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cock
term of address like 'mate', 'cobber', etc.: How are you going, cock?
Editor's comments: Despite the immense incredulity that this usage inspires in Mainlanders, it is quite a friendly and genial form of address in Tasmania. It is ultimately the same as the word cock = rooster, and was formerly (in England and the US) used to refer to a spirited fellow, in the same way that a rooster is a feisty, fighting and proud bird. It is still current in the US in the form "old cock", as in: "How're you going, old cock?" On Mainland Australia addressing someone as cock is "fightin' words".
Contributor's comments: Used in Hobart quite frequently [to mean] mate, friend: "G'day Cock! How you going, Cock?" I am in Newcastle, but worked in Hobart for 3 years. Nearly fainted when someone first said, "G'day Cock!"
Contributor's comments: Similar to 'cobber' or 'mate' (confined to elderly tasmanian men): "How ya goin' cock?"
Contributor's comments: How're goin' cock? My brother says this and it makes me cringe - I can feel myself going red already! People in Tassie still say it. He is 38 years old and says it. Uggghhhhhh!
Contributor's comments: The expression 'old cock', as a familiar form of greeting was quite common in the UK last century, and perhaps still is. I'm surprised at your comment that it is still current in the US, because Americans seem terrified of the word 'cock', even referring to the bird as a 'rooster' (as if only the males slept).
Contributor's comments: I live in Melbourne now, but I fondly remember the word "cock" being widely used in Hobart in the 1970-90s. On a holiday in Tassie two years ago I was fishing off the pier at Port Arthur when a fishing boat came in and the skipper threw me a rope and said "Hey cock, can you grab the rope and tie us up." I then knew I was at home. I think you would have a fist-fight on your hands if you called a stranger "cock" in Melbourne!
Contributor's comments: When I was a kid in Launceston in Tassie in the 50's, ONLY a 50-year-old neighbour ever called me "cock", and he had emigrated from England as an adult. I used to cringe, not knowing how to answer him politely, or whether he was "trying to be funny". After all this time, I'm still not sure ...
Contributor's comments: The word cock, is quite often referred to as a slang name for a part of the male genitals, which is why Victorians, or non-Tasmanians are shocked to be called a "cock".
Contributor's comments: While 'cock' is quite descriptively masculine, the feminine form is, reportedly, 'duck'.
Contributor's comments: When I was living in the UK in 2000, I met my 70 year-old aunt, who has lived on the Isle of Wight for most of her life, and has not travelled at all. One day she said to me "Alright, cock?", basically asking how I was going. Having never heard this term before, I was somewhat surprised. At first I thought she had said "You're a right cock"!