An Australian term with two meanings. In its more colorful sense, a scrub turkey was slang for a swagman — a wandering bush worker or itinerant laborer who travelled the outback with all their possessions on their back, living rough and working seasonal jobs. The comparison to a scruffy, wild bird is perfectly apt. In its literal sense, it refers to the Australian brush turkey, a large mound-building bird found in the eastern bush. Both uses evoke the rugged, untamed Australian bush landscape.
The old scrub turkey showed up at the station looking for shearing work, same as every year.
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(AU) A brush turkey.
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(AU, colloquial) A swagman.
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Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.
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