Late 1800s
Still common
Definition
Genuine, honest, real - the real deal.
Example Sentence
"He's a fair dinkum bloke, that one."
Where "Dinkum" Comes From
"Dinkum" is thought to come from British dialect words meaning fair work or hard graft, brought to Australia by 19th-century miners and settlers.
It later paired with "fair" to form "fair dinkum", now used more or less interchangeably with "dinkum" on its own.
How Aussies Actually Use It
It describes people, objects, or claims that are the genuine article - a "dinkum Aussie" or "dinkum oil" (the honest truth).
It can also be used as a question, "dinkum?", to check whether someone's telling the truth.
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