English

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Etymology

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From Gamilaraay gilaa.

  • (fool): A connection with Malay gila (mad) has been suggested, but this explanation has not gained acceptance.[1]
 
Adult of species Eolophus roseicapilla

Pronunciation

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Noun

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galah (plural galahs)

  1. A pink and grey species of cockatoo, Eolophus roseicapilla, native to Australia.
    • 1985, Peter Carey, Illywhacker, Faber and Faber, published 2003, page 434:
      There were red-tailed cockatoos, casuarina cockatoos, a little corella and a galah.
    • 2005, David Lindenmayer, Mark A. Burgman, Practical Conservation Biology, page 175:
      The Galah has benefited from changes in the environment brought about by human activities (Rowley, 1990; Saunders and Ingram, 1995; Forshaw, 2002). The Galah′s diet is predominantly seeds, especially those from cereal crops and agricultural weeds.
  2. (Australia, slang) A fool, an idiot.
    That galah nearly drove me off the road.
    • 1991, Patricia Shaw, River of the Sun, unnumbered page:
      ‘Don′t just stand there, you great galah, lend a hand here!’ Billy Kemp shoved Edmund towards the longboat. ‘Get it free. The lads are bringing up the casks.’
    • 1999, Bryce Courtenay, Solomon's Song, unnumbered page:
      ‘But, Sergeant, I reckon a man would look a proper galah falling about with an empty rifle, going click, click, click, “bang you′re dead” when he wasn′t doing rifle drill on parade, like when it′s not official, know what I mean?’ one of the infantrymen volunteers.
    • 2006, John Chalmers, The Professional Guest, page 13:
      [] Then you will strut around like a great galah tryin′ to impress the sheilas about what a fuckin′ big iron ore miner you are.’
    • 2020, "Moments of Silence", in Taskmaster, series 10, episode 8, Channel 4, character scripts in The Smart Steak:
      Nicky: 'Of course I came. You called me. I am here to help you.' (NICKY sneezes) / Sam: 'You called this galah?'

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • Dutch: galah

Translations

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See also

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References

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Dutch

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Etymology

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Unadapted borrowing from English galah.

Noun

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galah m (plural galahs, diminutive galahtje n)

  1. Synonym of roze kaketoe

Malay

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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galah (Jawi spelling ݢاله, plural galah-galah, informal 1st possessive galahku, 2nd possessive galahmu, 3rd possessive galahnya)

  1. pole, stake

Further reading

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