Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(orig. UK Und.) good, excellent, first-rate.

1865		Leaves from Diary of Celebrated Burglar 25/1: Fobs had been ‘starching’ himself up for her, and fancied himself ‘rye-buck’ on that ‘figuer.’.
1889		Dead Bird (Sydney) 14 Sept. 7/1: If you don’t believe this fairy, ask Jack Thomson if it ain’t rybuck.
1890		Queenslander 16 Aug. 298/3: I need not tell you to keep mum about the dish [...] but smother it in a riebuck plotch.
1892		‘Fanny Flukem’s Ball’ in Bird o’ Freedom (Sydney) in J. Murray Larrikins (1973) 39: I’ll tell you of a ryebuck spree – / Gor’, blue me, it was grand.
1894		S. Bourke & Mornington Jrnl (Richmond, Vic.) 6 June 3/2: Bill Wanchops has got a touch of influenza, but expects to be ryebuck by Saturday.
1894		Truth (Sydney) 18 Mar. 4/8: Tell the boys I’m raibuck .
1898		West Australia (Perth) 17 Jan. 3/5: ‘Ryebuck Bill’ [...] a young fellow with all the dash and daring of the Australian bred youth.
1901		Sydney Sportsman (Surry Hills, NSW) 6 Feb. 2/5: Somethin’s always sure to ’appen, / When I gets a ribuck toff.
1901		Sydney Sportsman (Surry Hills, NSW) 5 June 1/2: The shrewd backers were [...] waiting for the right moment for a ‘rie buck’ commission.
1904		Sun. Times (Perth) 27 Nov. 4/7: ‘Look ’ere, mister,’ he observed confidentially, ‘I’m ryebuck; I’ll fix yer bloomin’ electric light meter so it won’t register.
1908		Sun. Times (Perth) 25 Oct. 4/7: ‘’Ow’s ther missus an’ ther nippers?’ sez Bill. ‘Rye buck,’ I sez.
1915		Bulletin (Sydney) 5 Aug. 47/1: We’d have rybuck chats on the verandah while the old ’un and his missus threw plates in the kitchen.
1918		R.H. Knyvett ‘Over There’ with the Australians 72: They even knew our slang, for here was ‘The “Fair Dinkum” Store,’ and across the way ‘Ribuck Goods.’.
1933		L. Stone Larrikin 307: Rye buck (also spelled ribuck) – correct.
1938		Western Mail (Perth) 10 Nov. 26/6: One writer clasimed that eight out of 19 Australian slang words mentioned here were ‘of obvious Hebrew and Yiddish origin.’ [...] ‘cliner’, from ‘klein’ [...] ‘cobber’ from ‘chaver’, [...] ‘furphy’ [...] from the Yiddish ‘furfeer,’ to mislead, ‘guyver’, make believe [...] ‘rybebuck,’ correct or genuine, from the Hebrew ‘reivach’, meaning profit, ‘shick’ [...] meaning drunk, ‘smoodge.’ from the hebrew ‘schmoo-os’ [...] ‘yakker’ from ‘akeren’, meaning to plough.
1949		Argus (Melbourne) 1 Oct. 11/3: If the same sninny is of elegant proportions and gets into a cossie she looks ribuck, meaning that she is most attractive in a swimming costume.
1950		F.J. Hardy Power Without Glory 41: A ryebuck bloke is Jack West. One of the best.
2003		K. Greenwood Death Before Wicket 211: In fact, everything is ryebuck on a straight wire and there’s a ladder in front of you.