Talk:mallee

Meanings confused?

Having just done quite a bit of reading associated with updating the Wikipedia entry for Mallee (habit), including Macquarie and other dictionaries, I believe that the order of the meanings given here is incorrect. As far as I can ascertain, the primary meaning is those eucalypts and a few species of other genuses that have the certain growth habit described in that article, and all other meanings flow from this. If you have a read of that article and also look at the Mallee DAB page, you will see what I mean. I don't think that the quotations given for meanings 1, 2 and 3 actually support their defined more general meanings, without knowing context. The Peter Carey quote (meaning 2, quote 3) most likely alludes to the stump-jump plough created to plough land around mallee roots (edit-add: in South Australia).
There are specific areas known as mallee in each of three states, as well as an official "Major Vegetation Group". The more general usage (in my old printed Macquarie, also used for remote areas in general, or outback - although I haven't heard that usage myself) IMO should come last. I don't usually edit here, so just adding this comment for others to discuss. Laterthanyouthink (talk) 09:29, 25 May 2021 (UTC)

I don't think we have a fixed order for senses. Some people put the oldest sense first, others the most common sense today. Equinox ◑ 09:32, 25 May 2021 (UTC)

I didn't actually mean chronological order, but in this case they (chronological and primary meaning) most likely coincide, I would think. Laterthanyouthink (talk) 10:08, 25 May 2021 (UTC)