barrowing

Recently I have come across the verb to barrow (a particular cause).  It is very likely an offshoot from the phrase to push a barrow, be it yours or someone else’s, meaning to campaign vigorously for a proposal or cause.  The example that I have is from the Saturday Paper of August 19-25, 2017.  I can’t say that there are lots of examples but this is a genuine one from an Australian source. Richard Cooke describes ex-politicians ‘barrowing doomed legislation and talking points that expired a decade ago’.  My spellchecker keeps asking me if I meant ‘borrowing’ so at this point it is low-frequency political jargon but maybe one to watch.

Just as an aside, there is commentary online about Australians and New Zealanders eggcorning the phrase push one’s barrel. There seems to be some evidence for this.