Remember the Out House

Depending upon your age, you may have used one of these.

this little house is known as:

dunny - noun:- toilet or lavatory, originally an outside toilet or outhouse, now a generic term for the toilet regardless of location. Sometimes referred to as the Thunder Box! Different from the bathroom which really does contain a bath or shower for cleaning your personage.

loo - noun:- toilet

outhouse - noun:- toilet, dunny. Before modern sewage, the toilet was in it's own little "house" in the backyard. Hence out house.

thunder box - noun:- dunny, toilet.

toot - noun:- toilet

More Aussie Slang can be found here

Oops, Sorry!!

Don't waste the dunny paper.

My son couldn't believe that people actually used newspaper, and it wasn't for reading. Ouch!



We had an outside dunny on the farm where I grew up. It was a fair walk from my bedroom, down the passage, through the kitchen, turn on the back light and make my way down to the end of the verandah where there wasn't much light. I used to get scared when I had to go there, even though it was under the verandah and not in the paddock somewhere. It was usually full of busy spiders and mozzies at night. Ahhhh!

Redback On The Toilet Seat

There was a red-back on the toilet seat

When I was there last night,

I didn’t see him in the dark,

But boy! I felt his bite!

I jumped high up into the air,

And when I hit the ground,

That crafty red-back spider

Wasn’t nowhere to be found.

Chorus:There was a red-back on the toilet seat

When I was there last night,

I didn’t see him in the dark,

But boy! I felt his bite!

And now I’m here in hospital,

A sad and sorry plight,

And I curse that red-back spider

On the toilet seat last night.

I rushed into the missus,

Told her just where I’d been bit,

She grabbed the cut throat razor blade,

And I nearly took a fit.

I said, “Just forget what’s on your mind,

And call a doctor please,

‘Cause I’ve got a feeling that your cure,

is worse than the disease.”

I can’t lay down, I can’t sit up,

And I don’t know what to do,

And all the nurses think it’s funny,

But that’s not my point of view.

I tell you it’s embarrassing,(And that’s to say the least)

That I’m to sick to eat a bite,

While that spider had a feast!

And when I get back home again,

I tell you what I’ll do,

I’ll make that red-back suffer,

For the pain I’m going through.

I’ve had so many needles,

That I’m looking like a sieve,

And I promise you that spider,

hasn’t very long to live!

Slim Dusty had fun with this song although the original artist was Slim Newton. You can listen here for Slim Newton singing this song. I was hoping to find a better version, but this was all I could find.