A Conversation for Australian Politics
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Olaf K Foddaman Started conversation Jan 31, 2002
I suspect this term may have been imported from Britain if the first time it was used in Australia was 2000. It has been used here to refer to the heart for many years although more in a literal than metaphorical sense. eg "he aint got long to live, he's got a dicky ticker."
Ticker
Guran Posted Feb 1, 2002
Olaf,
You are undoubtedly correct - the term 'ticker' has been around for some time as a synonym for 'heart', in both the literal physiological sense, but the metaphorical use, as a synonym for 'courage' is, I think, a more recent phenomenon. I certainly didn't mean to imply that it had been invented by Australian politicians, only to highlight that it is in use as a synonym for 'political courage' in Australian English.
Cheers, and thanks for the feedback!
Guran
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