happy little vegemite

English

Alternative forms

• happy little Vegemite

Etymology

From a 1950s advertising jingle.

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

happy little vegemite (plural happy little vegemites)

1. (Australia) A contented and well-behaved child; a very pleased person; often used ironically.
   • 1999, Jim Keays, His Master's Voice: The Masters Apprentices: The bad boys of sixties rock ′n′ roll‎^[1], page 3:

     The corner grocer delivered the week′s order in brown paper bags and the bread man made deliveries every morning in his horse-drawn van. He′d give the kids buns and let you ride for a couple of stops. The iceman delivered fresh fish, rabbits and, of course, ice for the ice chest, which many people still owned rather than a fridge. I was a happy little Vegemite.

   • 2003, Barry Crocker, The Adventures of Barry Crocker: Bazza‎^[2], page 285:

     I was a happy little vegemite that night as we cuddled up in bed. I fell into a deep and satisfied sleep, content in the knowledge that all the hard work we′d put into the programme seemed to have paid off.

   • 2007, Margaret Cossey, Stories from an Indigenous perspective in the reading resources mix, and the role they play in literary success for Indigenous Australian students, Alyson Simpson (editor), Future Directions in Literacy: International Conversations 2007, Sydney University Press, page 32,

     What I also learnt was that, if the new story selected for that day′s lesson was about a topic or concept familiar to the student, then the book orientation was a breeze, the running record on the book the next day was often up over the 95 per cent accuracy rate and the child and I were both happy little vegemites.