Botany Bay dozen

plural Botany Bay dozens

1. Australiahistoricalobsoleteslang25 lashes, i.e. strokes of a whip across a person's back as a punishment.

   If guilty, he is taken to a cart-wheel to receive a Botany Bay dozen, which is twenty-five lashes ;[…].

   1893, Frank Murcott Bladen, Historical Records of New South Wales: Papers Relating to Grose and Paterson, 1793-1795, volume 2, page 796

   2 more examples

   “Will they be strung up for a Botany Bay dozen like we are if we so much as squeak? Not those fine gentlemen, with their uniforms an' their pockets full o' gold!”

   1948, Eleanor Dark, Storm of Time, Collins, published 1963, page 58

   He gave a harsh snort and said angrily, “A Botany Bay dozen is not twelve. It's twenty-five, and more than capable of exposing a man's backbone.”

   2003, Mary Hawkins, Australian Outback: Four Journeys to a New Country Ride on the Wings of Faith and Love, page 47

   Synonyms: tester