Meaning dull, stupid or block-headed, wombat-headed is a great Aussie insult originating from Ned Kelly’s famous 1879 Jerilderie letter. Ned asked:
Is my brothers and sisters and my mother not to be pitied also who has no alternative only to put up with the brutal and cowardly conduct of a parcel of big ugly fat-necked wombat-headed big-bellied magpie-legged narrow-hipped splaw-footed sons of Irish Bailiffs or English landlords which is better known as Officers of Justice or Victorian Police?
We wouldn’t want to find ourselves on the end of a spray from the famous bushranger.
Judging from the 2003 quote from www.southafrica.com/forums below, wombat-headed is being revived as an insult.
I have to agree with you jake. South africans are kool. I think that we are very alike. I’m not big headed i think but jake is wombat headed..hahahahahahahahaha. Just kiddin’ Jake.
Each week, we have a look at a slang word from Australian English. You can see other Aussie Word of the Week posts from the Macquarie Dictionary here.
