"SWINGING THE LEG."

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 156, 1 July 1916, Page 15

"SWINGING THE LEG."

' A TREATISE? ON , ANZAC LANGEtt^E. That Interesting miaeellanr called The Office Window," waich is co well known * feature of the London Liberal papefc the "Dally Chronicle," 'las been inviting disccaerlaii on the phraseology of same of on* boys. Says the "Chronicle" :-~"Swinging the leg," a .phrase in frequent use among onr boys at the Croat, i&pears to bare cenje Iron* New ZeaLssti. Sapper J. Cullen,-o£ Lh&. New Zealand Engineer Tunnelling Ccjnpsmj, has written -a sens called "Yonire in ClOTer Through, Swinging the Leg," wherein, "is- narrated tite good time y«u can have thTough exaggeration of yoar prowess-, oa the battlefield, and otherwise drawing.' bow. As far -as I can gather from... my numerous-correspondent?, the expression., is- a comrption of tb* t»m» v;eU knowa tie Atipy and. J«vy, "Swirtging the lead." This phrase has a variety of meanings besides malingering. To "swing the le»d" hi the canteen-Is-to "mump" or obtain beerfrom yonr comrades withon-t bujing it. in. yonr tarn. To "swing the lead" in the barrack-room is to dodge y«nr share of tke cleaning up. To "swing the lead" on.goard Is to try and get out of your fair share oi sentry duty. For the origin-of the ptrase we roust g» to the NaTy, whereat ias long been b«se as a term for shirking, or mallngeitag, or getting the better of a mate. At night. when, the wind is fresh, and the water icy cold, the'leadsman in the chains, instead of TTtnTring his soundings-with, the lead, keeps fils -weather-eye on the officer of the watch. and jnst swings the lead backwards and forwards as if about to heave it. Tnus he pretends to do what tie is not doing. In tne Navy, if one man gets the tetter of another in a deal, the aggrieved party would say, "he swung the lead" on mc. Or, if a man goes liidiag a-way when there is a job on hand, he "swings the lead" on his top mates.