Phrases & SayingsFood and drink
full as a Bourke Street tram
Extremely crowded, replete or drunk.
In a sentence
By six o’clock the front bar was full as a Bourke Street tram.
Where it came from
The phrase recalls the crowded trams of Melbourne’s central Bourke Street. It belongs to an older set of comic Australian comparisons for being packed, replete or drunk.
- Initial era
- 1800–1899
- Where used
- Melbourne; understood more broadly as an old Australian comparison