sb. Australia. [‘It is pronounced by the aborigines yabba, without a final r. Ya is an aboriginal stem, meaning to speak’ (Morris, Austral Eng.).] Speech, language, talk: applied to the speech of the Australian aborigines. So Yabber v. (intr. and trans.), to talk, esp. in an aboriginal Australian language.
1874. M. K. Beveridge, Lost Life, III. 37.
| Much bustle in the camp I marked— | |
| E’en to the very dogs that barked— | |
| Much yabber that I did not know— | |
| And haste and hurry to and fro. |
1885. Mrs. C. Praed, Austral. Life, 19. They scratched themselves and yabbered unsuspiciously to each other. Ibid., 28. An insane longing to fire a volley of ‘Black’s yabber’ across a London dinner table.
1887. Farrell, How He Died, 126. He’s yabbering some sort of stuff in his sleep.
1888. ‘R. Boldrewood,’ Robbery under Arms, xxvii. They could speak a little Spanish and French, and got on with them. But Jim and I could only stare and stand open-mouthed … while they’d yabber away quite comfortable.
