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Furphy
A furphy is Australian slang for an erroneous or improbable story that is claimed to be factual. Furphies are supposedly heard from reputable sources, sometimes secondhand or thirdhand, and widely believed until discounted. The word is said to derive from water carts designed and made by a company established by John Furphy of J. Furphy & Sons of Shepparton, Victoria. The steel and cast iron tanks were first made in the 1880s and were used on farms and by stock agents. Many Furphy water carts were used to take water to Australian Army personnel during World War I in Australia, Europe and the Middle East. In his book ''Memories of a Signaller'', Harold Hinckfuss wrote of the "furphies" or rumours of pending movements of troops, while awaiting transfer to the French lines from Egypt. "Every day in the tent someone would come up with a 'furphy' that he had heard whilst down at the latrines. That is why the different stories were called furphies ('furphy' was the term used for a f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Furphy
John Furphy (17 June 184223 September 1920) was an Australian blacksmith credited with inventing the "furphy", a water cart that was used by the Australian army during the first World War. Early life Furphy was born on 17 June 1842 in Moonee Ponds, Victoria, the eldest son of farmer Samuel Furphy and dressmaker Judith (née Hare), both of whom were Irish immigrants. Initially home-schooled, Furphy later attended public schools in Kangaroo Ground and Kyneton. His younger brother was the author Joseph Furphy, best known for the Australian novel '' Such is Life''. Career Furphy first found employment at the Kyneton-based farm machinery manufacturer Hutcheson & Walker, before becoming an independent blacksmith in 1864. Moving to nearby Shepparton in 1873, he established the first blacksmith's shop in the township, gradually expanding into iron works. By 1888, Furphy had the most extensive foundry in northern Victoria. His patented grain stripper, which preceded the combine harves ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Furphy Hitched To An Australian Draught Horse
A furphy is Australian slang for an erroneous or improbable story that is claimed to be factual. Furphies are supposedly heard from reputable sources, sometimes secondhand or thirdhand, and widely believed until discounted. The word is said to derive from water carts designed and made by a company established by John Furphy of J. Furphy & Sons of Shepparton, Victoria. The steel and cast iron tanks were first made in the 1880s and were used on farms and by stock agents. Many Furphy water carts were used to take water to Australian Army personnel during World War I in Australia, Europe and the Middle East. In his book ''Memories of a Signaller'', Harold Hinckfuss wrote of the "furphies" or rumours of pending movements of troops, while awaiting transfer to the French lines from Egypt. "Every day in the tent someone would come up with a 'furphy' that he had heard whilst down at the latrines. That is why the different stories were called furphies ('furphy' was the term used for a f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shepparton
Shepparton () ( Yortayorta: ''Kanny-goopna'') is a city located on the floodplain of the Goulburn River in northern Victoria, Australia, approximately north-northeast of Melbourne. As of the 2021 census, the estimated population of Shepparton, including the adjacent town of Mooroopna, was 68,409. It began as a sheep station and river crossing in the mid-19th century, before undergoing a major transformation as a railway town. Today it is an agricultural and manufacturing centre, and the centre of the Goulburn Valley irrigation system, one of the largest centres of irrigation in Australia. It is also a major regional service city and the seat of local government and civic administration for the City of Greater Shepparton, which includes the surrounding towns of Tatura, Merrigum, Mooroopna, Murchison, Dookie, Toolamba and Grahamvale. Toponymy The name of Shepparton is derived from the surname of one of the area's first European settlers, Sherbourne Sheppard, and not, as is s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scuttlebutt
Scuttlebutt in slang usage means rumor or gossip, deriving from the nautical term for the cask used to serve water (or, later, a water fountain). The term corresponds to the colloquial concept of a in an office setting, which at times becomes the focus of congregation and casual discussion. Water for immediate consumption on a was conventionally stored in a scuttled butt: a butt (cask) which had been |
Australian Slang
Australian English is a major variety of the English language spoken throughout Australia. Most of the vocabulary of Australian English is shared with British English, though there are notable differences. The vocabulary of Australia is drawn from many sources, including various dialects of British English as well as Gaelic languages, some Indigenous Australian languages, and Polynesian languages. One of the first dictionaries of Australian slang was Karl Lentzner's ''Dictionary of the Slang-English of Australia and of Some Mixed Languages'' in 1892. The first dictionary based on historical principles that covered Australian English was E. E. Morris's ''Austral English: A Dictionary of Australasian Words, Phrases and Usages'' (1898). In 1981, the more comprehensive ''Macquarie Dictionary of Australian English'' was published. Oxford University Press published the ''Australian Oxford Dictionary'' in 1999, in concert with the Australian National University. Oxford University P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stock And Station Agent
Stock and station agencies are businesses which provide a support service to the agricultural community. Their staff who deal with clients are known as stock and station agents.In his book Simon Ville states: "The term stock and station agent is variously defined as the buying and selling of rural properties and stock or dealing in land, products and supplies, ''Macquarie Dictionary'' (2nd edn, Sydney, 1988), p 985, ''Australian Concise Oxford Dictionary'' (2nd end, Melbourne, 1992) p 1141.However the business of most leading agents was much wider than this. The terms "pastoral" or "farming" agent might better convey the broad meaning. The three terms are used interchangeably in this book (''The Rural Entrepreneurs'') as was the practice of the firms themselves." Simon Ville, page 219, ''The Rural Entrepreneurs'' Cambridge University Press, 2000. They advise and represent farmers and graziers in business transactions that involve livestock, wool, fertiliser, rural property and equip ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Sydney Morning Herald
''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia and "the most widely-read masthead in the country." The newspaper is published in compact print form from Monday to Saturday as ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' and on Sunday as its sister newspaper, '' The Sun-Herald'' and digitally as an online site and app, seven days a week. It is considered a newspaper of record for Australia. The print edition of ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' is available for purchase from many retail outlets throughout the Sydney metropolitan area, most parts of regional New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and South East Queensland. Overview ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' publishes a variety of supplements, including the magazines ''Good Weekend'' (included in the Saturday edition of ''Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australian Army
The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Australia), Chief of Army (CA), who is subordinate to the Chief of the Defence Force (Australia), Chief of the Defence Force (CDF) who commands the ADF. The CA is also directly responsible to the Minister of Defence (Australia), Minister for Defence, with the Department of Defence (Australia), Department of Defence administering the ADF and the Army. Formed in 1901, as the Commonwealth Military Forces, through the amalgamation of the colonial forces of Australia following the Federation of Australia. Although Australian soldiers have been involved in a number of minor and major conflicts throughout Australia's history, only during the Second World War has Australian territory come under direct attack. The Australian Army was initially composed a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fighting occurring throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Pacific, and parts of Asia. An estimated 9 million soldiers were killed in combat, plus another 23 million wounded, while 5 million civilians died as a result of military action, hunger, and disease. Millions more died in genocides within the Ottoman Empire and in the 1918 influenza pandemic, which was exacerbated by the movement of combatants during the war. Prior to 1914, the European great powers were divided between the Triple Entente (comprising France, Russia, and Britain) and the Triple Alliance (containing Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy). Tensions in the Balkans came to a head on 28 June 1914, following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Encarta
''Microsoft Encarta'' is a discontinued digital multimedia encyclopedia published by Microsoft from 1993 to 2009. Originally sold on CD-ROM or DVD, it was also available on the World Wide Web via an annual subscription, although later articles could also be viewed for free online with advertisements. By 2008, the complete English version, ''Encarta Premium'', consisted of more than 62,000 articles, numerous photos and illustrations, music clips, videos, interactive content, timelines, maps, atlases and homework tools. Microsoft published similar encyclopedias under the ''Encarta'' trademark in various languages, including German, French, Spanish, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese and Japanese. Localized versions contained contents licensed from national sources and more or less content than the full English version. For example, the Dutch-language version had content from the Dutch ''Winkler Prins'' encyclopedia. In March 2009, Microsoft announced it was discontinuing both the ''Enc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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