While the goon of today is generally understood to be cheap cask wine, this meaning didn’t appear until the 1990s. For at least a decade before this, goon meant a flagon of wine. It is possible that this word came from a jocular pronunciation of flagoon.
An offshoot of this word is the classic Aussie drinking game known as goon of fortune. This is a drinking game in which bladders of wine casks are hung from a rotating clothes hoist under which players are situated at intervals, the spinning of the hoist determining who drinks next.
Here at the dictionary, we do not condone excessive drinking or dangerous activities like this, but are reporting on it as a matter of fact. If you do drink, please do so responsibly.
Each week, we have a look at a slang word from Australian English. You can see other Aussie Word of the Week posts from the Macquarie Dictionary here.
