Dictionary

wigwam for a goose's bridle en · NOUN

Meanings

1. (Australia) A hypothetical object or construct proposed as an explanation when one wishes to withhold certain information.
   • A well known 'family saying' is the mysterious 'Wigwam for a goose's bridle', said by adults to curious children who ask once too often 'What are you making?' 2003, Gwenda Davey, Graham Seal, A Guide to Australian Folklore, page 62:
   • When he wasn't at work he was usually off to see a man about a horse or to buy a wigwam for a goose's bridle. But he never brought the horse home like I asked him to, though we had a big enough backyard. 1989, Di Brown, Angry Women: An Anthology of Australian Women's Writing, page 44:
   • "Where you goin'?" he called. "To git a wigwam for a goose's bridle!" yelled Smiley insolently, recalling one of the sayings of Granny McKinley, the oldest inhabitant. 1954, Moore Raymond, Smiley, page 41:

Forms

Relateds

a man about a horse · a man about a dog · a man