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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

galah en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • /ɡəˈlɑː/
  • (Australia) audio

Etymology

From Gamilaraay gilaa. * (fool): A connection with Malay gila (“mad”) has been suggested, but this explanation has not gained acceptance. ]

Meanings

  1. A member of species Eolophus roseicapilla of pink and grey species of cockatoos, native to Australia.
    • There were red-tailed cockatoos, casuarina cockatoos, a little corella and a galah. 1985, Peter Carey, Illywhacker, Faber and Faber, published 2003, page 434:
    • 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. 2005, David Lindenmayer, Mark A. Burgman, Practical Conservation Biology, page 175:
    • The change is pleasant in many ways; the grass is better and there is a good road to travel on; pigeons in crowds fly all around, galahs and other birds make merry everywhere. 1879 September 27, The Queenslander, Brisbane, page 397, column 1:
    • Yet the beauty of Galahs is still often underappreciated. 2024, Russell McGregor, Enchantment by Birds, Melbourne: Scribe, page 16:
  2. (Australia, slang) A fool, an idiot.
    • Nicky: 'Of course I came. You called me. I am here to help you.' (NICKY sneezes) / Sam: 'You called this galah?' 2020, "Moments of Silence", in Taskmaster, series 10, episode 8, Channel 4, character scripts in The Smart Steak
    • That galah nearly drove me off the road.
    • ‘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. 1999, Bryce Courtenay, Solomon's Song, 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.’ 1991, Patricia Shaw, River of the Sun, unnumbered page:
    • ‘[…]Then you will strut around like a great galah tryin′ to impress the sheilas about what a fuckin′ big iron ore miner you are.’ 2006, John Chalmers, The Professional Guest, page 13:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
galahs Number=Plur lexicographic

Deriveds

galah session

Descendants

galah

Relateds

cockatiel · cockatoo · corella

Synonyms

rose-breasted cockatoo · drongo · pink and grey cockatoo · roseate cockatoo

Translations (12)

nl roze kaketoe (cockatoo) · de Rosakakadu (cockatoo) · el κακατούα (cockatoo) · vma kulirr (cockatoo) · fi ruusukakadu (cockatoo) · cmn 粉紅鳳頭鸚鵡 /粉红凤头鹦鹉 (cockatoo) · cy gala (cockatoo) · nl galah (cockatoo) · vma pilharnti (cockatoo) · ja 桃色鸚哥 (cockatoo) · ru ро́зовый какаду́ (cockatoo) · pl kakadu różowa (cockatoo)