go-away (Stress variable.)
(gəʊəweɪ)
Also go-way.
[Imitative of its cry kway-kway (cf. Bechuana maquaai).]
In full go-away bird. A South African touraco of the genus Corythaixoides.
| 1881 E. E. Frewer tr. Holub's Seven Yrs. S. Afr. I. 289 A great grey lory, that from its cry is called the ‘go-away’ by the English, whilst by the Boers it is known as the ‘grote Mausevogel’. 1896 H. L. Tangye In New S. Afr. ii. vii. 401, I continue my walk along the kopje top, succeeding in obtaining specimens of the ‘Go away’ bird. 1897 J. P. Fitzpatrick Outspan 55 There is a sort of bastard cockatoo in those parts which is commonly known as the ‘Go way’ bird, on account of its cry, which closely resembles these words. 1906 Chambers's Jrnl. Mar. 214/2 A pair of gray crested parrots, or ‘go-away birds’, as they are called. 1940 [see alarm-bird s.v. alarm n. 13]. 1951 R. Campbell Light on Dark Horse v. 93 The ‘Go 'way Bird’ or grey lory. 1958 M. Spark Go-away Bird 74 All over the Colony it was possible to hear the subtle voice of the grey-crested lourie, commonly known as the go-away bird by its call, ‘go 'way, go 'way’. 1964 A. L. Thomson New Dict. Birds 843/2 The characteristic call of Corythaixoides spp. is a nasal ‘gwaaa’, hence the name of ‘go-away-bird’. |