boong

English

Etymology

Suggested sources are

Malaybung(“brother”),^[1]
Indonesian dialectalbung(“brother”)
ANew Guinea native language
AnAboriginal Australian language.^[2]

Previously the wordBinghi was used widely in similar fashion to the present-day use of the termNegro for peoples of African ancestry; see titles fromthis booklist and also writings ofXavier Herbert (e.g. inCapricornia), for example.

Pronunciation

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IPA^(key):/bʊŋ/
- Audio(Southern England): (file)
Rhymes:-ʊŋ

Noun

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boong (pluralboongs)

(Australia,slang,offensive,ethnic slur) An AustralianAboriginal person.
- 1988, Bruce Chatwin,The Songlines‎^[1], page92:
  I heard Bruce tell one of the drinkers he'd bought a place in Queensland where you could ‘still call aBoong aBoong’.
- 2010, Peter Temple,The Broken Shore‎^[2], page82:
  ‘[…]I quit the feds because I didn't want to be a showpieceboong cop.’
- 2011, Linda Lee Rathbun,Tjuringa,unnumbered page:
  “Yeah,” he said, “themboongs are a useless lot. The sooner they all die off, the better.”
  “And why is that?” Bill asked.
  “The Abos are nothing but a pack of boozers. All they wanna' do is get pissed.” The man glared at his beer. “Useless, they are.”
(Australia,slang,dated) A native ofNew Guinea orMalaysia.
- 1943, Australian Army, “Timor Souvenir”, inKhaki and Green: With the Australian Army at Home and Overseas,page119:
  A couple ofboongs came down and carried me up to the hut where our R.A.P. corporal was.
- 1998, August Ibrum K. Kituai,My Gun, My Brother: The World of the Papua New Guinea Colonial Police, 1920-1960‎^[3], page282:
  During the War the soldiers generally referred to Papua New Guineans as “Boongs,” a name also given to black Americans. It is not a nice word, but is fair to say that the Aussies held theboongs in quite some affection during the War.
- 2000, Prue Torney-Parlicki,Somewhere in Asia: War, Journalism and Australia's Neighbours 1941-75‎^[4], page48:
  [Department of Information cameraman Damien] Parer's views on mateship encompassed both the Papuans and the soldiers: at one point he wrote ‘“noboongs, no battle”, implying that natives and diggers were equal partners in their fight against the Japanese.’⁷¹

Alternative forms

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bung orbong

Synonyms

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(Asian or dark-skinned person):Fuzzy Wuzzy Angel
(aboriginal):abo,Jacky

References

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^1959,Xavier Herbert,Seven Emus, 2003,page 5 — The termboong is originally Malayan, meaning “brother”, but it doesn't mean anything like that in Australian usage.
^1988,The Bulletin, Issues 5617-5625,page 121 — They would doubtless have been amused to learn that in New Guinea, where the term "boong" originated, it means "brother" and has a kinship with the Indonesian "bung" and Thursday Island's "binghi".