come the raw prawn

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From World War II military slang. Construction obscure; suggestions are:[1]

  • From come (“act the part of”) + the + raw (“naive”) + prawn (“(slang) fool”) — thus, to attempt to deceive by feigning ignorance.
  • From come (“(putatively) perpetrate”) + the + raw prawn = something hard to swallow.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • Audio (AU)(file)

Verb[edit]

come the raw prawn (third-person singular simple present comes the raw prawn, present participle coming the raw prawn, simple past came the raw prawn, past participle come the raw prawn) (conjugates with come)

  1. (Australia, informal, intransitive) To attempt to deceive or impose upon (someone).
    • 1951, Dymphna Cusack, Florence James, 1957, Come In Spinner, page 306,
      “ […] Coupla bastards come the raw prawn over me on the last lap up from Melbourne and I done me last bob at Swy.”
    • 1968, Barrie Humphries, The wonderful World of Barry McKenzie, page 12:
      "Don't come the raw prawn! I only gave her a bit of a smack on the chops, we didn't get around to the fair dinkum article!
    • 1979, Lance Peters, The Dirty Half-Mile, page 155:
      Come on, Dimitri, don't come the raw prawn love! Four quid's the price.
    • 1995, Australia. Parliament. Senate, Parliamentary Debates (Hansard).: Senate:
      — I do not suggest that the Minister for the Environment, Sport and Territories, Senator Faulkner, is attempting to come the raw prawn with the Senate on these particular measures, but I do feel that he is trying to use these in an attempt to suggest to the Senate that this is an unintended consequence of the November decision.
    • 2003, Glen Conrad, Walk a Mile in My Shoes‎[1], page 300:
      “That′s bullshit Norbert. I brought you in to get the straight dope direct from your mate the General. So don′t come the raw prawn with me, matey.”
    • 2007, Peter Yeldham, Barbed Wire and Roses, unnumbered page:
      Until this dag in a shiny new uniform comes the raw prawn and says I didn′t salute him with proper respect.

Usage notes[edit]

  • As the citations attest, this phrase is often used in the negative, e.g. "Don't come the raw prawn [with me]!", i.e. do not feign innocence. The phrase may also be abbreviated, giving "Don't come the raw!"

References[edit]

  1. ^ Eric Partridge (2007) “don't come the raw prawn”, in Tom Dalzell and Terry Victor, editors, The Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, Abingdon, Oxon., New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 211.
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