English
Etymology
From one of the Australian Aboriginal languages.
w:D'Arcy Niland|D'Arcy Niland's novel w:The Shiralee|The Shiralee (also made into two films) has kept the word alive, even if it's actual meaning is not well known.
Noun
shiralee
- burden, load
- AU colloquial obsolete A type of swag shaped roughly like a leg of mutton when rolled up, carried over the shoulder usually with some other load on the chest to balance it. (Reference: w:D'Arcy Niland|D'Arcy Niland in the Aboriginalities section of w:The Bulletin|The Bulletin magazine, 27 September 1957. Quoted by Bill Wannan, Australian Folklore, Lansdowne Press, 1970, reprint 1979 ISBN 0-7018-1309-1, under "Shiralee", page 475.)
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