Dag is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

slang A slang is a vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in everyday conversation but avoided in formal writing and speech. It also often refers to the language exclusively used by the members of pa ...

term, also ''daggy'' (adjective). In Australia, it is often used as an affectionate insult for someone who is, or is perceived to be, unfashionable, lacking self-consciousness about their appearance and/or with poor social skills yet affable and amusing. It is also used to describe an amusing, quirky and likeable person who doesn't take themselves too seriously (as in, "He's a bit of a dag") and is non-pejorative. The term was more widely used in the 1970s due to the popular New Zealand comedy of

Fred Dagg Fred Dagg is a fictional character from New Zealand created and acted on stage, film and television by satirist John Clarke. Clarke appeared on New Zealand TV screens as Dagg during the mid to late 1970s, "taking the piss" out of the post-pioneer ...

(John Clarke). The term may be simply affectionate, such as when it was used to describe the recipes in the enduringly popular '' The Australian Women's Weekly Children's Birthday Cake Book''. Differentiated from ''

bogan Bogan ( ) is Australian and New Zealand slang to describe a person whose speech, clothing, behaviour, or attitudes are considered unrefined or unsophisticated. Depending on the context, the term can be used pejoratively or in a humorous, self- ...

s'', whose accents are presumed to indicate working class or uneducated origins, ''dag'' refers to being unfashionable, eccentric and fool-likeDictionary & Thesaurus – YourDictionary
/ref> and hence has no necessary ties with social class or educational background. The literal meaning is a dung-caked lock of wool around the hindquarters of a sheep – an abbreviation of "daglock".

History

Originally a word meaning the dried faeces left dangling from the wool on a sheep's rear end,
/ref> the word dag is more commonly used in colloquial Australian English to refer to someone's unfashionable, often eccentric or idiosyncratic style or demeanor together with poor

social skills A social skill is any competence facilitating interaction and communication with others where social rules and relations are created, communicated, and changed in verbal and nonverbal ways. The process of learning these skills is called socia ...

and amusing manner. This colloquial use of the term "dag" was first recorded in the Anzac Songbook in 1916, but has been popular since the 1970s. It has also been used interchangeably with the term "wag" as in "what a wag", which refers to the amusing aspect inherent in 'dag' but without referring to fashion or style. This use of "dag" comes closest in meaning to the UK slang term "pillock" (meaning fool). However, "dag" is differentiated from terms like dork,

nerd A nerd is a person seen as overly intellectual, obsessive, introverted, or lacking social skills. Such a person may spend inordinate amounts of time on unpopular, little known, or non-mainstream activities, which are generally either highly t ...

geek The word ''geek'' is a slang term originally used to describe Eccentricity (behavior), eccentric or non-mainstream people; in current use, the word typically connotes an expert or enthusiast obsessed with a hobby or intellectual pursuit. In th ...

by virtue of having no particular association with a drive for intellectual pursuits or interest in technology and no particular tendency towards being a loner. It is also used differently in that it can be an affectionate term as much as, or even more than, an insult. However, one can simultaneously fit the archetype for a dag and a geek, dork or nerd. Whilst "bogan" refers to being unfashionable in the slovenly sense, it is distinguished from "dag" in that the term "bogan" has no necessary links with being eccentric, idiosyncratic or amusing. Similarly, the more antisocial behaviours associated with bogans are usually not found amusing and are more associated with terms like

yobbo Yob is slang in the United Kingdom for a loutish, uncultured person. In Australian slang, the word yobbo is more frequently used, with a similar although slightly less negative meaning. Etymology The word itself is a product of back slang, a proce ...

Dag style

Dag style is not by necessity slovenly. A dag may, for example, choose to wear textures that feel nice regardless of how they look or wear something they have become attached to even if it's old and worn out. The emphasis, however, is on being unconventional rather than the slovenly archetype associated with the term "bogan". Dags are considered amusing just by being themselves and attract feelings of either embarrassment or endearment from others. Dag music tends to be that which one's age peers wouldn't accept or would find out of date. Similarly, dags may wear hair and clothing styles they enjoy even where these are considered unfashionable or ridiculous. The tendency of dags to stick with what they like regardless of the opinions or pressures from others wins respect from some but pity, scorn or

bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, Suffering, hurtful teasing, comments, or threats, in order to abuse, aggression, aggressively wikt:domination, dominate, or intimidate one or more others. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. On ...

from others for the same reasons. The term "dag" can be a compliment from one dag to another. Dags are seen as enjoying activities regardless of their appearances to others. An example may be that teenage and adult dags may skip down the street or sing in the street just because it's fun regardless of the social consequences.

In popular culture

An eccentric character portrayed by

Abbey Lee Kershaw Abbey Lee Kershaw (born 12 June 1987) is an Australian model, actress and musician. Following several years of success leading up to the 2011 fashion seasons, '' V'' magazine dubbed her a supermodel, and Models.com has listed her as an "Indust ...

in the Australian science-fiction film '' Mad Max: Fury Road'' is named The Dag. Other media personalities have fitted the dag archetype by nature more than role. Environmentalist and TV personality

Steve Irwin Stephen Robert Irwin (22 February 19624 September 2006), known as "the Crocodile Hunter", was an Australian zookeeper, Conservation movement, conservationist, television personality, wildlife educator, and environmentalist. Irwin grew up ar ...

and comedian

Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright and actor. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British India, where he spent his ...

, when he was resident in Australia, have all displayed the idiosyncrasies commonly associated with affable dags. The embarrassing nature of dag demeanor makes them disliked by some and loved by others for the same reasons. When Steve Irwin died, some Australians spoke of him as an embarrassing reflection on Australian culture whilst other Australians stood up for him as a lovable dag and particularly his overseas audience, celebrated his naturalness and affable nature. The cultural confusion between the dag and bogan archetypes in the media is exemplified by the 1998 film, '' Dags'',Dags (1998)
/ref> which whilst incorporating a few features of archetypal dag clothing style for the men such as long socks, Hawaiian shirts and sandals, has the women in tank tops and hot pants quite unassociated with the dag archetype, and throughout the film portrays typical bogan archetypes of slovenliness, substance abuse, and indiscriminate sex.

References

External links

blog entry about dags by

Donna Williams Donna Leanne Williams, also known by her married name Donna Leanne Samuel and as Polly Samuel (born Donna Keene; 12 October 1963 – 22 April 2017), was an Australian writer, artist, singer-songwriter, screenwriter, and sculptor. In 1965, ag ...

online dag-related dictionary.
daggy definition - Dictionary - MSN Encarta
2009-10-31) Dag related definitions.

Dag listed as affectionate insult

Dag in NZ dictionary as 'amusing person'

examples of dag style quirks

dag as explained to Americans as 'geek', 'slob' or 'nut'
Daggy and dag defined in Macquarie dictionary

Sociocultural use of the colloquialism 'dag'

daggy as dork, passe or unfashionable

Dag in relation to fashion, style, behavior

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dag as clown, joker, eccentric
New Zealand slang Australian slang