The 1972 Parramatta Jail Glossary: An Edition with Commentary

By Bruce Moore

In 1972, a group of prisoners at Parramatta Jail in Sydney put together a glossary of prison words and phrases. It is a list of 362 words with definitions.

 

Many of the terms describe life in the prison, including punishments, the psychological effects of incarceration, and male to male sex. Others come from the prisoners' enco

• Language: English
• Publisher: Australian Dictionary Publications
• Release date: Nov 15, 2023
• ISBN: 9780645955019

Bruce Moore

Dr Bruce Moore has published many studies of Australian English. He was chief editor of the two-volume Australian National Dictionary: Australian Words and Their Origins (2016). He edited Australian dictionaries for Oxford University Press, including the Australian Oxford Dictionary, the Australian Concise Oxford Dictionary, and the Australian Pocket Oxford Dictionary. His book Speaking Our Language: The Story of Australian English (2008) is the standard account of the history of Australian English. Other monographs include What's Their Story: A History of Australian Words (2010) and Come in Spinner: A History of Two-up and Its Language (2022). He was Director of the Australian National Dictionary Centre at the Australian National University from 1994 to 2011, and is currently an Honorary Associate Professor at ANU.

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