Botany Bay dozen

English

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Noun

Botany Bay dozen (plural Botany Bay dozens)

1. (Australia, slang, obsolete or historical) 25 lashes, ie. strokes of a whip across a person's back as a punishment.
   • 1893, Frank Murcott Bladen, Historical Records of New South Wales: Papers Relating to Grose and Paterson, 1793-1795‎^[1], volume 2, page 796:

     If guilty, he is taken to a cart-wheel to receive a Botany Bay dozen, which is twenty-five lashes ; […] .

   • 1948, Eleanor Dark, Storm of Time, Collins, published 1963, page 58:

     “Will they be strung up for a Botany Bay dozen like we are if we so much as squeak? Not those fine gentlemen, with their uniforms an' their pockets full o' gold!”

   • 2003, Mary Hawkins, Australian Outback: Four Journeys to a New Country Ride on the Wings of Faith and Love‎^[2], page 47:

     He gave a harsh snort and said angrily, “A Botany Bay dozen is not twelve. It's twenty-five, and more than capable of exposing a man's backbone.”

Synonyms

• tester