The Australian National Dictionary beta

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zac n. (Spelling variants: sac, zack.) [Probably from Scottish dialect saxpence, although cf. German sechs (pronounced /zeks/) ‘six’. Also NZ: DNZE 1941.]
1. A sixpence. Also transf.: a trifling sum of money.

1898 Bulletin (Sydney) 1 Oct. 14/3, 6d. a ‘zack’.   1908 Truth (Sydney) 8 Nov. 1/7 ‘Wanted, respectable person, all duties, wages 2s. 6d. per week!’ Ye gods! respectability at two and a sac per week.   1919 C.H. Thorp Handful of Ausseys 163 Muttering blasphemies against all ‘--s who are spongin’ on their Governmints an drawin’ ten an’ a zack a day while they dodge a trip to the firin’ line, the cold-footed --s’.   1929 ‘F. Blair’ Digger Sea-Mates 148 ‘I’ve just spent me last brown, too. Frank’s still holding.’ ‘His hat,’ said I. ‘I’m down to a zac.’   1933 Kalgoorlie Miner 20 June 7/7 A silver coin collection will be taken up on the ground and it behoves all who can afford a nimble ‘zac’ or ‘tray’ to roll up in large numbers.   1945 Aust. Week-End Bk. 164 The only one who’d backed it had been his wife who’d had a zac each way.   1953 A.W. Upfield Venom House 101 It was the first time I got the notion I was worth a zac to anyone.   1965 K. Smith OGF 120 The only State finances I see are the zacs and deeners people give me on the bus.   1986 Nat. Times (Sydney) 10 Jan. 42/4 No wonder Paul Keating has angrily refused to give the ABC another zac.   1996 P. Doyle Get Rich Quick 35, I went back to the cafe, got a handful of zacks and went back to the phone box.   2006 Age (Melbourne) 29 Aug. 12/5 ‘When I started this  ..  I divested myself of anything I owned’, he said. ‘I'm not worth a zac.’   2011 Goulburn Post 13 June 1/1 Initiatives that support the community aren't worth a ‘zack’ in Council eyes, says a local growth group.


2. A prison sentence of six years or six months.

1919 V. Marshall World of Living Dead 84 Done the zac I got fer cattle duffin’ up Gilgandra way, A zac’s hard labour—wot I had ter do.   1971 J. McNeil Chocolate Frog (1973) 20 Tosser: How long are yer doin’? Kevin: Six months  ..  down at the Petty Sessions… Shirker:  ..  Why’d yer get the zac?   c. 1972 Parramatta Jail Gloss. (Unpubl. typescript, ANDC Archive) 5 A Zack, six months.   c. 1978 B. Ellem Doing Time (1984) 200 Zac, a six-month sentence.   1983 Austral. Jrnl. of Cultural Studies May 91 The crim learns the names of laggings, coming to think of them in terms of a chunk of time and not the carefully calibrated units of control such periods of time designate in the outside world. The names of laggings are  ..  Six months: A Zac.