Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. An Australian cockatoo (Cacatua roseicapilla) having pale blue-gray plumage and a pink breast.
- n. Australian A fool; an idiot.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. One whose hair is shaven, namely, a Roman Catholic priest. The term is now applied by Jews to all Gentile clergymen.
- n. The Australian rose-breasted cockatoo, Cacatua roseicapilla.
Wiktionary
- n. A pink and grey species of cockatoo, Eolophus roseicapilla, native to Australia.
- n. Australia, slang A fool, an idiot.
Etymologies
- From Gamilaraay gilaa. (Wiktionary)
- Yuwaalaraay (Aboriginal language of southeast Australia) gilaa. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“You people who listened to the previous government and fixed your interest rates due to the fact that some 'galah' stated that interest rates would rise under a Labor Government, well thats your own fault and no-one elses.”
“And Jay Rose is madder than a drongo in a dingo's hem de hem: "It's" galah ", not" galaha ".”
The Guardian: World Cup 2010: Australia v Serbia ? as it happened
“The galah turned into a narrow, low-ceilinged corridor.”
“Sham, all sham, " the galah insisted, 'to cover their activities.”
“The galah flew toward the ceiling, called anxiously down to them.”
“It let out a soft gurgle, choking on its own blood, and made a last desultory swipe at the hovering Mowara which the galah avoided easily.”
“In the light of a waxing moon, they followed the galah across the open slate roof past planters filled with sleeping blossoms of unknown type toward an arched doorway of peculiar design.”
“With elected leaders like this galah it's little wonder your lot lost an entire empire!”
On Thursday, the Legg report will be published along with...
“Agricultural use has also allowed galah (Cacatua roseicapella) to invade from arid regions, but galahs ringbark trees and may be contributing to woodland decline.”
“Both galah and drongo are apparently types of birds, but also slang for idiot.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘galah’.
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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birds
birds with singular names from
at least 9 English dictionariesaasvogel, aberdevine, accentor, accipiter, aepyornis, agami, albatross, alcatras, alcid, alcidine, amadavat, amokura and 1056 more...
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parrots
353 species of parrots is your favourite one here?
major bias to Australian parrots heregalah, blue-streaked lor..., rainbow lorikeet, palm cockatoo, cockatiel, kea, eclectus parrot, crimson rosella, swift parrot, red-fan parrot, grey parrot, budgerigar and 86 more...
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Just not to bright
words describing people or things that just aren't very intelligent
galah, idiot, simpleton, dufus, dummy, stupid, moron, moronic, idiocy, dimwit, special, on the short bus and 10 more...
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Mots Fous
Describing the demented--as colorfully as possible.
bats in the belfry, out to lunch, daft, stark ravin' mad, unsound, barmy, nuts but nuts, barking, touched, cracked, doolally, potty and 22 more...
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bootload's Words
grouse, beaut, ripper, gassit, hack, hacking, twit, spon, goon, rosella, magpie, galah and 184 more...
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Hedgepiglet
Words for things both tangible and nonanthropic
rorqual, vellus, wrasse, rainbow bee-eater, tinkershire, lemonquat, boomslang, tufted vetch, cubeb, nipplefruit, madapple, wad and 447 more...
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Australian Fauna
endemic species of terra australis
phascogale, wombat, ornithoryncus, wambenger, tuan, potoroo, platypus, echidna, bilby, bandicoot, antechinus, numbat and 101 more...
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looked up
Words I've come across while reading and looked up in the dictionary.
deesis, pendentive, revetment, aedicule, stemma, patera, ephod, entrepot, corbel, exedra, volute, archivolt and 1408 more...
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Still More Bird Wirds
A work in progress....Birds from around the world (other than endemic to North America).
barbet, hornbill, trogon, bee-eater, bristlehead, wren-babbler, stubtail, blackeye, bush warbler, cassowary, bowerbird, bird-of-paradise and 722 more...
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Australian Animals
rawr
wombat, bilby, kangaroo, platypus, dingo, wallaby, kiwi, bush baby, water rat, kingsnake, echidna, koala and 28 more...
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Duped
Those who are easily duped.
cully, cull, gudgeon, gull, gull-gallant, chouse, geck, chump, fall guy, mark, fool, mug and 39 more...
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Creatures Of My Town
Animals and birds I actually encounter physically or see up close around where I live in Australia.
whistling kite, green tree frog, gould's monitor, stick insect, fruit bat, topknot pigeon, scrub fowl, gecko, black kite, whimbrel, white-bellied cuc..., cane toad and 35 more...
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Australiana
quokka, wombat, numbat, bonzer, grouse, woop woop, not the full quid, zac, mate, koala, chunder, vegemite and 49 more...
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ynaffit's Words
sedulous, vituperative, pullulating, erstwhile, imbroglio, asperity, cynosure, adumbrate, prosopopoeia, peerless, calumny, ague and 272 more...
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Australian Derivation ... or, you kno...
Words I heard there. Or from Australians.
didjeridoo, budgerigar, kangaroo, wombat, kookaburra, echidna, koala, dreamtime, matilda, waltzing matilda, billabong, coolibah and 44 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for galah.
frindley In Australian lingo "galah" is also often adopted as a mock pronunciation for gala, which we would otherwise pronounce GAH-luh. (We never say GAY-luh.) Apr 9, 2008
reesetee That's precisely the photo I was linking to--fixed now, I hope. Thanks.
Same here with "coot," though it usually implies that one is old, too. Dec 4, 2007
bilby I got 404 on that link. Must have left too much seed out to attract that many galahs.
Umm, this worked: http://photos.rnr.id.au/birds_galah.html
The other bird = idiot word we have is coot. Dec 4, 2007
reesetee They are wonderful birds. I guess calling someone a galah is similar to calling someone a goose. :-) Dec 4, 2007
bilby I like these a lot. These birds are very pretty, as well as being sociable and funny. In Australian slang galah can also mean a daft person. Dec 4, 2007
reesetee An Australian cockatoo. Dec 4, 2007