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goolie


noun a stone or pebble. Compare boondie2, brinnie, gibber, gonnie, ronnie, yonnie. [Aborig.; ? a NSW language]

Contributor's comments: Rather than having an Aboriginal origin, I suspect this is British via Indian, coming from the Hindi "gooli" meaning pellet. In Scotland it is a slang term for testicles.

Contributor's comments: I grew up in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne and we always used the word goolies as a reference to testicles.

Contributor's comments: Goolies were only ever the preserve of the male of the species - to be kicked in the goolies was very unpleasant! Same thing was to be kicked in the nuts! Never heard gibbers called goolies or vice versa.

Contributor's comments: From my days in a small farming community, Tullamore, near Parkes. My dad always used the term goolie when referring to a largish lump of quartzite. This was usually followed by a designated target that he was displeased with at the time, e.g., recalcitrant cattle dog, cat, sheep, etc.

Contributor's comments: This term was used in the Wagga area by children to indicate a stone for throwing. Also used for part of the male anatomy.

Contributor's comments: When I went to primary school in the fifties in country Queensland this term also referred to large oversize marbles when kids were paying marbles & it was also used in relation to large rocks that could be hurled more so than thrown - eg throwing goolies into a creek off a bridge to make big spashes or bombing mullet swimming close to the surface of the water. eg "Dropping goolies on them & blowing them out of the water".

Contributor's comments: [Lismore area informant] a rock or stone: "He grabbed a gooley and threw it."

Contributor's comments: In West Wyalong "gooloe" referred to a phlegmy spit.

Contributor's comments: [Brisbane informant] Gooly was used by boys to describe a larger stone or pebble than a gibber - they would be more likely to say they threw a goolie and fired a gibber from their shanghai (catapult): "The goolies we were throwing made a huge splash as they landed in the water."

Contributor's comments: I grew up in Tamworth, NSW, and a goolie was either a rock for throwing or a larger then normal marble.

Contributor's comments: My age group referred to testicles as "goolies" when I was younger.

Contributor's comments: In Bathurst in the 40's to 50's one threw or kicked goolies - small stones or testicles. It was also a phlegmy spit (expectorating) practised by male adults who I was told had 'chewed baccy' (tobacco) and also by many of the male Chinese market gardeners.