Meaning of waltz Matilda | Babel Free

Definitions

To travel on foot carrying a swag (belongings wrapped in a blanket); to travel in this manner looking for work.

Australia

Examples

“Coercionist Byrnes tells an S. M. Herald reporter that things in Queensland are eminently satisfactory. He doesn't "Waltz Matilda," evidently.”

“As far as I was concerned the choice was Alice Springs, the center of the great Outback or a box car. There was no contest. I was ready to waltz Matilda.”

“A 1928 bestseller offered the opinion that ‘there is only one way of getting off the beaten track—take⟳ a swag. Victoria is full of possibilities for the walker willing to “waltz Matilda”,’ and went on to describe⟳ the track.”

“Indeed, while in Australia before the war Simpson had “waltzed matilda,” tramped through the bush, independent and outside the constructed differentiating society, carrying all his worldy goods—his “bluey”——on his back.”

CEFR level