Talk:Australian English
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I am intrigued by the Australian use of the word "spill" to mean (apparently) a caucus meeting held with the purpose of trying to remove the leadership. It's very expressive, and I wonder how it developed. --Martin Wyatt (talk) 21:44, 5 March 2015 (UTC)
- GA Wilkes, Dictionary of Australian Colloquialisms, 1990 edition, Sydney UP in association with OUP Australia, page 310:
spill In politics, the declaring of a number of offices in the party vacant as a result of one vacancy occurring.
- Does that fit the context? Peter Jackson (talk) 11:34, 12 March 2015 (UTC)
- It looks as though the meaning has been extended since 1990. The party meeting to try to get rid of Prime Minister Tony Abbott earlier this year was described as a "spill room". The definition you quote looks like a stage in the development of the meaning, and makes it more understandable. --Martin Wyatt (talk) 20:10, 12 March 2015 (UTC)
- 2008 edieion of the same book says (much) the same as earlier. Peter Jackson (talk) 17:57, 19 March 2015 (UTC)