pokie en · NOUN · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- pō'kē (Received-Pronunciation)
- /ˈpəʊki/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- (Australia) audio
Etymology
From clipping of poker machine + -ie (“diminutive suffix”).
Meanings
-
(Australia, New-Zealand, in-plural, slang) Synonym of poker machine, an electronic game of chance played for money, especially slot machines.
2006, author not known, Sydney City Guide, Lonely Planet, page 148, In reality, the cheap beer and walls of pokies attract anyone and everyone.
I was also shocked that the poker machines (which we call pokies back home) were on full display, as in Australia, they legally have to be in a separate room.
2023 July 21, Billie Schwab Dunn, “I Tried Wetherspoons Food for the First Time-I Feared I'd Get Scurvy...”, in Daily Star:For several decades until the early 1990s, Echuca–Moama existed in the consciousness of Melburnians as the destination for pokie bus-trips. All of this changed when the Kennett Government legalised pokies in Victoria in 1993.
2004, Bernard Salt, The Big Shift, page 77:None of these people around me punching the pokies has walked in here today expecting to be a loser.
2008, Catherine Deveny, Say When, page 171:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| pokies | Number=Plur | lexicographic |