"In his suit at the barbie, he stood out like a shag on a rock."
Where "Stands Out Like a Shag on a Rock" Comes From
A "shag" is a cormorant, a dark waterbird often spotted perched alone on an exposed rock, wings out to dry, clearly visible against the sky and water around it. That solitary, impossible-to-miss image gave the phrase its meaning.
It's used widely across both Australia and New Zealand, where cormorants are a common sight along rivers, harbours and coastlines.
How Aussies Actually Use It
Describes anyone or anything conspicuously out of place — the wrong outfit at an event, a glaring error in a report, one lone figure standing apart from a crowd.
It's usually observational rather than unkind, simply pointing out that something is impossible to miss for all the wrong reasons.
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