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yakka

American  
[yak-uh] / ˈyæk ə /

noun

Australian.
  1. work, especially hard work.


yakka British  
/ ˈjækə /

noun

  1. informal work

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of yakka

First recorded in 1885–90; earlier spellings yacker, wakker; of obscure origin; possibly from Yagara (an extinct Australian Aboriginal language of Queensland) yaga “to work”

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

This was hard yakka in hot sun on an unresponsive pitch with a ball less likely to misbehave than a child on Christmas Eve.

From BBC

With a distinctive nasal twang, the locals pepper their conversations with “crikey,” “sprog,” “yobbo,” “tinny,” “chunder,” “togs” and “hard yakka.”

From New York Times

The next night, after a lot of hard yakka in the field, assistant coach Jeetan Patel said, without flinching, "nothing is impossible" with this team.

From BBC

England can look forward to some hard yakka.

From BBC

Never has a day of hard yakka been made to seem so much fun.

From BBC