Is it a furphy? I want the dinkum oil! This statement could quite easily have been made by an Anzac during the First World War, according to Amanda Laugesen, who is the brains behind this little treasure from Oxford University Press.

Furphies and Whizz-Bangs
ANZAC Slang from the Great War
By Amanda Laugesen
Published by Oxford University Press
http://www.oup.com.au
RRP $32.95 in paperback
ISBN 9780195597356

I had heard of many of the terms, but others were quite new to me. Only an Australian would use the term ‘shrapnel gully’ and we can imagine what a Kangaroo march is.

This is intended to be a serious project but I can’t help smiling at some of the words and their meanings.

Dr Amanda Laugesen is an historian and Director of the Australian National Dictionary Centre at the Australian National University. Obviously just the right person to bring this together.