bewdy

English

Etymology

From beauty.

Noun

bewdy (plural bewdies)

1. Pronunciation spelling of beauty.
   • 1933, Blackwood's Magazine, volume 233, page 350:

     “ […] Say,” she continued, “ I wish I had time ta take ya to a bewdy parlor. Yew'd look cute by the time I had ya face fixed and ya eyebrows done and ya hair waved.”

   • 1936, The American Caravan, volume 5, page 625:

     This was bewdy.

   • 2008, Nage Archer, Slave Heart‎^[1], page 189:

     Lovely smile, doncha know. She wos a bewdy, pretty as a rosella.

2. (Australia, informal) A beauty: a beautiful person or thing; an especially good example of something.
   • 1987, Don Chipp, John Larkin, Chipp, page 35:

     The day before the Press Club luncheon, I was in Traralgon, Victoria, when a fellow came up to me in a bar and said, ‘Chippy, that bloody slogan suits you down to the ground. It′s a bewdy.’

   • 1993, Venero Armanno, The Lonely Hunter‎^[2], page 15:

     ‘ […] Look at this bewdy.’ Romeo held out a fat rose from the bush he was pruning.

   • 1997, Paul Mitchell, Dodging the Bull‎^[3], page 94:

     But she still cooks a bewdy of a roast.

   • 2000, Ian Jack, editor, Australia: The New New World: Granta, page 172:

     ‘'This little bewdy I cut out of a magazine and stuck down on a piece of card... Don′t tell anyone, mind. The tourists love it.’

   • 2004, Peter Smith, Australia in the Raw: An Eclectic Collection of Meandering Musings‎^[4], page 97:

     Course the silly bugger fell in love with this Yank bewdy called Linda Koslowski and that was the end to his long term marriage.

Derived terms

• you bewdy (interjection)

See also

• bonzer (adjective)

Interjection

bewdy

1. (Australia, informal) Used to express enthusiasm, pleasure or approval.

   I scored us a couple of tickets to the match on Saturday. — Bewdy, mate!

   • 1993, Patti Walkuski, David Harris, No Bed of Roses: Memoirs of a Madam, page 124:

     The young woman gave them the fingers up and walked back disdainfully, ignoring their whistles and shouts of, ‘Bewdy, you showed him.’

   • 2009, Howard Young, Searching the Crocodile Coast: Sequel to Crocodile Coast Crash‎^[5], page 6:

     “Bewdy!” said Hugh, as he turned away to get his breakfast.

   • 2011, Bruce Guthrie, Man Bites Murdoch: Four Decades in Print, Six Days in Court‎^[6], page 123:

     ‘Listen, I′ll give it some thought,’ I said. ‘I′ll come back to you tomorrow, okay?’ I was being polite.
     ‘Tomorrow? Bewdy,’ said Mallon.