# Australian Dopers: Yannies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 19, 2003, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-dopers-yannies/183031 "2003-06-19T23:08:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-dopers-yannies/183031/1 "2003-06-19T23:08:53Z")
I’ve just heard Men at Work’s _Down by the Sea_. There’s one part that says “Yannies in the wind”. What are “yannies”? And who is Captain Benbow? ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-dopers-yannies/183031/2 "2003-06-19T23:10:54Z")
No bloody idea, mate. It might be some weird regional thing. I’ll try and find out yor you. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-dopers-yannies/183031/3 "2003-06-19T23:16:50Z")
It’s ‘yonnies’ not’ yannies’. [http://www.abc.net.au/rn/arts/ling/stories/s269053.htm](http://www.abc.net.au/rn/arts/ling/stories/s269053.htm) We had only recently come across this word, which often appears in the collocation ‘to piff yonnies’ (yonnie is a Victorian word for ‘stone’ or ‘pebble’). ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-dopers-yannies/183031/4 "2003-06-19T23:20:25Z")
Hmm, a lyrics site I just went to had the word as “yonnies”. I googled that and got a site that said it is a Victorian regional word for “stone” (I’m from New South Wales, so I haven’t heard it). Then I went to the good old [Macquarie Dictionary](http://www.macquariedictionary.com.au), and they say “yonnie” is an Australian colloquial term for a stone, especially one used for throwing. There were no entries for “yannie”, “yanny”, or “yonny”. It’s a new one on me though. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-dopers-yannies/183031/5 "2003-06-20T00:33:41Z")
Well, that makes sense in a gale. Any idea who Captain Benbow is? A real person? A fictional character? Or maybe they just made it up for the song? [sub]FWIW, I _have_ read _The Loaded Dog_. 🙂 [/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-dopers-yannies/183031/6 "2003-06-20T00:43:30Z")
Well, that makes sense in a gale. Any idea who Captain Benbow is? A real person? A fictional character? Or maybe they just made it up for the song? [sub]FWIW, I have read _The Loaded Dog_. 🙂 [/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-dopers-yannies/183031/7 "2003-06-20T02:01:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TheLoadedDog \* > \*\*Hmm, a lyrics site I just went to had the word as “yonnies”. I googled that and got a site that said it is a Victorian regional word for “stone” (I’m from New South Wales, so I haven’t heard it). \*\* Well, I’m from Victoria and _I_ never heard it either. Did I just lose some True Blue Aussie Brownie points there? (I opened this thread expecting that the OP would turn out to be a typo/mishearing for [yabbies](http://www.goodonyamate.com/y-slang.html) ) ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-dopers-yannies/183031/8 "2003-06-20T03:13:56Z")
Well, I believe that _Treasure Island_ starts in the Admiral Benbow Inn… ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-dopers-yannies/183031/9 "2003-06-20T03:53:34Z")
I’m old, and the term ‘yonnies’ went out before even my time as a stone-piffer. However, casting into the dark recesses of my failing memory, I seem to recall that the term might also have been used to describe the smaller balls in marbles…y’know, yonnies and cat-eyes and tom-bowlers and all of that. As far as Captain Benbow goes, no idea. However, _Strong_bow is a commercial variety of cider. Hmmmmm. Haven’t had a Strongbow Draught in yonks. What time is it? Is the bottle-shop open? See ya’s…be back soon. ---
**Author:** ![Primaflora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@Primaflora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Primaflora)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-dopers-yannies/183031/10 "2003-06-20T04:34:21Z")
Strongbow’s evil shite, I tellya! I thought it was linked to the folksong Brave Benbow but after braving some hideous midi-endowed sites, I’m forced to conclude I am wrong because he doesn’t seem to have any connection to Australia. I do have South Australia and Captain Benbow linked in my brain but damned if I know why and I’m not pulling up anything on google. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-dopers-yannies/183031/11 "2003-06-20T04:42:15Z")
This is Captain Benbow, although he was an Admiral when he died. [http://bravebenbow.tripod.com/](http://bravebenbow.tripod.com/) What the significance is I have no idea. Maybe the line “Admiral Benbow is remembered in pubs scattered throughout the English speaking world, and in literature in the opening scene of Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson” gives a hint. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-dopers-yannies/183031/12 "2003-06-20T04:56:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Primaflora \* > \*\*Strongbow’s evil shite, I tellya! > \*\* Howdy Prim…at least it’s a better drop than that damned Scrumpy they used to sell by the bloody FLAGON in my yewth. OMG, the tales I could tell about my escapades after a night of Scrumpy, Neil Young, Pink Floyd and…shit, whatisname… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-dopers-yannies/183031/13 "2024-01-16T21:52:45Z")
_Down By The Sea_ just played on the iPod, so I found this reply on a [message board](https://songmeanings.com/songs/view/54591/): > I am proposing that this location “Down By The Sea” is in Portsmouth, UK (England). Colin Hay is from North Ayrshire Scotland which is 8 hours north by car of Portsmouth, or less than 2 hours by air. Colin lived in Scotland until he was 14, so I’m not sure if this song is based on a romance from his youth, or later in life. > > Yonnies in the wind, are stones that they threw into the water… Down by the docks live all the silent sea ships which are historic ships that are permanently placed there. You can look these up on the wiki page for Portsmouth Historic Dockyard… Saluting Captain Benbow is also possible since the John Benbow Figurehead statue is located at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard…