Words from the West

Cacka, Maltie, Jarrah Jerker, Whirley Whirl, Crossover, Koondi, Noolbenger, Broome Time, Quokka, Skimpy - what do these words mean? Whereabouts in Australia are they used? What evidence is there? Working at the Australian National Dictionary centre in Canberra, and using the proven methods of historical lexicography, Maureen Brooks and Joan Ritchie have produced Words from the West, the first attempt to record the words used in and perhaps peculiar to a given Australian regional community.

Words from the West contains some 750 dictionary entries of words found in WA newspapers. The words are defined and the sentences in which they are used are treated as part of the entry, along with the date and place of occurrence. In compiling the glossary, the editors examined approximately fifty WA newspapers published between 1988 and 1991, their aim being to find those newspapers which were written locally and which reflected local usage. This meant reading newspapers like the The West Australian, the Kimberley Echo, and the Wheatbelt Mercury with a trained eye for the unfamiliar and a sensitivity to nuances of meaning. Not all of the words are exclusive to the West but, taken collectively they have an unmistakable ring to them and contribute to an image which belongs on Totherside. They are part of the dialect in the making.