Walkabout is an English language expression with several meanings: The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...
Definitions
Walkabout is an Australianpidgin (or perhaps quasi-pidgin) term referring to the belief that Australian Aborigines "go walkabout" at the age of thirteen in the wilderness for six months as a rite of passage. They then trace the path of the ceremonial ancestors of their tribe, following the exact route that those ancestors took, and imitating in a fashion, their heroic deeds. The term is used in the film Crocodile Dundee among others. It is also a main theme in the book Mutant Message Down Under.
This meaning has lead to a jocular modern usage, whereby someone who has unexpectedly wandered off to destination uncertain is said to have 'gone walkabout'. It can also apply to a missing item, for example, "Locke, have you seen my stapler? It's gone walkabout again."
In the UK, a walkabout is a name for organized group meetings in which members of the British Royal Family walk past assembled crowds of onlookers, meeting and chatting with various members of the public.
Walkabout may be used to refer to a person's desire to travel without a planned itinerary or set destination; the more common English term is wanderlust.
A pidgin, or contact language, is the name given to any language created, usually spontaneously, out of two or more languages as a means of communication between speakers of different tongues, and usually a simplified form of one of the languages. ... Aboriginal Flag Australian Aborigines is a name used to collectively describe most of the indigenous peoples of the Australian continent and its nearby islands. ... Shan boy undergoing Poy Sang Long initiation A rite of passage is a ritual that marks a change in a persons social or sexual status. ... Crocodile Dundee is a 1986 Australian comedy film set in the Australian Outback in the area around Walkabout Creek and in New York City. ... Members of the Royal Family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace after the Trooping the Colour ceremony The British Royal Family is a shared royal family. ... Look up Wanderlust in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
Walkabout is a banging tune by Icelandic band The Sugarcubes from the album Here Today, Tomorrow, Next Week!.
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Walkabout refers to the belief of non-indigenous Australians that Aborigines were prone to "go walkabout" (a pidgin or perhaps quasi-pidgin expression) meaning that they would stop doing their jobs and wander through the bush for weeks at a time.
This has lead to a jocular modern usage, whereby someone who has unexpectedly wandered off to destination uncertain is said to have 'gone walkabout'.