ALL ABOUT HARRY

Who is PI Harry Kenmare?

"When it came to having his face buried between beautiful, soft thighs, Harry considered himself something of an artiste, not to mention a devoted connoisseur."
- Harry's World  (p.129)

Harry Kenmare introduces himself...

G’day, I’m Harry.  Harry Kenmare, Private Investigator.
 
I used to be a cop, detective sergeant. Until I got the arse for belting a rock spider. A child molester to most of you. Well, of course I belted the prick. I’d just lost my daughter, Orla, to scum like him. Orla was raped and murdered, by paedophile animals. And, being only human, that has shaped me as a man since then. You got a problem with that? Guess what, here’s fifty cents, go call someone who cares.
 
Orla’s mother, my very ex-wife, left at the same time. Decided her yoga instructor was more ‘sensitive’ to her needs. He was a pretentious arse-wipe, but he had inherited money. Yeah, so I married shallow, as it turns out. Not the first bloke down that baited burrow. And then she shagged a couple of other detectives. Sure it was to spite me. Rooting another detective’s missus was a no-no, totally against the brotherhood’s Code. Anyway, the arse-wipe yoga instructor got done for dealing ‘herbal remedies’, went to prison, and the ex became his ex, too. Some degree of karma, maybe. No doubt she’s off now making some other poor bastard’s life an abject misery.
 
Anyhow, my motto now is: ‘Here for a good time, not a long time’. And I live by it. I smoke, I drink like a fish, I eat rich food, and I bed every good sort I can charm back to my apartment. I love the ladies. I’m what in days gone by was described as a libertine. And if you’ve got a problem with that, hear this: I don't give a flying rat’s arse. 
 
Enough of my loves. What about the other side of the ledger? I hate injustice, I hate hypocrisy, I hate misogyny, I hate bullies, and I hate the Establishment. A long list. No shortage of candidates in Sydney. And wherever I can deliver karma, I’ll do so in spades.
 
You might love me, or you might hate me. But you’ll never forget me.
 
Cheers, Harry
  

Australian colloquialisms from the Harry novels.

I love the English language - so much sheer vocabulary, delightful irregularities, variety and nuance.  And then there are all the regional versions in the wide spread of English-speaking countries around the world.
Down here, that's "down under" here, we have our own little quirks: Australian words and phrases that a visitor from another English-speaking land hears and says, "WTF does that mean?!"  Of course, all our cousins around the globe have their own gems, but here are some Aussie colloquialisms as used in the Harry novels, Harry's World and Harry's Quest.  These all appear in the "Glossary" section in both books, but I've culled the lists to leave the particularly Aussie stuff.  I concede a few may also be colloquial elsewhere.  And some of them are definitely local police slang.  Enjoy.

arvo - afternoon
baccy - tobacco
Baygon - brand of insecticide
bewdy  - a beautiful thing
biffo - fist-fight, punch-up
binos - binoculars
bogan - red-neck, rough-neck
Brizzie - Brisbane (capital of Queensland, an Australian state)
brumby - wild horse
bush (the) - the Australian countryside
chicken - child victim (paedophile slang)
circle work - doing 360 degree burn-outs in a car
D / demon -slang for ‘detective’
deli - delicatessen (corner store, convenience store)
dero - tramp, itinerant
dinkum - the real thing, genuine
doona - duvet, Continental quilt
doss house - lodging house, somewhere to sleep
dossing - lodging, crashing somewhere to sleep
doughnuts - see ‘circle work’
drum - information
dunny - toilet
eckys - ecstasy tablets (the drug MDMA)
fair suck of the sav - fair go, fair chance
Feds - Australian Federal Police
gat - handgun
GDs - general duties (uniformed police)
good sort - attractive girl or woman
grog - alcohol
hammer - heroin
job (in the) - in the police force
klicks - kilometres
Malachi Crunch - sexual position sandwiching a female between two males
MO - modus operandi(method of operation)
moolah - money, cash
ped - paedophile
pineapples - Australian $50 notes (yellow in colour)
piss - alcohol
Plastic Fantastics - derogatory term for the Australian Federal Police, used by the state police forces
pom - English person
Port Jackson - the first historic name of Sydney
P-plate - the “P” sign provisional drivers must attach to their cars
recce - reconnaissance
rego (plate) - registration number/plate (of a car)
rock spider - paedophile, child molester
‘roger’ (in dialogue) - police jargon for ‘affirmative’, usually used over the police radio
roger (to) - to have sexual intercourse (originally English slang)
root - sexual intercourse
rort - trick, deception
rorter - someone who pulls off a rort
rubbernecking - bystander watching behaviour at a scene
sav - short for ‘sauvignon’, in wine terms
schooner - a beer glass (in NSW 425ml, or 15oz)
shadowing - following, as in surveillance
sheila - girl, woman
shout - a round of drinks at a bar / to buy a shout
skippy - slang term used by immigrants to Australia to refer to Australians (from the TV show about a kangaroo called “Skippy”)
sledging - throwing insults
Special Constable - armed officer with limited police powers assigned to protection duties
stubby  - a 375 ml bottle of beer
super - short for ‘superannuation’, an Australian pension system
thunder-box - an outdoor toilet
town bike - promiscuous girl or woman
tradie - tradesman
true blue - genuine

And also from the glossaries in the novels, here are the acronyms and abbreviations (not all Australian, by any means):

AC - Assistant Commissioner (senior police rank)
AFP - Australian Federal Police
ATM - automated teller machine (cashpoint machine)
BSB - Bank State Branch number
CBD - central business district (city centre, downtown)
CEO - Chief Executive Officer (corporate President)
CFO - Chief Financial Officer (corporate VP Finance)
D (demon) - slang for ‘detective’
DPP - Director of Public Prosecutions (like the District Attorney)
GDs - general duties (uniformed police)
HOD - hurt-on-duty (a police injury scheme)
IA - (Police) Internal Affairs
ICAC - Independent Commission Against Corruption (Sydney, NSW)
IRA - Irish Republican Army
MO - modus operandi (method of operation)
MSF - Médecins Sans Frontières (an international NGO)
NGV - National Gallery of Victoria
NSW - New South Wales (the State of)
OAM - Order of Australia (an award in the Australian honours system)
OIC - Officer-in-Charge (of a police unit or station)
PIC - Police Integrity Commission (external to the police)
PTSD - post-traumatic stress disorder
RBT - random breath test
RSPCA - Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
RUC - Royal Ulster Constabulary
SMH - Sydney Morning Herald
TAB - Totalisator Agency Board (betting outlet chain)
TAFE - Technical and Further Education (Australian tertiary college system)
UC - undercover police operative
UN - United Nations
VB - Victoria Bitter (an Australian beer brand)
VicPol - Victoria Police
WA - Western Australia (the State of)

"The first slice of vengeance for Orla was nigh, and his adrenal glands were working harder than a dissident in a Soviet salt mine."
- Harry's Quest  (p.82)