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scab duty
A form of detention used at high school, whereby the student would have to pick up rubbish: I've got to do scab this lunch.
Contributor's comments: Also used in Perth.
Contributor's comments: Also used in NSW.
Contributor's comments: Also used in Maryborough (Qld)
Contributor's comments: Used in my area of NSW [western Sydney]. I heard a teacher say that it stood for 'School Cleanliness and Beautification'; but I think it is much more likely that it stems from the usage of 'scab' to label a parasitic person (which in turn, I assume, stems from the non-union labour reference).
Contributor's comments: This term was only used by kids. Teachers referred to it as 'yard duty'. In some schools you did not have to be 'scunted' to do scab duty - in some it was a routine every kid did each month or two.
Contributor's comments: [Perth informant] I think this is a mishearing: back in the 50s, I remember it was called, for a short while, "scav duty", with the "scav" relating to "scavenger".
Contributor's comments: [ACT informant] Pick up papers/litter in the playground at school - usually as punishment: I was talking in class, & the teacher gave me scab duty.
Contributor's comments: At AHS it stands for "school clean-up and beautification" but it's my view that they only made that up so it wasn't quite so degrading a name.
Contributor's comments: Any minor misdemeanour in a primary school classroom would result in scab duty at lunch time. You would be ordered to collect 100 pieces of paper as punishment. [Sydney, Western suburbs]
Contributor's comments: [Riverina informant] Detention when you have to clean up the playground: "Did you get scab duty off Mr. Teacher?"
Contributor's comments: Scab duty was what we called the emu parade type punishment given for playing up in class or out in the playground. It often consisted of picking up 100 peices of rubbish and getting the teacher who was closely watching you to count in tens of how much you picked up. A lot of the time we used to get one big piece of rubbish and rip it into smaller pieces to make it look like we picked up more. Though if we were found out doing this we were 'scunted'.
Contributor's comments: [Brisbane informant] At school we always called it scab grab.
Contributor's comments: Your Perth correspondent is quite correct. The term stems from ill-educated children's mispronunciation of "scavenge." The evidence is in the word's other application, meaning to borrow or beg (a pen, sweets etc).
Contributor's comments: Also used in adelaide.
Contributor's comments: We had scab duty at school. We would always ask teachers who gave us arvos if we could do scab so we didnt have to stand in the middle of the quad for ages on the one spot. Scab made the time go quicker.