fair suck of the sauce bottle

English

WOTD – 25 April 2020

Etymology

An elaboration of fair go (used in protest to implore or demand that someone act with more fairness or reason). Sauce bottle appears to refer to a bottle of cheap beer or another alcoholic beverage; see sauce (“(slang) alcohol, booze”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌfɛə ˈsʌk əv ðə ˈsɔːs ˈbɒt(ə)l/, /fɛː-/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌfɛɚ ˈsʌk əv ðə ˈsɔs ˈbɑtəl/, [-ˈbɑɾl]

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: fair suck of the sauce bot‧tle

Noun

fair suck of the sauce bottle

1. (Australia, colloquial, informal) A fair chance, a reasonable opportunity; a fair go. [from 1970s]

   Synonyms: fair crack of the whip, fair go, fair shake, fair shake of the sauce bottle, fair suck of the sav

   • 1972, The Bulletin, Sydney, N.S.W.: Australian Consolidated Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 45, column 2:

     [Barry] Humphries, as Hoot, the Jesus-freak, goes down under a knuckle sandwich, his mouth and detached teeth so reddened you can see he's had more than a fair suck of the sauce bottle.

   • 1978 January 26, “From the rack: Spinning a horoscope for a Zodiac lady [music review]”, in The Age (The Age Green Guide), Melbourne, Vic.: Fairfax Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 8, column 7:

     Tex Morton's Goondiwindi Grey [...] A record that is as Australian as a "fair suck of the sauce bottle."

   • 2003, Boris Johnson, The Essential Boris Johnson: Lend Me Your Ears, London: HarperCollins, →ISBN, page 189:

     [S]ensing that the end of 'Britain' may be inevitable, a forgotten sentiment is occurring to the one people in this island who, says Alan Ford, never get a fair suck of the sauce bottle.

   • 2004 April, Anwar Shah, “Realigning the Authorizing Environment to a Focus on Societal Goals”, in Fiscal Decentralization in Developing and Transition Economies: Progress, Problems, and the Promise (World Bank Policy Research Working Paper; 3282), Washington, D.C.: World Bank, →OCLC, page 31:

     Ensuring a fair suck of the sauce bottle: institutional considerations [section heading] Adherence to federalism principles or "getting prices right" or even "getting the rules of the game right" as discussed earlier is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for the success of decentralized decision making.

   • 2013 August 26, Oliver Milman, quoting Boris Johnson, “Boris Johnson calls for free labour exchange between UK and Australia”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian‎^[2], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 14 August 2019:

     It is outrageous and indefensible that Sally Roycroft is deprived of a freedom that we legally confer on every French person. It is time she was given a fair suck of the sauce bottle, as the Australians say.

Translations

fair chance, reasonable opportunity

• Ukrainian: че́сний шанс (čésnyj šans)

Interjection

fair suck of the sauce bottle

1. (Australia, colloquial, informal) Used to protest against unreasonableness, such as somebody taking more than their fair share. [from 1970s]

   Synonyms: fair crack of the whip, fair go, fair shake of the sauce bottle, fair suck of the sav

   • [1973 March 22, “Aussie talk is baffling”, in The Sun, volume 272, number 107, Baltimore, Md.: The A[runah] S[hepherdson] Abell Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page B6, column 1:

     Mary Beecher, 19, and her sister coeds love to date Americans and Englishmen but have a hard time communicating. "They just don't understand our talk," she reported and promptly wrote them a "Brief Australian Dictionary." [...] "Fair suck of the sauce bottle" means "Let's be civilized about this;" [...]]

   • 1983, Alistair Skelton, Bill’s Break, Prahan, Vic.: Champion Books, →ISBN, page 198:

     I tried to calm him down. "Fair suck of the sauce bottle," I said. "Take it easy, mate. I was just admiring your cobber. Don't often see a man like him around."

   • 1986, [Bruce Pascoe], editor, Australian Short Stories, number 15, Fairfield, Vic.: Pascoe Pub., →OCLC, page 10:

     ‘Garn with ya. Fair suck of the sauce bottle’, countered Sid. ‘Look all ya gotta do is knock a little bit of the tube out and it won′t wink anymore. Get a yonnie and give it a little tap.’

   • 1992, Jill Bowen, Kidman: The Forgotten King (Imprint Lives), Pymble, N.S.W.: Angus & Robertson, →ISBN:

     Some idiots even blamed him [Sidney Kidman] for the drought—and the depression—because he owned so much country. Fair suck of the sauce bottle, I tell you.

   • 2018 May 29, Bruce Pascoe, “Comment: Let’s Talk about Real Australian Food”, in Special Broadcasting Service‎^[3], archived from the original on 21 September 2019:

     Come on Aussie, fair suck of the sauce bottle, here's the opportunity to recognise Aboriginal cultural and economic excellence and put our money where our mouth is. Instead of mouthing platitudes about Aboriginal employment, we will buy food directly from the descendants of the people who developed an incredible array of health giving crops and managed them in perpetuity … until 1788; until the British insisted on the sheep and the spud.

Translations

used to protest against unreasonableness, such as somebody taking more than their fair share — see also fair go