"Is it French or Queensland blacks' yabber? Blest if I understand a word of it."
<hw>Yabber</hw>, <i>v. intr</i>. (See noun.)
1885. R. M. Praed, `Australian Life,' p. 19:
"They yabbered unsuspiciously to each other."
1887. J. Farrell, `How he died,' p. 126:
"He's yabbering some sort of stuff in his sleep."
<hw>Yabby</hw>, <i>n</i>. properly <i>Yappee</i>, aboriginal name for a small crayfish found in water-holes in many parts of Australia, <i>Astacopsis bicarinatus</i>. The Rev. F. A. Hagenauer gives <i>Yappy</i>, in `Curr's Australian Race,' vol. iii. p. 554, as a Gippsland word. Such variants as the following occur—<i>Yappitch, kapich</i>, <i>yabbechi, yaabity</i>. The distinction between the thin and thick consonants is usually uncertain.
1894. `The Argus,' Oct. 6, p. 11, col. 2:
"In the case of small crayfish, called `yabbies,' . . . these may be found all over Australia, both in large and small lagoons. These creatures, whilst nearing a drought, and as the supply of water is about to fail, burrow deeply in the beds of the lagoons, water-holes, or swamps, piling up the excavations on the surface over their holes, which I take, amongst other reasons, to be a provision against excessive heat."
1897. `The Australasian,' Jan. 30, p. 224, col. 4: