starve the...! excl.
SE in Aus. slang uses
In exclamations
(Aus., Western) a general excl.
![[Aus]](/static/img/flags/aus.png "Australia") | Popular Dict. Aus. Sl. 8: Starve the bardies!, a popular W.A. ejaculation, synonymous with ‘Stone the crows!’. | |
| Aus. Lang. 91: Here are some well-established variations on [stone the crows] [...] starve the bardies! (a Westralian version). | |
 | Merry Gentlemen 305: I heard behind me a loud, hoarse voice: ‘Starve the bardies and stone the crows if it’s not Chaplain Case!’. |
a general excl.
| [ | | Truth (Sydney) 8 July 1/6: It blows, it snows, / And blues your nose, / My toes are all frost bitten / The weather would / Quite starve the crows, / Or freeze the part you sit on]. |
| Nat. Leader (Brisbane) 12 Apr. 5/4: While on my left, in graver tones, the conversation flows, / And H. requests, in accents bold, the Lord to ‘starve the crows.’ / ‘Lord starve the crows! Lord starve the crows!’ runs on incessantly - / Such repetition of a prayer shows small fidelity. | |
| Manchester Guardian 26 Apr. 8/1: ‘Starve the crows! Them dingoes is wonders. | |
| Popular Dict. Aus. Sl. | |
| Winter Quarters 212: ‘I’ve applied for posting to a unit going overseas.’ Strutt stared. ‘Well, God starve the crows! Why?’. | |
| Come in Spinner (1960) 333: ‘Starve the crows!’ Blue moaned as a plump figure came rapidly round the corner to them. ‘Wouldn’t it?’. | |
| I Travelled a Lonely Land (1957) 240/1: starve the crows! (starve the rabbits) – exclamations like our ‘blow me down’, ‘you don’t say’, etc. | |
| I’m a Jack, All Right 75: Starve the crows, Nat! [...] don’t interfere with your duties now do I. | |
![[NZ]](/static/img/flags/nz.png "New Zealand") | Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. 198: starve/stiffen/stone the crows! Exclamation of surprise. ANZ mid C20. |
a general excl.
| Recorder (Port Pirie, SA) 8 Aug. 3/2: A lost ball also meant losing two strokes. They peered in this bush. They peered in that tree. [...] They hunted for an hour. They blighted the ball; they blasted the ball. They starved the rats, they stiffened the crows - they also went hopping to hell . | |
| Northern Miner (Charters Towers, Qld) 17 Aug. 3/3: ‘But, starve the lizards, Bill, the truth is I’m frightened of the track; and my nerve is broken’ . | |
| Queenslander (Brisbane) 31 Aug. 23: ‘Starve the lizards. Dave, will you get to work!’. | |
| Albany Advertiser (WA) 11 May 4/2: Starve the lizards! The moaning cows, they bawl from morn ’til night. | |
| Aus. Lang. 91: Here are some well-established variations on [stone the crows] [...] starve the lizards! starve the mopokes! starve the wombats! [...] and even starve the rats! | |
| Argus (Melbourne) 20 June 6/2: They have been mystified by such intensely Australian bon mots as ‘starve the — lizards’ . | |
| Argus (Melbourne) 22 Mar. 4/5: Starve the mopokes! | |
| Holy Smoke 13: ‘Well, starve the lizards!’ he yelps. | |
| Eng. Lang. in Aus. and N.Z. 100: Such forms as starve the wombats, [...] starve the ninnies and several more. | |
| Dinkum Aussie Dict. 48: Starve the lizards: An expression of amazement or incredulity. | |
| Sydney Morn. Herald Review 15 Oct. 137/1: Starve the flamin’ wombats, cobbers. | |
| Day We had Hitler Home 137: Starve the lizards! This was demented. Calculated to drive any self-respecting music-lover mad. |