald,' Aug. 26, p. 4. col. 6:

«The game of sticking up hotels used to be in the old days apopular one, and from the necessary openness of the premisesthe practice was easy to carry out.»

3) Humorously applied to a collector or a beggar. In `Twenty-five Years of St. Andrews' (vol. ii. p. 87), A. K. H. B.tells a story of a church dignitary, who was always collectingmoney for church building. When a ghost appeared at GlamisCastle, addressing the ghost, the clergyman began – – that «he wasmost anxious to raise money for a church he was erecting; thathe had a bad cold and could not well get out of bed; but thathis collecting-book was on the dressing-table, and he would be`extremely obliged' for a subscription.» An Australian wouldhave said he «stuck up» the ghost for a subscription.

1890. E. W. Hornung, `A Bride from the Bush,' p. 297:

«You never get stuck up for coppers in the streets of thetowns.»

4) Bring a kangaroo to bay.

1884. Rolf Boldrewood, `Melbourne Memories,' c. iii. p. 24:

«We knew that she had `stuck up' or brought to bay a largeforester.»

1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 15:

«The fiercest fighter I ever saw `stuck up' against a redgum-tree.»

5) Simply to stop.

1863. S. Butler, `First Year in Canterbury Settlement,' p. 68:

«This [waterfall] `stuck us up,' as they say here concerningany difficulty.»

1890. `The Argus,' June 7, p. 4, col. 2:

«We are stuck up for an hour or more, and can get a good feedover there.»

6) To pose, to puzzle.

1896. Modern:

«I was stuck up for an answer.»

«That last riddle stuck him up.»

1897. `The Australasian,' Jan. 2, p. 33, col. 1:

«The professor seems to have stuck up any number of candidateswith the demand that they should `construct one simple sentenceout of all the following.'»

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