• Flat out as like a lizard drinking
Extremely busy, under pressure
Literal sense – to lie fully stretched out (like a lizard)
Figurative sense – as fast as possible.
Can be shortened – ‘we’re flat out like a lizard trying to clear the waiting room’.
• fairy bread
Slices of white bread cut into triangles, buttered and sprinkled with tiny, coloured sugar balls (‘hundreds and thousands’).
Fairy bread is frequently served at children’s parties in Australia, often a pre-cursor to sugar high related injuries.
• fair go
To give someone an equal opportunity ‘Oh, fair go mate…‘
* fair suck of the sauce bottle
* fair suck of the sauce
* fair suck of the sav
* fair crack of the whip
• fair Dinkum
True, genuine [see dinky di]
• Fremantle doctor
A cool sea breeze which brings ‘healing relief’ on a hot summer’s day.
A wind blowing inland late in the day is a welcome feature of the climate in Western Australia’s south-west.
• fit as a mallee bull
In excellent health.
‘Joe’s as fit as a malle bull – he can run all day’
Audio version
• flash as a rat with a gold tooth
Phrase: Refers only to males and implies that, although he may be well-dressed and well-groomed, there is also something a bit dodgy about him.
‘Check out the new cardiologist – he’s as flash as a rat with a gold tooth’
Audio version
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