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Glite Dictionary
reffo community

reffo community

9.9
A group in Australia of people who are refugees or who help refugees
  • noun
  • Archaic
translation icon : comunidad reffo
  • The reffo community organizes events to help newcomers adjust to Australian life.

Examples

  • The reffo community in Melbourne is known for its cultural festivals.

  • Many members of the reffo community share stories of their migration experiences.

  • The reffo community in Sydney is thriving.

  • Many members of the reffo community share their stories.

  • Many members of the reffo community share stories of their migration experiences.

  • The reffo community in Melbourne is known for its cultural festivals.

  • The reffo community organizes events to help newcomers adjust to Australian life.

Surface Forms

reffo community singular
reffo communities plural

Morphology

reffo + community

The phrase is compositionally interpretable: 'community' clearly denotes a group, and 'reffo' is an informal Australian clipping of 'refugee', so together they mean a community of refugees. However, 'reffo' is slang/dialectal (often carrying social connotations) and may not be known or recognised by average B1 learners even if they know 'refugee', so the expression is only partially predictable.

Etymology

Reffo community comes from an Australian casual short form: reffo is a relaxed form of the word 'refugee' and community means a group of people. One popular story says people used reffo to name refugees who then formed groups to help each other, so the phrase means a group of refugees and people who support them in Australia.