Words similar to borak
Example sentences for: borak
How can you use “borak” in a sentence? Here are some example sentences to help you improve your vocabulary:
Borak was a negative in the Victorian language Wathawurung and was one of a comparatively small number of words which the Aboriginal languages collectively contributed to an on-the-whole short-lived Australian pidgin.
Yet another Aboriginal word, borak , was held by some to be the etymon of barrack , although the probability has to be that this is a British regional dialect word given a new lease of life in fresh circumstances.
Borak was borrowed in the late 1830s and, perhaps because the Dharuk negative baal was already in use, did not last long in its primary sense.
Oddly, borak was coupled with the verb poke in the phrase to poke borak at , meaning to deride, and this was close enough to the transitive use of the verb barrack ridicule, jeer at, verbally abuse to suggest that the two might be connected.
Australian pidgin acquired a second negative, borak , used as an alternative to baal or in a figurative sense for humbug, nonsense, or rubbish, from Wathawurung, whence came also an exclamation merrygig well done and coolie , a derogatory term for a person who partnered an Aboriginal woman.