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Story: Rural language

The colonial adjective

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The colonial adjective

New Zealand ways of speaking were often deplored as rough and crude. The word ‘bloody’, used incessantly and inventively, was also known as ‘the colonial adjective’. This 1905 article from the Tuapeka Times discusses the word’s origins and use.

Using this item

National Library of New Zealand, Papers Past

Reference: Tuapeka Times. 15 February 1905, p. 3

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Dianne Bardsley, Rural language – The evolution of rural language, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/document/18583/the-colonial-adjective (accessed 10 June 2026).

Story by Dianne Bardsley, published 1 March 2009.