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noun
(also Huey)
informal Australian, New Zealand An imaginary being held to be responsible for the weather.
- ‘more rain next week please, Hughie!’
- ‘May the Weather-god Hughie rain on our BBQs.’
- ‘Hughie, as you probably know, is the weather god, and this is a warning to those who go sailing: Beware of Hughie.’
Phrases
- send her down, Hughie
An appeal for rain.
- ‘as a farmer he would say, 'send her down, Hughie'’
- ‘While we're singing I'll be saying a silent prayer, asking Hughie to send her down—not just cats and dogs, but elephants too.’
- ‘With the rain drizzling yet again I suspect many farmers have received their presents early; let's hope Hughie keeps sending her down for many weeks to come.’
- ‘“Send her down Hughie,” I said to nobody.’
- ‘He might also be that rain-god invoked with the formula, 'Send it down, Hughie'.’
- ‘When I was growing up, whenever it rained in St George, which was not very often, my mum would always say, 'Send it down, Hughie!'’
Australian, New Zealand informal
Origin
Early 20th century diminutive of the given name Hugh. The phrase send her down, Hughie may have developed from the British variant send it down, David, which dates from the 1920s.
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