Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(Aus./N.Z.) flattery, insincerity, deceit, nonsense; in sing., a fake; also as adj.; also as v., or excl.

1904		Sydney Sportsman (Surry Hills, NSW) 9 Nov. 3/4: ‘Fastin’ day be jiggered, that’s their kid stakes. Did ye ever know a Jew as couldn’t afford himself his four good meals a day?’.
1913		Sun. Times (Perth) 16 Nov. 8/5: Whereupon some rude person remarked ‘Kidstakes!’.
1914		Sun. Times (Perth) 13 Dec. 8/8: ‘Kidstakes’ was not on his tongue / When he as a barrister pleaded.
1916		C.J. Dennis ‘The Straight Griffin’ in Moods of Ginger Mick 78: Mick reads the boys them ringin’ words of praise; / But they jist grin a bit an’ sez ‘Kid stakes!’.
1919		Bak-Ara No. 3 Aug.–Sept. in Laughesen Diggerspeak (2005) 123: She’ll tell you she is lovely, she loves Aussies too, / She hasn’t had a sweetheart since the last boat passed through. / But, get me digger, it’s kid stakes and rotten to the core, / The same old yarn is spoken to soldiers by the score.
1924		C.J. Dennis ‘Termarter Sorce’ in Rose of Spadgers 29: It was n’t kid stakes. I ’ad no crook lurk / To act deceivin’.
1932		‘William Hatfield’ Ginger Murdoch 194: You’re always kidstakin’ me.
1938		X. Herbert Capricornia (1939) 523: ‘I didn’t see him, I tell you.’ ‘You told his Ma you did.’ ‘That was only kidstakes.’.
1940		F. Sargeson ‘Three Men’ in A Man And His Wife (1944) 69: I’d got a line on those boys just as if by magic and they were all kidsteaks.
1947		Sydney Morn. Herald 19 Feb. 11/2: ‘No kidstakes?’ ‘Square dinkum I am. You’re a cobber of mine so it’s square dinkum when I tell you I’m saving up for a bike’.
1959		D. Niland Gold in the Streets (1966) 164: Danno looked them over. Couple of kidstakes tough guys.
1968		S. Gore Holy Smoke 14: Ah, yes, but personally, meself, I’d say that was just kidstakes. It was somethin’ else he was relyin’ on. All that other was what they call p-sych-ol-ogical, d’y’ see?
1993		(con. 1945) S. McAughtry Touch and Go 229: There was no halfway, no kid-stakes about cutting it down.
2003		McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl.