ANU Home | Search ANU | RSH | OUP Australia Home

Z

---

World War I home          Abbreviations        Annotated Home

---

*Zero Time  The hour at which the battle commences.

World War I. Attested here and in Digger Dialects.

This is a variant of ‘zero’ and ‘zero hour’ which, as F&G explain, was ‘the time officially appointed for the opening of an attack, kept secret at headquarters and meanwhile referred to as “zero”, the actual time being finally made known to the troops to be employed only at the latest possible moment before the attack.’

 

Ziff  A beard.

General Australian. From 1917 (AND). Attested in numerous sources.

 

Zig-Zag  Drunk.

General World War I. Attested in numerous sources.

‘Zigzag’ originally entered English through French in the 18th century. Its ultimate origin is unknown, but it is ‘partly symbolic, suggesting the two different directions’ (OED). It appears to have picked up by the soldiers during World War I, in the sense of ‘drunk’, although OED does suggest it was chiefly US.

 

*Zubrich-Farmer   See ‘Treacle-miner’.

Attested here and in Digger Dialects but not otherwise recorded.

‘Zubric(k)’ is a Services’ term for a penis, based on Arabic.

---

Resources Home

ANDC Home