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 native to Australia. Scientific name: Eolophus roseicapilla.
- n. A fool, particularly when driving.
Etymologies
- Yuwaalaraay (Aboriginal language of southeast Australia) gilaa.
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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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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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 8 more...
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