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Oct 14, 2003

This week's theme
Words originating in Australia

This week's words
furphy
fossick
wowser
yabber
dinkum

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fossick

verb intr.: To search for mineral deposits, usually over ground previously worked by others; to search for small items.

verb tr.: To search; ferret out.

From British (Cornish) dialect: fossick, troublesome person; fussick bustle about, from fuss + -ick.

"But you need not fossick through old documents for examples."
Apostrophically Your's; The Economist (London, UK);; May 11, 1996.

"This is, admittedly, not Ackroyd's field; he much prefers to fossick around with ecclesiastical architecture and cross-dressing at early-medieval festivals."
Christopher Hitchens; That Blessed Plot, That Enigmatic Isle; The Atlantic Monthly (Washington, DC); Oct 2003.

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