There are 1 results of your search for honky nut.
honky nut
noun a large gum nut.
Contributor's comments: Gum nut from the Marri tree found in SW WA. Good for throwing!
Contributor's comments: I have always been fascinated with the origin of some slang. I believe I may be the origin of this term though I would be happy to be disproved. I grew up in WA and had never heard the term Honky nut (gumnut) in all my active years as a schoolboy. In 1965 I went to live in the USA and in the late sixties black slang inluded the word Honkie as a derogatory term for white people. When I returned to Australia in 1969 my nephews who were six and eight years old at the time were throwing gumnuts at each other and I called out and said stop throwing those honkie nuts. They then asked me about the term and while I made it up I told them that's what they were called. Years later my own primary school children began to use the term and I assumed it began with my original comments. Am I wrong? I would like to hear from any one who may know more.
Editor's comments: The easiest way to find out whether or not you were the originator of the term "honky nut" is to find out if anyone remembers the word before 1969! Does anyone?
Contributor's comments: Specifically the gumnuts of the marri tree - originally "Eucalyptus callophylla" but now not classified as a Eucalypt.
Contributor's comments: I distinctly remember my mother using this term when I was just a (small) child -- and I was born in 1950. Definitely in use in WA before 1969. (Mum was born and grew up in Narrogin, so it may be a country term).
Editor's comments: Ah, so it is. The origin from the US slang term "honky" cannot hold water.
Contributor's comments: My Mother in law grew up in Jarradale in the late 20's. They used large gum nuts and curved sticks to play hockey. She always refers to them as 'Hockey Nuts'.
Contributor's comments: Born in WA in 1954, lived here all my life. Remember "honky [honkey?] nut" from childhood in a south west town, so well before 1969. Still call them honky nuts.
Contributor's comments: I grew up in Perth (Darling Ranges) in the seventies and we all used honky nuts for throwing at each other as children. They came from eucalypt trees and were abundant on the ground. None of my friends on the east coast has any idea what I am talking about when I use the term honky nut!
Contributor's comments: I think it is erroneous to state that a honky nut is necessarily 'large'. In my experience a honky nut is a gumnut of ANY size.
Contributor's comments: Honky nuts are known throughout Australia by sight if not by name: they are the nuts used by May Gibbs (who grew up in WA) for her characters Snugglepot and Cuddlepie.