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yonnie


noun a stone, especially one for throwing. Compare boondie2, brinnie, gibber, goolie, gonnie, ronnie.
Contributor's comments: [from Brunswick, Victoria] "Yoni", maybe "yonee"; small stone. Teacher to child: Did you chuck [throw] that yoni that hit and hurt the boy over there?

Contributor's comments: We used it when I was at achool in Merbein, northern Vic, in the 50's and 60's.

Contributor's comments: [Melbourne informant] If a brinnie fight got a bit too vigorous, the stones thrown got gradually larger until someone would shout "Fair go - you're chucking yonnies!"

Contributor's comments: In the Upper Murray the word used is Connie. Last year I was home and a farmer I know said "I hit a bloody big Connie in that paddock' meaning his plough had struck a large stone.

Contributor's comments: A rock or stone: "Look at all the yonnies in that paddock."

Contributor's comments: A stone, no bigger than an inch: "To piff or to chuck a yonnie. My father (60) used the former verb, while my generation (30s) used the latter."

Contributor's comments: [Melbourne informant] A piece of "bluemetal" thrown at other kids in the schoolyard usually in yonnie fights: "Muuuuuum, Bruce chucked a yonnie at me and it stings like buggery."

Contributor's comments: A small rock or stone: "I chucked a yonnie at the dog."

Contributor's comments: Used at Nth Balwyn Primary and Balwyn High in 50's - Referred to a stone or pebble for throwing.

Contributor's comments: The term 'yonnie' was used by all the kids where I grew up in Camberwell in the early 1960s. It referred to any stone of throwing size. Large scale earthworks in the local park meant 'yonnie fights' were a popular pastime.

Contributor's comments: In Bendigo where I grew up in the 50s, we called brinnies the much larger, rounder rocks which you used in the brinnie wars mentioned by Phillip Adams. We callled yonnies, the flat, smooth rocks that were used for skimming over water.

Contributor's comments: A Men At Work song titled "Down by the sea" has a line - yonnie's in the wind - can someone please explain if this is relevant to this word map or just another Ossie coruption of a European word?

Contributor's comments: Never used brinnie in eastern Melbourne, a gibber was a flat stone thrown across water, but yonnies were what one fought with.

Contributor's comments: In Preston Vic. we made gings from bricklayer's reinforcing wires and cut up bicycle tubes. The stones shot from these were called yonnies.

Contributor's comments: A stone or small rock which is thrown - sometimes at people & animals, sometimes at trees - to see how accurate you can be - or off towers/bridges/cliffs to see how high they were. This word was in use in Orbost, East Gippsland when I was a child. I don't see any other place to say what region I am claiming: "Did you see how far he could chuck that yonnie? Look at the size of the yonnie he can chuck!"

Contributor's comments: stone, boulder: 1. "We were chucking a few yonnies to see who could skip them best." 2. "Frank was ploughing the west paddock when he ran into a yonnie the size of a house."

Contributor's comments: a stone, usually a small one: "Mick and Steve are in the back paddock piffing yonnies at bottles."

Contributor's comments: In my school days in Northern Victoria in the 1950-60's a yonnie was the gerneral name used for a stone that was good for throwing at someone, something or skimmed across the water.

Contributor's comments: A yonnie was any small stone, especially one that could be easily thrown, when I was a boy growing up in Puckapunyal Army Camp in Victoria in the 1950's. I must admit I am not sure if it was a peculiarly Victorian or local expression because families in the Camp came from all over the country.

Contributor's comments: Growing up in the Western District of Victoria in the 1960s and 70s, a "yonnie" could be any type of rock but was often used to describe a flat stone for skimming across water.