Word-playing the field

A couple of years ago, a peculiar expression was submitted to the Word Box on the Australian National Dictionary Centre website. The phrase was leave the porch light on for Harold Holt, an idiom used allusively in sporting situations to refer to an unlikely outcome.

Considering that Holt, Australia’s 17th prime minister, famously disappeared while swimming at Cheviot Beach in Victoria in 1967, leaving a light on for his return is a forlorn hope indeed!

To my surprise, there was enough evidence for this phrase to be added to our historical collection of Australianisms. My research traced it back to rugby league coach and raconteur Jack Gibson, who said in 1988 that “waiting for Cronulla to win a grand final is like leaving the porch light on for Harold Holt”.

Since then, the phrase has taken on a life of its own and is used in contexts far removed from sport. It was submissions like this that inspired the theme of sports-related words and phrases for the Australian National Dictionary’s 2024 word appeal.

Many classic Australian words and expressions, including barrack, drongo, home and hosed, sledge, fang it and no-hoper, have their origins in the sporting world.

Since launching this year’s appeal, we’ve had close to 100 distinct contributions, reminding us that the Australian English lexicon is dynamic and ever-changing. While horseracing and boxing used to have a major influence on our vocabulary, footy and cricket have overtaken them on the leaderboard.

A slippery pill is a wet ball in AFL, and bush footy is a term for AFL played in remote areas. In the competitive world of backyard cricket, auto wickie describes a fence or garage door acting as wicketkeeper. I have also enjoyed learning that slice of cheese is a yellow card in soccer, a Greg Norman is a Great Northern beer and couch peloton is a cheeky term for an Australian cycling aficionado.

Doing a Jezza means taking an impressive mark in AFL and is a nod to Carlton great Alex Jesaulenko. His iconic mark in the 1970 grand final against Collingwood inspired the creation of the ‘Mark of the Year’ award, which continues to this day.

But not every contribution recognises sporting glory. A wombat rollover is a badly executed jump in skiing and teabagging refers to poor paddling in outrigger boating. This shows that as much as we love sporting triumphs, we also can’t help but relish missteps and mistakes.