Aussie salute
- noun
- Australian
:
saludo australiano
- He gave an Aussie salute to chase away the flies.
Examples
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He gave an Aussie salute as soon as the flies started buzzing around his head.
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Tourists quickly learn the Aussie salute when visiting the outback in summer.
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She couldn't stop laughing after everyone at the barbecue began giving the Aussie salute.
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Look! He just did an Aussie salute!
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He gave an Aussie salute as soon as the flies started buzzing around his head.
-
Tourists quickly learn the Aussie salute when visiting the outback in summer.
-
She couldn't stop laughing after everyone at the barbecue began giving the Aussie salute.
Surface Forms
Morphology
Aussie + salute
A B1 learner who knows 'Aussie' (Australian) and 'salute' (a greeting or gesture) can infer this refers to an Australian gesture, so some aspect of the meaning is predictable. However, the specific purpose — a habitual hand-wave to swat flies rather than a greeting — is culture-specific and not directly derivable from the constituents, making the expression only partially transparent.
Etymology
Aussie salute comes from a common picture in Australia: people wave a hand near their face to shoo away flies, almost like a funny 'salute' to the insect. That's why it means 'a hand gesture to swat away flies'.
