whack the illy

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search

English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Presumed (but not proven) to be a back-formation from illywhacker. [1]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • (file)

Verb[edit]

whack the illy (third-person singular simple present whacks the illy, present participle whacking the illy, simple past and past participle whacked the illy)

  1. (Australia, colloquial, obsolete) To carry on small-time confidence tricks, ie. the activity of an illywhacker.

References[edit]

  1. ^ 2001, Susan Butler, The Dinkum Dictionary: The Origins of Australian Words, Text Publishing, →ISBN.