on one's Pat Malone

English

Alternative forms

• on one's pat

Etymology

Australian rhyming slang; possibly from the ballad Paddy Malone in Australia, recounting the tribulations of an Irish immigrant.

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

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Prepositional phrase

on one's Pat Malone

1. (Australia, slang) Alone, on one's own
   • 1938, Xavier Herbert, chapter IX, in Capricornia‎^[1], page 139:

     "Who's paying?" asked Oscar. "Abo Department?"
     "Oh, no," said Lace lightly. "I'm doing it on my pat."

   • 2004, Jay Verney, Percussion‎^[2], St Lucia, Queensland: University of Queensland Press, page 298:

     "My daughter worries about me. Isn't that nice," Brian said to the room. "She'd be on her Pat Malone there then, wouldn't she?"

Further reading

• Eric Partridge (2005) “on your Pat”, in Tom Dalzell and Terry Victor, editors, The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, volume 2 (J–Z), London, New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 1449.