Cliche of the Week 10 – Fair Dinkum

Fair dinkum, more a colloquialism except during an election campaign, is used in reporting worldwide as much as it is written in Australia.

In the past three months it's appeared 1000 times in local media, and outside Australia mainly in British newspapers.

Opposition leader Tony Abbott uses fair dinkum as a way to say honest or serious — both when he attacks and when he makes a promise.

When debating Julia Gillard: "If the Prime Minister is fair dinkum about stopping the boats, if she's fair...