Not within cooee

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Meaning

A long way away, or not remotely close to a target, standard or result. Regional and informal. The source call is part of Aboriginal Australian linguistic heritage and should not be described as a settler invention. Regional use: Australian and New Zealand English.

Origin

Cooee is a carrying call adopted by English-speaking settlers from Aboriginal Australian use around Sydney in the late 18th century. To be 'within cooee' was literally to be within hailing distance; the negative naturally meant far beyond it and later extended to figurative comparisons. Historical spellings include coo-ee and cooey.

Research Sources

  1. Cooee Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
  2. Cooee, cooey World English Historical Dictionary

Variants

  • Not within a cooee
  • Nowhere within cooee

Usage Examples

  • The nearest fuel was not within cooee of the abandoned station.
  • Our first estimate was nowhere within cooee of the final cost.
  • Without a map they were not within a cooee of the right creek.

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