Rural New Zealand can fill a dictionary with its words for sheep.
There is auntie, boiling downs, stragglers, strays, woollies, wrinklies, Hokonuis (wild), double-deckers (missed shearing), hermits (orphaned lambs), gummies, rattlers, bag of dags, handlebars (merinos), shivey back (been in vegetation), limpers, scrag, killer, cobbler, blockie (Southdown breed), gluepot (sticky wool), Judas sheep (one that leads the flock in), fleecer, tailender ...
And in a couple of years, all 73-plus will be published in a dictionary of rural New Zealand English, being compiled by PhD student Dianne Bardsley.
Ms Bardsley, who lives in Hawera but grew up in the Wairarapa, is doing her doctorate in rural language with the backing of a fellowship from Otago University Press and Victoria University.
She says rural NZ English, "with its unique synonyms, use of phrasal verbs and equal amounts of colour and cynicism," is different from urban and suburban NZ English and rural England English.
Asked her favourites, she nominates the variations for the station cook, which include greasy, blacksmith, cookaroo and dough roaster.
Regional rivalry makes an appearance with the Nelson huntaway - the Canterbury term for throwing a rock down a hill to move sheep. And there is some room for sentimentality - a retired dog is called a backdoor pensioner.
The names for dogs almost rival the rural preoccupation with sheep - Ms Bardsley has collected 70 already.
Rural language also includes many Maori words, often corrupted.
The poisonous plant tutu is pronounced toot and turned into a verb when gathering the roots for firewood in the South Island - tutuing. Pakihi, originally a clearing in the bush, becomes swamp country, and pikau, meaning to carry on one's back, becomes a saddle bag or split sack.
Ms Bardsley says the historic social attitudes and prejudices of rural New Zealand are also evident, with plenty of references to Maori and the Irish.
There is also room for the crude. Milder entries include bum barber for a dagger and matagouri mermaid for the boundary rider or musterer who has been in the backblocks for a while.
Sources for the words and phrases have included local and station histories, farm diaries, newspapers, magazines and other periodicals and technical publications.
One year into her three-year project, Ms Bardsley already has more than 2000 entries for the dictionary.
She says the project has been fascinating both for the historical colloquial terms and the trends that occur even today.
"There's 21st-century terms, such as the eco-farmer and farm conversion.
"And a sheep isn't fat any more - it's preconditioned."
- NZPA
Stragglers, aunties and gummies - it's all rural-speak
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