"Found a Joe Blake in the yard."
Where "Joe Blake" Comes From
Unlike much of the rhyming slang on this list, "Joe Blake" is thought to be a genuinely Australian invention rather than an import from London — "Blake" rhymes with "snake," a fittingly local subject given how often Australians run into them.
Giving a snake a first and last name is a very Aussie way of taking something genuinely dangerous and cutting it down to size with a bit of humour.
How Aussies Actually Use It
Used matter-of-factly when a snake turns up somewhere it shouldn't — in the backyard, near the shed, or out on a bush walk — the kind of thing many rural Australians deal with fairly regularly.
It softens what could otherwise be an alarming moment with a bit of laid-back Aussie humour.
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