“FAIR DINKUM"

Wairarapa Times-Age, 19 August 1943, Page 6

“FAIR DINKUM"

SUGGESTED ORIGIN OF TERM. Colin Wills mentioned, in the course of one of his Australian news letters for service men in Britain, that a listener in England had written in to the 8.8. C. on a point of interest both to Australians and their British comrades. It concerned the origin of some of Australia’s slang terms. The letter-writer, Mr R. B. J. Clayton. once of Maryborough, Queensland, and now of Milford-on-Sea, Hampshire, offered an interesting theory as to the way the expressions “clinkum” and “fair dinkuin” first arose. Wills explained, for the benefit of British listeners, that “dinkum” means “genuine, true, no kidding.” And a “dinkum” man is a genuine one —what the Americans call a “regular fellow” probably. Mr Clayton went on to say that “dinkum” came from the old gold rush days. The miners used to gamble after the day’s work and anyone who stayed “cold sober” was looked upon as having an advantage —an unfair one —over the other players. So it became a point of honour that all should drink together—“fair drinking” was the slogan. Some of the foreigners, according to Mr Clayton, pronounced the phrase “fair clinkum.” And so Australians adopted that pronunciation, ithe phrase “fair dinkum.” And so j Australians adopted that pronunciation, at first jocularly, but as time went on a new generation inherited the word “dinkum” without knowing anything of ils origin.