galah

English

Etymology

From Gamilaraay gilaa.

• (fool): A connection with Malay gila (“mad”) has been suggested, but this explanation has not gained acceptance.

Adult of species Eolophus roseicapilla

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡəˈlɑː/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

galah (plural galahs)

1. A pink and grey species of cockatoo, Eolophus roseicapilla, native to Australia.
   • 1985, Peter Carey, Illywhacker, Faber and Faber, published 2003, page 434:

     There were red-tailed cockatoos, casuarina cockatoos, a little corella and a galah.

   • 2005, David Lindenmayer, Mark A. Burgman, Practical Conservation Biology, page 175:

     The Galah has benefited from changes in the environment brought about by human activities (Rowley, 1990; Saunders and Ingram, 1995; Forshaw, 2002). The Galah′s diet is predominantly seeds, especially those from cereal crops and agricultural weeds.

2. (Australia, slang) A fool, an idiot.

   That galah nearly drove me off the road.

   • 1991, Patricia Shaw, River of the Sun, unnumbered page:

     ‘Don′t just stand there, you great galah, lend a hand here!’ Billy Kemp shoved Edmund towards the longboat. ‘Get it free. The lads are bringing up the casks.’

   • 1999, Bryce Courtenay, Solomon's Song, unnumbered page:

     ‘But, Sergeant, I reckon a man would look a proper galah falling about with an empty rifle, going click, click, click, “bang you′re dead” when he wasn′t doing rifle drill on parade, like when it′s not official, know what I mean?’ one of the infantrymen volunteers.

   • 2006, John Chalmers, The Professional Guest, page 13:

     ‘ […] Then you will strut around like a great galah tryin′ to impress the sheilas about what a fuckin′ big iron ore miner you are.’

   • 2020, "Moments of Silence", in Taskmaster, series 10, episode 8, Channel 4, character scripts in The Smart Steak:

     Nicky: 'Of course I came. You called me. I am here to help you.' (NICKY sneezes) / Sam: 'You called this galah?'

Synonyms

• (fool): drongo

Derived terms

• galah session

Descendants

• → Dutch: galah

Translations

cockatoo

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 粉紅鳳頭鸚鵡／粉红凤头鹦鹉 (fěnhóng fèngtóu yīngwǔ)

• Dutch: roze kaketoe (nl) m, galah m
• Finnish: ruusukakadu (fi)
• German: Rosakakadu m
• Greek: κακατούα (kakatoúa)
• Japanese: モモイロインコ (momo-iro-inko)
• Martuthunira: kulirr, pilharnti
• Polish: kakadu różowa f
• Russian: ро́зовый какаду́ m (rózovyj kakadú)
• Welsh: gala m

fool — see fool

See also

• cockatiel
• cockatoo
• corella

Dutch

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English galah.

Noun

galah m (plural galahs, diminutive galahtje n)

1. Synonym of roze kaketoe

Malay

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡalah/
• Rhymes: -alah, -lah, -ah

Noun

galah (Jawi spelling ݢاله, plural galah-galah, informal 1st possessive galahku, 2nd possessive galahmu, 3rd possessive galahnya)

1. pole, stake

Further reading

• “galah” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.