Words & TermsEveryday life
oil
Information or news, especially reliable inside information.
In a sentence
What’s the oil on tomorrow’s team selection?
Where it came from
Oil became Australian slang for useful information during the First World War, as if knowledge kept events running smoothly. It is recorded in 1916 and survives in good oil and dinkum oil.
- First recorded
- 1916
- Initial era
- 1900–1949
- Where used
- Australian use; no narrower regional pattern established
- Use today
- Current in good oil/dinkum oil