Green’s Dictionary of Slang

socially unacceptable, impossible.

1954

19601970198019902000

2003

1954		N. Bartlett With Australians in Korea 251: General Everest realized that escape and survival as we knew it in World War II was just ‘not on’ in Korea.
1961		H. Livings Stop it, Whoever You Are (1962) Act II: You’ll see for yourself the sort of thing I have to put up with. It’s not on, you know.
1977		G.F. Newman Prisoner’s Tale 49: Lynn recognised right off what the con was doing [...] It wasn’t on, he decided.
1985		B. Humphries Traveller’s Tool 31: Ermine and heavy jewel-encrusted hats are ‘not on’ in egalitarian Australia.
1993		R. Shell Iced 169: The boy’s got me seeing spiders. And that ain’t on!
1998		P. McCabe Breakfast on Pluto 24: Inserting one’s wee man into these rasher-drying ladies — well, it simply wasn’t on.
1999		K. Sampson Powder 442: He’d love to be able to thank them, but . . . it just wasn’t on.
2000		J.J. Connolly Layer Cake 125: A couple of boys spoke to his mates, told ’em givin evidence was not on.
2003		K. Richards Aussie Bible 39: John said, ‘What you’ve done is that wrong. It’s not on’.