Fit As A Mallee Bull: Tough Types For Torrid Topography
There are plenty of ways to say someone is in good nick, but Strine has never been particularly interested in leaving a perfectly good bull out of the conversation. Tell someone they’re as “fit as a mallee bull” and you are saying they are in extremely good shap, strong and healthy. The image comes from the Mallee, the dry inland country where mallee eucalypts grow. A bull tough enough to survive out there was imagined as a pretty robust bit of cattle. The expression has been part of Aussie English for decades. Early evidence includes the form “strong as a mallee bull” from the late 19th century, while “fit as…