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In the Paddock and On the Run
The Language of Rural New Zealand

Dianne Bardsley

 

Key Points

• Wonderful resource for anyone who enjoys language
• Often hilarious, especially for people with rural background
• Essential reference for researchers including historians
• Attractive book for general reader, well illustrated

The Book

The prominence of the rural world in New Zealand’s social, cultural and economic history is long established and undisputed. For decades, the country was termed ‘Britain’s overseas farm’ or ‘the Empire’s dairy farm’. This is the first book to explore the rich heritage of language the rural sector has generated.

For two hundred years people have come from all over the world to work in New Zealand’s rural enterprises. From this linguistic melting pot, which includes the addition of indigenous Maori words, phrases and adaptations, the author has compiled this book, including historical citations for all words listed.

Sample pages

Click here to read sample pages from the book

Review Quotes

'It is an academic publication, but one that anyone with an interest in words, farming or New Zealand history will enjoy. You can dip in and out – and much more happily than a sheep in a washdyke' – Dominion Post December 12 2009

'Filled with evidence of the linguistic inventiveness and humour of rural New Zealanders, this book will be enjoyed by anyone who works with (or just enjoys) language.' – Reference and Research Book News, Feb 2010

Contents

Introduction:
1 In the Beginning: land settlement and use
2 Aggies, Baggies and Grubbing Gangs: roles and identities
3 Taipos and Tomos: the influence of the environment
4 People’s Day and the Taranaki Gate: institutions and traditions
5 Altitude and Attitude: mustering and the high country
6 Hokonuis, Hermits, and Halo Hairs: sheep and their husbandry
7 Huntaways, Hoolers, and Half-day Dogs: New Zealand sheepdogs
8 Kiko, Kunekune, Cervena, and Cows: other pastoral stock
9 Feed and Fibre: crops and cultivation
10 Quintessentially No. 8: adaptations, innovations, pests, and diseases
Further reading

About the Author


Dianne Bardsley is Director of the New Zealand Dictionary Centre at Victoria University of Wellington, working as a researcher and lexicographer within the School of Linguistics and Applied Languages. She also teaches New Zealand English in the Linguistics programme. Her publications include The Land Girls: In a Man’s World, 1939–1946 (2000), several New Zealand dictionaries, and she is a contributor to the Watch Your Language column in the Dominion-Post newspaper.

Publication details

Rural History/Cultural studies/Dictionaries
Paperback, 230 x 155 mm, 464 pp, b/w photographs
ISBN 978 1 877372 72 8, $50.00 / £24.50 UK

 

 

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