Aussie

Lession #1 "on the turps"

As in: "shit, fellahs, was I ever on the turps last
night..."

It means you were out drinking. You were out drinking alot.
I think the term derives from the word turpentine, a liquid
deathly high in alcohol. As Australians, we shorten it
to "turps," as we cannot not shorten a word, if given the
opportunity. So if you're out on the turps, you're
drinking, heavily, and quite possibly high-octane spirits
like bourbon or vodka, but not necessarily so.

We usually refer to "the turps" in the past tense, or the
third person, as in the opening quote or:
"Where the fuck is Shirley, mate?"
"I dunno, mate. Probably out on the turps"

Australians hit the turps for many, many reasons, but often
for no reason at all, except you're out, you've had a few
coldies, and the mood takes you to open up the throat and
see what happens.

Tomorrow's lesson: Coldies