Your Contributions

"Plumb Bob": A heavy weight hung on a line in order to get a vertical measurement. In the old days a "bob" or lump of lead was the weight used.
- sent in by Roger Kilburn, Haberfield, NSW

"Swinging the lead" [No. 1] is a nautical term for heaving a lead weight overboard for depth measurement. The lead had to be thrown out ahead of the boat, then pulled back up after the boat passed over.
- sent in by Roger Kilburn, Haberfield, NSW

"Swinging the lead" [No. 2] means bludging or malingering. Perhaps depth sounding was the easiest job on a ship. Alternatively, plumb bob work is the easiest job on a construction site.
- Sent in by Justin McCoy, Strathfield, NSW

Plumbing Limerick

A certain plumber named Leigh
Was plumbing a maid by the sea
Said the maid, "Cease your plumbing
I think someone’s coming"
Said the plumber, still plumbing "It’s me".
- sent in by Justin McCoy, Strathfield, NSW

ER-Emergency Room

"ER", Episode "The Right Thing", Thanks to Warner Bros for the synopsis (extract below) -

"a patient who frequently comes in faking illness so he can get drugs, claims that he has stomach pain. Despite Hathaway’s warning, Jeanie does a blood test and finds out that [patient] T-Ball actually does have lead poisoning."
- spotted by Dr. Ben Balzer, Beverly Hills, NSW

The Australian Magazine, Nov 23-4, p. 53.

"When I first meet [Murray] Bail it is mid-winter at the inner-city apartment he shares with Garner. It’s one of those fine, dry afternoons on the cusp of the solstice when winds from the west scrub clean the pale Sydney sky, and the air seems so pure and polished you’d never guess it was laden with lead."
-by Luke Slattery, The Australian Magazine, Nov. 23-24 1996

- sent in by Noela Whitton, Glebe, NSW Glebe, NSW