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I'm bushed

Posted by Victoria S Dennis on July 18, 2008 at 10:11

In Reply to: I'm bushed posted by Becky on July 18, 2008 at 08:53:

: I told my friend that I was bushed and he thought I was strange. I was referring to my exhaustion from working on the farm that day. I can't find where that phrase originated. Can anyone help?


According to Collins' Dictionary of Slang, in the sense "exhausted" it is late 19th-century US, meaning "tired from walking in the bushes (i.e. woods) all day". The dic says there is also a slightly earlier Australian used of "bushed" to mean "bewildered" (i.e. "lost in the bush"). No doubt Pamela can tell us if Australians still use this. (VSD)

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