Smoko

"Smoko" (also "smoke-o" or "smoke-oh") is a term used in Australian English, New Zealand English and Falkland Islands English for a short, often informal, cigarette break taken during work or military duty, although the term can also be used to describe any short break such as a rest or a coffee/tea break. Among sheep shearers in Australia, "smoko" is a mid-morning break, between breakfast and lunch, on which a light meal may be eaten. [cite book |last=McDonald |first=Roger | title=Shearers' Motel |year=1992 |publisher=Picador |location=Sydney |isbn=0330273515]

The term is believed to have originated in the British Merchant Navy, [cite book |last=Lind |first=Lewis James | title=Sea Jargon: A Dictionary of the Unwritten Language of the Sea |year=1982 |publisher=Kangaroo Press |location=Sydney |isbn=0949924229] and was in use as early as 1865. [Ayto, J. & Simpson, J. (eds.) (1992) "The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang". Oxford: Oxford University Press] The term is still in use in the British Merchant Navy today. The tradition of a smoko in the Australian sense seems to have begun amongst sheep shearers in the 1860s. [ [http://tobacco.health.usyd.edu.au/site/supersite/resources/pdfs/TLbefore1950s.pdf The Australian Tobacco Timeline] , University of Sydney]

Although a slang term, the word "smoko" has been used in government writing and industrial relations reports, to mean a short work break. [ [http://www.wageline.qld.gov.au/glossary/index.html#smoko Glossary of common industrial relations terms] , Department of Employment and Industrial Relations (Queensland)]

moko as an Australian institution

The smoko break in Australia has become an institution symbolic of working culture and even of workers' rights. The Australian Industrial Relations Commission has arbitrated cases of industrial action over workers' entitlement to a smoko break. [ [http://www.airc.gov.au/documents/Transcripts/171002c20025121.htm Application to Stop or Prevent Industrial Action] , Australian Industrial Relations Commission, 17 October 2002.]

There are, however, considerable health and productivity concerns about smoke breaks, and non-smoking workers are sometimes concerned that their smoking colleagues take more time on breaks. [ [http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/10/22/1066631476925.html Workplace 'smoko' unfair] , "The Sydney Morning Herald", 22 October 2003.]

In 2006, the Australian government's Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources banned the "smoko" from its Canberra offices, [ [http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/ban-the-smoko-no-way-gasp-diehard-smokers/2006/10/06/1159641529602.html Ban the smoko? No way, gasp diehard smokers] , "The Age", 7 October 2006.] prompting then Health Minister Tony Abbott to declare that the "smoko has had its day". [ [http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Abbott-says-smoko-has-had-its-day/2006/10/06/1159641504127.html Abbott says smoko has had its day] , "The Age", 6 October 2006.]

It is also the name of a small settlement in the Victorian Alps.

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