larrikin
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈlæɹɪk(ɪ)n/
ipa: /ˈlɛɹəkən/
ipa: /ˈlæɹək(ə)n/
Forms: form: larrikins
form: larikin
form: larrykin
Etymology: Origin uncertain, possibly from *larick (Northern England) (an unattested variant of lark (“bird of the family Alaudidae; frolic or romp, some fun; prank; (East Suffolk, obsolete) unruly or wild person”, noun), from laverock (“(chiefly Northern England, Scotland, archaic) lark (bird)”); compare the variant forms lairock, larrock (chiefly Northern England), larick, larrick (chiefly Scotland)) + -kin (diminutive suffix). However, the Oxford English Dictionary notes that it is not clear why a word attested in the West Midlands (particularly Warwickshire and Worcestershire) and in Southwest England (Cornwall) would be derived from a word from Northern England.
Other suggestions include the following:
* The word is an Irish policeman’s pronunciation of larking (“engaging in careless adventure, frolicking; engaging in harmless pranking, sporting”), heard by a reporter in a Melbourne police court around 1870. The Oxford English Dictionary states there is no evidence of such an incident having been reported in the local newspapers of the time, and that in any case the word is attested earlier in Cornwall, England (since the early 19th century), and in Australia (at least from 1867: see the quotation).
* The first element of the word is from the name of an unknown Irishman named Larry.
The adjective is from an attributive use of the noun.
Senses: examples: text: To keep me out of trouble I was sent to the wood-gang Cascade an out station about two miles from headquarters. On arriving at this place the following dialogue passed between me and the overseer: […] "A bit of a larrikin, T——, but it won't do here, you know." "No odds about that—what's the work?"
ref: 1867 October 14 (date written), “The autobiography of a convict”, in The Empire, number 4,964, Sydney, N.S.W.: Samuel Bennett, published 16 October 1867, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 6, column 2:
text: I wish to call your attention to the annoyance foot passengers are subject to by the ill-behaviour and disgraceful conduct exhibited by the larrikins, and also from men (who ought to know better), who infest the market reserve for the purpose of disposing of their wood, and who, until they do so, are the cause of the annoyance above referred to, which I suppose they would term amusing themselves. The rows and fights which they betimes indulge in, accompanied by some of the foulest and most blasphemous language, frequently to passers-by, and also the obstruction of the footpath, ought to attract the attention of those at whose hands the remedy lies.
ref: 1870 November 22, Pro Bono Publico [pseudonym], “The larrikin nuisance. To the editor of the Advertiser.”, in The Geelong Advertiser, number 7505, Geelong, Vic.: […] [F]or the proprietors by Alfred Douglass, […], →ISSN, →OCLC, page 3, column 7:
text: How dare you talk to me like that, you young larrikin? Be off! or I'll send for a policeman.
ref: 1896, Henry Lawson, “A Visit of Condolence”, in While the Billy Boils, Sydney, N.S.W.: Angus and Robertson […], →OCLC, page 209:
text: The reputation of the Melbourne larrikin was world wide, the larrikin being the forerunner of the hooligan. Law and education had failed to reform these larrikins, and at last some of the citizens hit on the method of forming cadet corps, which had proved to be a conspicuous success, and larrikinism was now dead; the streets of Melbourne knew it no more as a real source of terror.
ref: 1907 June 17, Guy Baring, “Territorial and Reserve Forces Bill”, in The Parliamentary Debates (Authorised Edition), Fourth Series, Second Session of the Twenty-eighth Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland […], volume CLXXVI, London: Wyman and Sons, […] [for] His Majesty’s Stationery Office, →OCLC, column 247:
text: Flagstaff Hill [in Dunedin] is a hill without a flagstaff. […] Another man told me there never had been a staff on the hill; but if there had been, perhaps larrikins would have removed it. For larrikinism is one of the evils of New Zealand. Everywhere there one hears of the larrikin, or young hoodlum. Larrikins are an unorganized, mischievous fraternity. They are always despoiling or marring public or private property or making people the butt of coarse jokes and jeers. If something is stolen, "the larrikins took it"; if windows or park seats are broken, "the larrikins did it."
ref: 1913 October, [David] Paul Gooding, “Dunedin—Miscellaneous Ben Rudd and Flagstaff Hill—Roomy Invercargill—State Oysters—Romantic Stewart Island”, in Picturesque New Zealand, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin Company […], →OCLC, pages 170–171:
text: Then the Wet Season came with its extremes of heat and humidity and depraving influences on the minds of corruptible men. Even Oscar began to drink to excess. But he never bawled and pranced and wallowed in mud and came home in the arms of shouting larrikins.
ref: 1938, Xavier Herbert, “Psychological Effect of a Solar Topee”, in Capricornia […], New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton-Century Company, published 1943, →OCLC, page 18:
text: He [Robert Percy Whitworth] was one of the earliest writers to turn the city larrikin to literary account in a variation of the picaresque conte, […]
ref: 1953, Colin Roderick, “Biographical Notes”, in Colin Roderick, editor, Australian Round-up: Stories from 1790 to 1950, Sydney, N.S.W.; London: Angus and Robertson, →OCLC, page 345:
synonyms: larry
lary
coordinate_terms: donah
glosses: A young, brash, and impertinent, and possibly violent, troublemaker, especially one who is a gang member; a hooligan.
examples: text: On all occasions Captain Smith's military character was good, though he was always a bit of a larrikin, and had a way of practical joking.
ref: 1881 August 18 (date delivered), [William Lodewyk] Crowther, “House of Assembly. Thursday, August 18. [The Volunteer Commission.]”, in The Tasmanian, volume X, number 34, Launceston, Tas.: [A]t the ‘Launceston Examiner’ Printing Office, […], by William Aikenhead, […], and by Henry Button, […], trading under the style or firm of Aikenhead and Button, published 20 August 1881, →OCLC, page 782, column 2:
text: When [Frank] Browne's turn came, he went down like a true larrikin, giving cheek to the end. He spoke eloquently and at length about freedom of speech.
ref: 1988 August, Gavin Souter, “Lord Protector”, in Acts of Parliament: A Narrative History of the Senate and House of Representatives, Commonwealth of Australia, Carlton, Vic.: Brown Prior Anderson for Melbourne University Press, →ISBN, part 3 (Canberra 1850–1988), page 432:
text: From the moment he had become opposition leader following the defeat of Lindsay Thompson's government in 1982, Jeff Kennett had been viewed as a political larrikin. […] To his defenders, Kennett was simply a brash and youthful leader seeking to energise the defeated Liberal Party and remove the "dead wood" from its ranks. Yet, to his many detractors, Jeff Kennett was shallow and reckless with a propensity for silly and embarrassing gaffes.
ref: 2006, Nick Economou, “Jeff Kennett: The Larrikin Metropolitan”, in Paul Strangio, Brian Costar, editors, The Victorian Premiers, 1856-2006, Leichhardt, N.S.W.: The Federation Press, →ISBN, page 363:
synonyms: word: eccentric
word: free spirit
word: heteroclite
word: individualist
word: maverick
word: misfit
word: nonconformist
word: offbeat
glosses: A high-spirited person who playfully rebels against authority and conventional norms; a maverick or scamp.
Derived terms: word: larrikiness
word: larrikinish
word: larrikinism
word: larry
word: lary