birding-aus

Slang/jargon use of Chook

To: "'Sean Dooley'" <>, "'James Lambert'" <>, <>
Subject: Slang/jargon use of Chook
From: "Tony Russell" <>
Date: Sun, 1 Feb 2009 11:27:25 +1030
Doesn't chook also refer to one's female friend ?  A term of endearment.

-----Original Message-----
From: 
 On Behalf Of Sean Dooley
Sent: Sunday, February 01, 2009 9:43 AM
To: 'James Lambert'; 
Subject: Slang/jargon use of Chook


G'day James, 

I first heard the word chook used in relation to common birds very early
on in my birding life, (early 1980s). I think Peter Lansley was the
first person I heard use it, and it was well entrenched in the vocab of
the Brisbane twitching scene in the mid-eighties when I visited there.

In fact, I seem to remember, Glen Ingram, who was part of that scene,
wrote a light-hearted article about twitching that I think may have
actually mentioned the word chook. This would have been in one of the
natural history glossy mags of the time (around 1983?)- Australian
Natural History or something similar. Glen has been a previous
contributor to Birding-aus so if he is still on the list he may be able
to enlighten you further. 

Sean Dooley

-----Original Message-----
From: 
 On Behalf Of James Lambert
Sent: Friday, 30 January 2009 7:47 PM
To: 
Subject: Slang/jargon use of Chook


Dear all

I first came across the word "chook" used to describe "an abundant bird
that birders get sick of seeing", when reading Sean Dooley's "The Big
Twitch" (one of my favourite books).

As a lexicographer I was interested in the term. Sean Dooley's book was
published in 2005. I checked the Birding-Aus archives and the earliest
example I could find was 1998.
 
So I have two questions: 
 
1. When did this term first start being used? (I'm looking for anecdotal
evidence here)
 
2. Does anyone have a source earlier than 1998 which uses the word
"chook" in this way? (I'm looking for printed evidence here)

 
I am not interested in the general use of the word chook = chicken,
which is standard Australian slang dating back to 1900 (or possibly
1894).
 
Any information would be greatly appreciated
 
James Lambert
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