Dinkum

Dinkum: Genuine. Smart. Excellent. An Australian term, said to have been current formerly in Lincolnshire with the meaning "honest." In the sense of "genuine" the word "Dinkum" in the War on one occasion proved the undoing of an enemy spy. It was on Gallipoli. Two Australian officers were talking in a trench, when a third, apparently a major, joined and advised them not to fire in a certain direction as patrols were out there. Doubting the statement, and noting a detail wrong in the major's uniform, one of the Australians asked: "Are you fair Dinkum?" "That's right," was the reply, "I am Major Fair Dinkum." He was shot dead on the spot.