Talk:jackaroo

etymology

The word 'Jackaroo', also formerly spelled 'Jackeroo' (now obsolete), has been used in Australia since at least the middle of the nineteenth century and passed from there into common usage in New Zealand. Its use in both countries continues into the 21st century. The origin of the word is obscure and probably unknowable, but it is believed to have originated in Queensland. Several possibilities have been put forward:

An origin from an indigenous language term for 'a wandering white man' has now been discredited.
A more plausible origin<reference>A. Meston, Geographic History of Queensland, 1895</ref> was from the aboriginal word for a 'pied crow shrike', a garrulous bird.

A Jack of all Trades in Australia (Jack + Kangaroo ), has much support.

The Brisbane Courier newspaper on July 5th, 1929, page 16, stated in answer to a question from a reader 'POMMY' of Toowong:
""A jackaroo (sometimes spelt jackeroo) Is a young man learning experience on a pastoral property. (2) In the English language "Jack" is compounded with a lot of words, and in the early pastoral days it was compounded with the "roo" in Kangaroo to indicate, perhaps, the aimless rushing about of the inexperienced station cadet."

The Encyclopaedia of Australia stated in 1968 that it is "most probably a coined Australian-sounding word based on a [person] 'Jacky Raw'" Jackaroos (Jacky + Raw) were often young men from Britain or from city backgrounds in Australia, which would explain the perjorative use of 'raw' in the sense of 'inexperienced'.

Arguably the most authoritative voice in 2010 is that of The Australian National Dictionary Centre of the Research School of the Humanities at the Australian National University, which provides Oxford University Press with editorial expertise for their Australian dictionaries. (unfinished)