Dictionary

waltz Matilda en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˈwɔːl(t)s məˈtɪldə/
• (Australia) audio

Etymology

From waltz + matilda (“romantic name for a swag”).

Meanings

1. (Australia) To travel on foot carrying a swag (belongings wrapped in a blanket); to travel in this manner looking for work.
   • As far as I was concerned the choice was Alice Springs, the center of the great Outback or a box car. There was no contest. I was ready to waltz Matilda. 2002, Stuart Dick, Outback to Asia, page 163:
   • Coercionist Byrnes tells an S. M. Herald reporter that things in Queensland are eminently satisfactory. He doesn't "Waltz Matilda," evidently. 1894 December 29, The Worker, Brisbane, page 3, column 6:
   • A 1928 bestseller offered the opinion that ‘there is only one way of getting off the beaten track—take a swag. Victoria is full of possibilities for the walker willing to “waltz Matilda”,’ and went on to describe the track. 2005, Kristin Otto, Yarra: A Diverting History of Melbourne′s Murky River, unnumbered page:
   • Indeed, while in Australia before the war Simpson had “waltzed matilda,” tramped through the bush, independent and outside the constructed differentiating society, carrying all his worldy goods—his “bluey”——on his back. 2012, Bruce Kapferer, Legends of People, Myths of State, page 173:

Forms