Idiom
have seen one's last gum tree
Meaning
Of a person, on the edge of death.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“The old dog looks like he has seen his last gum tree.”
“I think this old car has seen its last gum tree.”
“My phone finally broke and has seen its last gum tree.”
“The doctor spoke quietly to the family, suggesting that the patient had seen his last gum tree.”
“The gardener looked at the withered rose bush and knew it had seen its last gum tree after the frost.”
“After the storm destroyed the roof, the owner admitted the cottage had seen its last gum tree and needed tearing down.”
“The explorer felt his strength fading in the desert and feared he had seen his last gum tree.”
“As the sun set over the horizon, the weary traveler realized with a heavy heart that he had seen his last gum tree.”
Examples
simple
“The old dog looks like he has seen his last gum tree.”
“I think this old car has seen its last gum tree.”
“My phone finally broke and has seen its last gum tree.”
contextual
“The doctor spoke quietly to the family, suggesting that the patient had seen his last gum tree.”
“The gardener looked at the withered rose bush and knew it had seen its last gum tree after the frost.”
“After the storm destroyed the roof, the owner admitted the cottage had seen its last gum tree and needed tearing down.”
“The explorer felt his strength fading in the desert and feared he had seen his last gum tree.”
complex
“As the sun set over the horizon, the weary traveler realized with a heavy heart that he had seen his last gum tree.”
Origin
Attested as an Australian expression, though no specific dates or named entities are recorded for its introduction into the lexicon. The phrase relies upon the gum tree as a quintessential fixture of the Australian landscape, suggesting that to have seen one's last specimen is to have reached the end of one's life.
Key words
Related idioms
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