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Damper is a thick home-made bread traditionally prepared by early European settlers in Australia. [citation needed] It is a bread made from wheat-based dough.[citation needed] Flour, salt and water, [1] [2] with some butter if available, [citation needed] is kneaded and baked in the coals of a campfire, [2] either directly or within a camp oven.
The word was first derived from “yaga,” which means “work” in the Yagara language – the traditional language of the Yagara people who live in the region around what is now known as Brisbane.
Australian English and several British English dialects (e.g., Cockney, Scouse, Geordie) use the word mate to mean a friend, rather than the conventional meaning of "a spouse", although this usage has also become common in some other varieties of English.
The flour was then mixed with water to make a dough and placed in hot ashes for baking. The results could be small buns, today referred to as johnny cakes, or a large loaf, known today as damper. Damper appears to be a mix of this traditional style of bread-making and European-style bread-making. The dough could also be eaten raw.
Bloke as slang originated in early 19th-Century England, and means “fella.” “Telling porky pies” Another British expression, it means to lie about something.
Down on His Luck, painted by Frederick McCubbin in 1889, depicts a melancholic swagman "on the Wallaby". Before motor transport became common, the Australian wool industry was heavily dependent on itinerant shearers who carried their swags from farm to farm (called properties or "stations" in Australia), but would not in general have taken kindly to being called "swagmen".
In Australian English, diminutives are usually formed by taking the first part of a word, and adding an ending such as a, o, ie, or y. Sometimes, no ending is added. [1] While the form of a diminutive is arbitrary, their use follows strict rules. [citation needed] Diminutives are not used creatively.
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