(in sheep) a matted mass of wool and dung 💩. (In people) Having an unkempt appearance.

The ENglish word, whilst originating in the Kentish dialect of England, is now mostly to be found in Australia and New Zealand. The etymology (as with all etymologies) is interesting, coming through Middle Dutch dag, dagge through the Kentish Middle ENglish daggethrough the Middle English dagge, daggle-lock.

Its use in Australian slang is drawn from this origin, and has to do with a person's appearance. Frequently used in a derogatory manner, it can also mean that a person has their own sense of style. Presumably the true meaning is made clear by context, but you'd really have to ask an Aussie or Kiwi for that.


xclip -o | wc -w | xclip -rmlastnl -selection clipboard]
120

Dag card, n

A kind of NIC, one of a series of hardware based digital communications network measurement devices developed by the WAND research group at University of Waikato's Computer Science Department in New Zealand.

Currently, the Dag series supports these media: Ethernet (UTP, 10/100 Mb/s), DS3/T3 (coax, 45 Mb/s), OC3, OC12, and OC48 (155, 622 and 2488 Mb/s respectively) carrying ATM or PoS.

The project pages can be found at http://dag.cs.waikato.ac.nz/

Australians and New Zealanders use many words that are completely meaningless to the rest of the world. Many of our slang words and phrases are understood immediately to the natives of our countries, but totally confusing to those who haven't grown up here.

Dag is probably one of these words. Adding to the confusion, is the fact that it has several different connotations - dag can be a friendly label, or can be used in a negative way. To the unwitting observer, it can be difficult to tell at times. Sometimes it's difficult to those who know the word well!

it's difficult to tell where this term originated, but it's almost certainly from either Australia or New Zealand. Much of the slang from these two countries is very similar, and has developed along very similar lines. While it is true that dag is a term for the crap that hangs off the wool around a sheep's butt, the slang term doesn't really have any similarities (well, not that I've ever heard of!)

So here are some of the myriad uses for the word dag - such a small word, so many subtle variations.

  • A person with little fashion sense. A dag will commonly not really care what they're wearing, being more interested in comfort than looks. This is often a subjective call though - if you're mooching around the house on a Sunday, and couldn't be bothered dressing in any more than your tracky dacks, ug boots and an old jumper, you may well be quite a dag. However if you're getting around like that when you go out on a Friday night, you're probably not so much a dag, as just very lazy, and looked at strangely.
  • A dag can also be someone who doesn't mind making a bit of a fool of themselves - someone who doesn't mind looking a little silly to act the clown. In this situation, being called a dag isn't so much a put down, as a term on endearment. To be labelled a dag in this manner, your efforts must be amusing, and genuine. If you're trying too hard, you're more likely to be labelled as a wanker.
  • A dag can also be someone who's sense of fashion is so tragic, as to be beyond rescue. This can be a little confusing given the first meaning, but there is a difference. Some people can be part-time dags, but they're not generally thought of as a daggy person. For others, being a dag is second nature, and they probably couldn't be any different if they tried. For the first person, being called a dag probably won't offend - they know they're a dag at the time, but don't really mind. For the second, being called a dag could come as a surprise, and may be something they'd rather not be known as.
  • As well as fashion, dag can be used to refer to someone's nature. Some people are generally known to be cool people (on whatever judging scale you might use). In Australia and New Zealand, a dag can be somebody who's known as being the opposite to cool. Someone with daggy fashion sense could conceivably do a turn around, and get themselves some very cool clothes. It doesn't mean they automatically loose the dag label though.

So if you're visiting this side of the world, and someone calls you a dag, hopefully this might give you some clues as to just what the hell they're talking about. The most important thing to keep in mind is that even though dag is a term that isn't always used kindly, it's not really a word that's used in a nasty way. So if someone calls you a dag, it's not the end of the world. Wear your label with pride, and the satisfaction of knowing what it actually means!

Dag: awkward, amicable, exoplanet - (our introduction)

Hark! -> isn't this great? isn't nodes great? the website was discovered via wikipedia -
article about the Australian slang term 'dag' whilst seeking up some informations about using the same sware as an alternate condensed version to the sware 'dad gummit'

the article is written wonderfuly, just so you know - it's refreshing to see a speck of passionate whimsy brubble forth from the blank'd up murk over there -
it feels like a thrilling Event to uncover such a piece!! - it's a rare glimpse behind the curtain, an ephemeral peek thru the the psyche of some decentralized Data maelstrom with a null'd up shell..

everything2 is in good company amongst the article's citations:

the movie 'Dags (1998)' directed by Murray Fahey (director of 'Gnomebrook', a documentary on the 'Annual Australian Garden Gnome Convention' - citation needed - yet to be viewed) is mention'd. Curiously, a link attached to the Official Gnomebrook the Film website for the alledged 'Annual Australian Garden Gnome Convention' redirects to a bizarre, mysteriously minimal real estate themed website. The home page is an article with the header 'What are the Steps to Building a House?'

a definition sourced from the dictionary/thesaurus webpage Wordweb Online is referenced,

a blog post from Donna Williams, a self-proclaimed 'arty Auntie', is referred to as well. according to MY FINDINGS ETC, there seems to be a bit of a Stir afroth around what differentiates a dag from a bogan. Donna W. puts it bluntly; not to be misinterpreted. they's got a leg in this race, it seems. i'm not one to shy away from my own ignorance (trys to). i'll admit i'd probably be considered one of the 'many people' who 'mistakenly confuse Dags with Bogans'. IDK what the f a Bogan even is! D. W. stays focused on the task at hand; There's too much at stake here to risk a misunderstanding...

'Bogans are Bogans. Dags are Dags'
thos words've got a musk of crushing Finality spritzed behind their ears. But that's just the sort of thing you can expect from D. Williams --- a very Articulate arty auntie, indeed.

let's get dag'd up, shall we? But how?? there seems to be some sort of esoteric 'Dag Culture' embedded in the Aussie zeitgeist. a summary:
- prefers comfortable clothing
- not slovenly
- Certainly not a bogan
- puts frilly underpants on their head
- accidentally sets off styles (see above)
- isn't socially savvy, is affable and amusing
- DOESN"T GIVE A SINGLE FUCK (but like, for real)
- unfashionable, ridiculous, awkward, prone to bullying and scorn, stupid, hopeless, etc
- of the highest caliber one can surround oneself with

it's really a beautiful article, you should read it. really quite inspiring.... it's for reals, if a tad conceited at times. but f it - it's ok to indulge in some autopositirizations every so often, right? i think so..

it's awesome to see some uncompromised passions, that s**t isn't the sort of thing you can wring out of the soul via brute force -- it's so nice to see - lets see it!

a query for any identifying 'Dags' in the know: what kind of dag music do you listen to? what would you consider to be 'dag music'? the article hints at the concept, but its' description is a bit too vague for my taste.... but that's kind of a ridiculous thing to say of a trope this broad.... a dag is a framework, not a set of guidelines in some bullshit article on the internet.. dag is an attitude. dag is a lifestyle. dag is a mode of being. dag is a kind of societal exoplanet. so they say i guess c'man man i don't know whaddya want from me?!

it's awesome to be excited about things wonderfly and to be writing about things wonderfly.



let's go forth, and dag out.

Dag (?), n. [Cf. F. dague, LL. daga, D. dagge (fr. French); all prob. fr. Celtic; Cf. Gael. dag a pistol, Armor. dag dagger, W. dager, dagr, Ir. daigear. Cf. Dagger.]

1.

A dagger; a poniard.

[Obs.]

Johnson.

2.

A large pistol formerly used.

[Obs.]

The Spaniards discharged their dags, and hurt some. Foxe.

A sort of pistol, called dag, was used about the same time as hand guns and harquebuts. Grose.

3. Zool.

The unbrunched antler of a young deer.

 

© Webster 1913.


Dag, n. [Of Scand. origin; cf. Sw. dagg, Icel. dogg. &root;71. See Dew.]

A misty shower; dew.

[Obs.]

 

© Webster 1913.


Dag, n. [OE. dagge (cf. Dagger); or cf. AS. dag what is dangling.]

A loose end; a dangling shred.

Daglocks, clotted locks hanging in dags or jags at a sheep's tail. Wedgwood.

 

© Webster 1913.


Dag, v. t. [1, from Dag dew. 2, from Dag a loose end.]

1.

To daggle or bemire.

[Prov. Eng.]

Johnson.

2.

To cut into jags or points; to slash; as, to dag a garment.

[Obs.]

Wright.

 

© Webster 1913.


Dag, v. i.

To be misty; to drizzle.

[Prov. Eng.]

 

© Webster 1913.

Log in or register to write something here or to contact authors.