Perdita, I agree with you that the word
didge is often used these days. For example, a number of us used it in
this topic in this very forum last year.
It doesn't seem to be listed in any general dictionaries, although it does have an entry in
Cassell's Dictionary of Slang. However, I think it is used often enough - and not exclusively in Australia, as RM testifies - to qualify for our list.
One Australian newspaper chain, the Fairfax press, used the word 26 times in the past 12 months, although some of these were in the unrelated (but also Australian) phrase
ridgy-didge, meaning truly, or genuine. The most recent use of
didge for the instrument was today, when
Tracee Hutchison wrote, of publicity efforts in Germany for the film
Australia:
In case you missed it Hugh stood on one leg, a la blackfella, while Our Nic tried to play the didge — an instrument banned to women — while the audience rolled about guffawing. You'll find it on YouTube. Of course, they'll apologise and say they meant no harm. That's what whitefellas always do.
The News Limited and ABC indexes also give numerous hits for
didge. The
didj spelling doesn't seem to be used nearly as often, so I don't think we should include this version in our list.
Incidentally, the word
didgeridoo (also
didjeridu) is often thought to be from an Aboriginal language, but the
current thinking by lexicographers is that the word was coined by whites, in imitation of the instrument's sound. See also
this article, which attempts to make a case for an Irish origin for the word.
So I will add
didge to the word list when it is next updated.
