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farting like a brewery horse.


It means when someone has extreme flatulence. It is apparently derived from the early days in Cairns when a horse was used to power the workings of the local brewery. My late Father, who was born in the district in 1901, maintained that the horse was attached to a pole that in turn was attached to a central pivot mechanism which was in turn connected to the workings in the actual brewery. The horse would continually walk round in circles turning the shaft driving the actual brewery. To keep the horse fed, contented and in good condition, a 'nose bag' of some description, containing by-products of the brewing process, spent hops and corn, etc., was placed in front of the horse. The horse of course, would eat this mixture as it continually walked around in circles throughout the day. The mixture was highly nutritous and beneficial for the animal. It did however have a somewhat amusing side effect in that it produced excessive wind in the horse. This proved to be much to the delight of the young local yokels of early Cairns, who were, in those days at least, apparently starved of any other real entertainment, other than what they made for themselves. Hence the arrival of the perfectly apt and delightfully colloquial Australian expression "Farting like a brewery horse": Geez mate, what've you been eating? You're farting like a brewery horse.

Contributor's comments: My father used this term. He grew up in Glebe, NSW in the Depression.