strewth

«strewth» in Mova's school dictionary: a mild exclamation of surprise, shock or annoyance, from… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

exclamation (also struth)

meaning for a pupil

(Australia, old-fashioned) a mild exclamation of surprise, shock or annoyance, from "God's truth". tree →

sense in the lessons

Used in Australian and old British speech, often by older people; mild, everyday, Australia, New Zealand. Comic in films about Australians.

examples

• "Strewth! Look at the size of that spider!" tree →
• Strewth, it's hot today. tree →
• "Strewth, mate, you gave me a fright." tree →
• My Aussie grandpa says strewth when the cricket goes badly. tree →
• "Strewth!" cried the farmer when the cows got out. tree →
• You hear "strewth" in old Australian films. tree →

note

It is mild, not rude, though it comes from a religious oath. Spelled strewth or struth. Not really used by young people.

In the corpora

• Others, like "blimey" and "strewth", were once oaths about God that have worn soft with time.
• "Strewth!" is an Australian cry of surprise that comes from "God's truth".

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «strewth» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.