Where "Bunyip" Comes From
The Australian National Dictionary Centre traces "bunyip" to the Wathaurong language of Victoria and records it from the 1840s, with the earliest citation in the Sydney Morning Herald in July 1845. Other accounts point to Wemba Wemba or Wergaia, so the exact source language is debated. It names a mythical creature said to lurk in waterways and swamps in the stories of Aboriginal peoples of the region.
Colonists took the word up quickly, and it also came to mean an impostor or something bogus, as in the 1853 debate in Sydney over a "bunyip aristocracy".
Sources: Meanings & origins: B (Australian National Dictionary Centre) · Bunyip (Wikipedia)
“The old timers used to tell yarns around the campfire about the bunyip roaring from the depths of the billabong.”
How Aussies Actually Use It
Widely known through Australian folklore, children's books and campfire storytelling. It has also been used to describe something bogus or exaggerated, as in the 1853 Sydney debate over a "bunyip aristocracy". Wikipedia notes the political sense is now obsolete, so today you'll mostly meet the word in stories.
Also used in Australian political and colloquial language to describe something bogus or exaggerated (as in the 1853 Sydney debate over a "bunyip aristocracy").
📚 Sources & Further Reading
- Borrowings from Aboriginal Languages — Australian National Dictionary Centre, ANU
- List of English words of Australian Aboriginal origin — Wikipedia
Part of our Aboriginal Loanwords collection →
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