New Dictionary

We just got an Australian Oxford Dictionary a couple of days ago. We are so excited because we are now able to look up all of these words we don’t know. Yea! For example, Emily just came across this sentence in a book she is reading: “The man was humping a bluey across the ranch.”

Bluey: 1) a swag (so called because the outer covering was a blue blanket). 1b) Luggage. 1c) A swagman’s blanket. 1d) Heavy grey-blue woolen outer garment or coat. 2) Nickname for a red haired person.

Swag: 1) collection of possessions and daily necessaries carried by a person traveling, usually on foot, in the bush; especially the blanket-wrapped roll carried, usually on the back or across the shoulders, by an itinerant worker; syn: matilda; bluey.

Swagman: 1) person who carries a swag, especially an itinerant. 2) tramp.

Hump (v.): 1) lift or carry with difficulty. 2) make hump-shaped. 3) travel on foot carrying one’s possessions - as in, “hump one’s swag” (or bluey or matilda).

So a bluey is basically combination knapsack/bedroll usually carried by a drifter/hobo type person. Hump is roughly the equivalent to hike. So my American translation:

“The man was hiking across the ranch with his bedroll, which he was also using as a knapsack (which should conjure up images of a hobo for you).”

It takes a lot more words to express it in American English for some reason.