furphy

furphy
a rumour, or an erroneous or improbable story.

A number of the furphies and fads in relation to public-sector agricultural R&D relate to attempts to increase demand for farm products in various ways.


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  • Furphy — for a rumour, or an erroneous or improbable story. The word is derived from water carts made by a company established by John Furphy: J. Furphy Sons of Shepparton, Victoria. Many Furphy water carts were used to take water to Australian Army… …   Wikipedia

  • Furphy — Joseph Furphy (* 26. September 1843 im Melbourner Vorort Yering; † 13. September 1912) war ein australischer Schriftsteller; er gilt als „Vater des australischen Romans“. Furphy schrieb meistens unter dem Pseudonym Tom Collins und war während des …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Furphy — This Irish name formerly O Foirbhilhe in the Gaelic, is a nickname and translates as the descendant of the perfect one , the clan originating in County Tyrone. With a meaning like that it is perhaps not surprising that the surname is regarded as… …   Surnames reference

  • furphy — /ferr fee/, n., pl. furphies. Australian. a false report; rumor. [1910 15; after Furphy carts water and rubbish carts manufactured by the Furphy family of Shepparton, Victoria, and used during World War I; cf. parallel semantic development of… …   Universalium

  • Furphy — /ˈfɜfi/ (say ferfee) noun Joseph ( Tom Collins ), 1843–1912, Australian writer and poet; author of Such is Life (1903). Joseph Furphy was born at Yering (Yarra Glen), Victoria, and worked as a farmer, bullock driver and, after 1883, in the family …  

  • furphy — [“fa^fi] n. a groundless rumor. □ I heard a furphy about you yesterday. □ Who started that furphy anyway? …   Dictionary of American slang and colloquial expressions

  • furphy — n. (pl. ies) Austral. sl. 1 a false report or rumour. 2 an absurd story. Etymology: water and sanitary Furphy carts of the war of 1914 18, made at a foundry set up by the Furphy family …   Useful english dictionary

  • furphy — n Australian a lie, malicious rumour, tall story. The term is said to originate in Irish usage, but has also been derived from a person of the same name, the contractor who supplied garbage disposal wagons for the army camps in Australia during… …   Contemporary slang

  • furphy — [ fə:fi] noun (plural furphies) Austral. informal a far fetched rumour. Origin First World War: from the name painted on water and sanitary carts manufactured by the Furphy family of Shepparton, Victoria …   English new terms dictionary

  • furphy — /ˈfɜfi / (say ferfee) noun (plural furphies) a rumour; a false story. {from John Furphy, manufacturer in Victoria of water carts, some of which, during World War I, were stationed near latrines for hand washing and became centres of gossip} …  

  • FURPHY, Joseph Tom Collins (1843-1912) — novelist was born at Yering Station, the site of Yarra Glen, Victoria, on 26 September 1843. His father, Samuel Furphy, who had come from the north of Ireland with his wife in 1841, was head gardener on the station. There was no school in the… …   Dictionary of Australian Biography

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