Aussie Readers discussion
Archives
>
Is our Aussie language being 'Americanised'?
Umm!!.. where I come from Carmel, turning ones glass upside down on the bar means you want to fight anyone in the bar, when shouting the bar, one calls out 'my shout to all' LOL!!!
Geoff wrote: "Polk, considering the adopted words we now have in the English language I don't think new words are a problem.garage - French
bungalow - Hindi
cha - Hindi via China
kahki- Hindi
aperitif - French
..."
I hope we see more of these. I loved They Have a Word for It: A Lighthearted Lexicon of Untranslatable Words & Phrases. I still look for opportunities to use 'treppenwitz' (the clever remark that comes to mind too late to say).
I'm a child of the '50s so old habits die hard for me. It still makes sense to use a "rubber" to "rub out" mistakes as far as I'm concerned! I'm also showing my age here because I pronounce lieutenant as "leftenant", Town Clerk as "Town Clark", derby as "darby" and Jervis Bay as "Jarvis Bay". My children and grandchildren also know that it's Zed not Zee, so it's a Zebra not a Zeebra,lol.However, I do think young people have always needed a "language" of their own to make them sound different from their parents and grandparents so I don't get up in arms about a phrase like "my bad" however what really gets on my goat is when the word "like" is used perhaps half a dozen times in the one sentence. Surely young people can express themselves without resorting to that.
This discussion has also shown me once again how much we differ in our vocabulary State to State. My cousin in Queensland thinks I'm trying to sound snooty when I say "car-stle" instead of "caa-stle". I'm pretty sure we in NSW say custard tart and not custard pie and I think in Melbourne a French vanilla slice is not called that. I always feel sorry for those from interstate when they order "scallops" at a fish and chip shop in NSW and they are shocked to receive "potato cakes" instead!
Kim Marie wrote: "...however what really gets on my goat is when the word "like" is used perhaps half a dozen times in the one sentence..."
My daughter just started with the 'like' business just recently. We pulled her up on it very quickly.
I agree it is a custard tart in NSW, etc etc.
I love this discussion on the language variations, it is heart warming stuff. (Okay so I am a little weird.)
I also love the differences between the states.
My daughter just started with the 'like' business just recently. We pulled her up on it very quickly.
I agree it is a custard tart in NSW, etc etc.
I love this discussion on the language variations, it is heart warming stuff. (Okay so I am a little weird.)
I also love the differences between the states.
Mod
Where we came from, there was 'fritz' and here it's 'devon' and still doesn't come close to the wonderful taste of fritz...:)And NO ONE but our little shop in our little town in SA can make CORNISH PASTIES.....OMG, they don't even know what they are here, when they make 'pasties'.....hehe!
Mod
My Dad came from Melbourne, and always said Newc-a-stle, and we of course, say Newcarstle!!
Mod
Yep, it's definitely tart. Also, a vanilla slice is a snot block, ..."
Oooh, never heard of 'snot block' that sounds quite disgusting!! hehe...But cocktail frankfurts have always been 'little boys' to me...
Carmel wrote: "Castlemaine is "Caastlemaine" instead of "Carstlemaine"What's the difference here? I read both 'caa' and 'car' the same way - as the 'ar' in 'party'.
Are yes!!
cheerio's
custard pie
ca(r)stle
(potato) scallop
'fritz'!!! always known it as Devon.
yes Kim, I too pronounce the same as you & can't stand this intrusion of 'like' every 3rd word in a sentence.
Mackay is pronounced Mack-eye by the locals.
cheerio's
custard pie
ca(r)stle
(potato) scallop
'fritz'!!! always known it as Devon.
yes Kim, I too pronounce the same as you & can't stand this intrusion of 'like' every 3rd word in a sentence.
Mackay is pronounced Mack-eye by the locals.
Murray wrote: "Carmel wrote: "Castlemaine is "Caastlemaine" instead of "Carstlemaine"
What's the difference here? I read both 'caa' and 'car' the same way - as the 'ar' in 'party'."
I think she meant 'a' as in apple. :P
What's the difference here? I read both 'caa' and 'car' the same way - as the 'ar' in 'party'."
I think she meant 'a' as in apple. :P
Yes Carmel (-: there are some different variants on shouting the bar & if I recall corectly, that I know of the kiwi's & the pom's turn their glasses upside down when they have had enough, but, here in Aus & I have been into quite a few pubs along the eatern coast & bush, a tuned up glass means to fight anyone in that bar.
Never heard 'snot block', have heard a meat pie with pea's & sauce called 'maggot bag with snot & blood' eeewwwww!!!..LOL!!
Never heard 'snot block', have heard a meat pie with pea's & sauce called 'maggot bag with snot & blood' eeewwwww!!!..LOL!!
I am glad I have finished my lunch. :P
David wrote: "Never heard 'snot block', have heard a meat pie with pea's & sauce called 'maggot bag with snot & blood' eeewwwww!!!..LOL!!..."This conversation is turning me off food! LOL. I don't think I'll ever eat a vanilla slice again.:(
@David - Isn't that a Pie Floater like they say in Sth Australia?
I say cheerios too so I think it must be a Queensland thing!
Yes Mandy, I believe those South Aussies do call it that, but has to have sloppy mushy peas.
A timely new release this month that could be helpful for people reading this thread is the Aussie Slang Pictorial.:)
Blurb:
A popular combination of Aussie Slang quotes, sayings and full colour photography make up this humorous book. Each photograph depicts and illustrates the accompanying Australian slang saying in a fun and intriguing way. Including some gems like:
- Raining cats and dogs
- Like a bandicoot on a burnt bridge
- All alone like a country dunny
Polk wrote: "I'm pretty sure we in NSW say custard tart and not custard pie and I think in Melbourne a French vanilla slice is not called thatYep, it's definitely tart. Also, a vanilla slice is a snot block, ..."
Eww snot block :x I call a hankie an snot rag..But never a vanilla slice..lol
Mmm, I remember getting cocktail frankfurts from the butcher for free...Or some lollies..haha. We used to call those weenies or skinless smokers.
Carmel wrote: "OMG Brenda, you have taken me back to my growing up days in Adelaide. We would go into the butcher with my Dad on the weekends for the grocery shopping and the butcher would cut off a big slice of ..."@Carmel - NOooo! "Mall" is American! Ozzie is "shopping centre!" (At least in country Queensland.) And, @Polk, this is the first time I've heard "snot block"! When I was a kid they were ice-cream blocks or ice-cream bricks. Because we didn't have freezers, if Mum wanted one for pudding she sent one of us up to the shop after the main course. ("Tea", not "dinner"). Don't you all love this education we're getting for free?
@Brenda & Polk - cocktail frankfurts are "cheerios" here. Little boys? The mind boggles... One of my brothers married an Adelaide girl and they live there. He's become a South Australian! Or worse, a "southerner."! Honest, I'm not insulting you, but when you read those books about Australia by overseas persons they always say there's no difference to the culture and language wherever you go!
@Mandy - is "shoot through like a Bondi tram" in there?
Carmel, "southerner".....that would be "Mexican" LOL!!
I have just read two books by Peter Temple, based in Melbourne. When I checked the reviews on Goodreads, there were a lot of comments complaining that the Aussie lingo was hard to follow and that there were glossaries in the US and UK versions of the books that had to be frequently referred to. I read them without noticing... but did enjoy the local flavour.
So maybe we have more of an Aussie difference in language than we realise.
Carmel wrote: "Hasn't there been a number of movies where they've adjusted the lingo so the movies are understood better by the wider audience - can't think of any names now but I'm sure there has been. Come on y..."I'm not good with movies BUT I have seen Australians on tv SUBTITLED!!
If I remember correctly Harry Potter had some of its lingo changed for the US market..Simple words like jumper to mean sweater..But that is differnt all together.
Mandy wrote: "- Raining cats and dogs- Like a bandicoot on a burnt bridge
- All alone like a country dunny "
lol! My French ex came home one day and told me she was busy like a lizard and was offended when I didn't understand. We eventually worked out that her Aussie colleagues had used the phrase 'flat out like a lizard drinking' and she hadn't remembered it verbatim.
Carmel wrote: "Hasn't there been a number of movies where they've adjusted the lingo so the movies are understood better by the wider audience - can't think of any names now but I'm sure there has been. Come on y..."I have a copy of Mad Max which has 2 sound tracks - 'original English' and 'Australian English'. The first is dubbed in American accents.
Murray wrote: "Carmel wrote: "Hasn't there been a number of movies where they've adjusted the lingo so the movies are understood better by the wider audience - can't think of any names now but I'm sure there has ..."
Hahahaha!!...Murray, I can just hear Mal saying in his beast American 'john Wayne' drawl, "OK pilgrims, lets get those GT fords in a circle" LOL!!
Hahahaha!!...Murray, I can just hear Mal saying in his beast American 'john Wayne' drawl, "OK pilgrims, lets get those GT fords in a circle" LOL!!
Kim Marie wrote: "I'm a child of the '50s so old habits die hard for me. It still makes sense to use a "rubber" to "rub out" mistakes as far as I'm concerned! I'm also showing my age here because I pronounce lieu..."Kim Marie - when my sister was at primary school her teacher in Grades 1 & 2 was an English lady. Sis picked up some of her accent, notably singing the (then) national anthem as "GAWD Save The Queen."
My daughter watched Sesame Street when she was small, and when she started school actually told the teacher the last letter of the alphabet was ZEE, not ZED.
Carmel wrote: "Monya wrote: "@Carmel - NOooo! "Mall" is American! Ozzie is "shopping centre!" .."Oh Monya, I'm specifically talking about our "Hargreaves Mall" in our town, so it's related to the actual name...."
Carmel, thank you! I thought the rot had really set in!
Darling, have you ever known Councils to do such things right? In Toowoomba, 50kms north of us, known as "The Garden City" and venue of Australia's oldest floral fest, the Carnival of Flowers, they planted in the main street - horrible angular metal pillars!
You may have heard that Queensland councils were forcibly amalgamated by the State Govt. about 3 years ago. Toowoomba Regional Council consists of EIGHT former local councils. Yes, some of them, like ours, were small. But now everything goes through Toowoomba and the results - well, let's say we all hope the whole thing shakes down into something vaguely workable over the next hundred years...
At the moment in our street there is a concrete path on one side of the lower part of the street and nothing on the upper. They've decided to extend it up around the corner so the pensioners in units there can get down the street more easily. There's a drain - pardon me, "flood mitigation channel" - between the lower part of the street and the upper. The old council built a footbridge over it on the OPPOSITE side of the street from the path... Now the path extension is under way, they are going to make a street crossing on the top side so the pensioners can get to the bridge on the opposite side. Which does not continue onto a path. The bridge is only bolted in place and it would be easier to move it across the road - but don't be silly, that's the sensible way.
Talk about coming the raw prawn. It's enough to make you cry in your beer.
Murray wrote: "Mandy wrote: "- Raining cats and dogs- Like a bandicoot on a burnt bridge
- All alone like a country dunny "
lol! My French ex came home one day and told me she was busy like a lizard and was ..."
Murray - we knew an eccentric (to use a nice word) Englishman some years ago who had started his life in Australia shearing sheep. He used to boast, "I've sheared more sheep than Chesty Bond!"
Of course, he meant Jackie Howe. Got confused with his singlet brands...
Monya wrote: "Murray - we knew an eccentric (to use a nice word) Englishman some years ago who had started his life in Australia shearing sheep. He used to boast, "I've sheared more sheep than Chesty Bond!"Of course, he meant Jackie Howe. Got confused with his singlet brands... "
I love it. All this has me wondering though. How many people in Japan, Belgium and Bhutan are now telling stories about my language slips? Honing my Japanese by chatting with my host mother turned out to be a mistake because I wasn't able to tell 100% which words were in the feminine dialect. I was embarrassed a few times to find that I'd gone all girly in a business meeting.
Murray wrote: "Carmel wrote: "Castlemaine is "Caastlemaine" instead of "Carstlemaine"What's the difference here? I read both 'caa' and 'car' the same way - as the 'ar' in 'party'."
Seriously? Ah = ar?
Or if "aa" is meant to evoke the 'a' in slang, or fan, or laddies & lassies, then how can you possibly say "mall" with that 'a' (should be 'ah')?
And Nestle's is nesslees in the US. ;)
Cheryl I am a bit confused by your mall thingy. We pronounce mall with more of an o sound, where the o is pronounce similarly to the sound in 'or'. Maybe some one else can help me out here?
Many I know pronounce 'mall' as in 'drawl'
I think that is what I was trying to say thanks David. :)
Mod
Hmm..I think we say it like mawl or moal lol
I don't think we'll ever get it right. :)
I just thought of another word...Pictures meaning movies. Like 'Lets go to the pictures to watch the latest movie.'
Gail "cyborg" wrote: "Or was it the drive-in? :P"Never got to experience a drive-in :( I think that would be cool! :P
Just showing my age Laura. They were a lot of fun.
I remember my brother, myself & 2 mates hiding under the bed in the old Commer gabel, while my cousin & her husband drove through the gates into the drive-in at Oxley, we did that a number od times, ahhh! the memories.
Mod
Never got to experience a drive-in :( I think that would be cool! :P"
Oh Laura, you poor thing...drive-inns were the best!! :)
We still go to the drive in quite regularly! Really fun family night out.
Wow, I didn't realise any were still in existence. The closest we get to it is the local council run movie under the stars in the local park. (Which is awesome fun for the family.)
Gail "cyborg" wrote: "Wow, I didn't realise any were still in existence. The closest we get to it is the local council run movie under the stars in the local park. (Which is awesome fun for the family.)"We do that too.
I think that there are still 2 left in Melbourne. There's definitely one in Coburg, and I think there is another one on the other side of the city.
So much cheaper to do than going to the movies as well.
Well there you go. They do still exist. One of the ones I went to as a kid is still there, the Heddon Gretta Drive in. Ha.
Mod
Ah! yes! the old 'shagin wagon' LOL!! & on a hot summers night the matteress would come out & on the ground behind the van, we'd all lie on it & watch the movies, then head off to 'Harry's burger joint' at Stones Corner.
Marg wrote: "Gail "cyborg" wrote: "Wow, I didn't realise any were still in existence. The closest we get to it is the local council run movie under the stars in the local park. (Which is awesome fun for the fam..."Ahhh, that is true. I used to live in Melb and my next door neighbours would take their family (4 kids) off to the drive-ins since it was cheaper.
Never got to go..Maybe if I go back to Melb one time.
Carmel wrote: "Hasn't there been a number of movies where they've adjusted the lingo so the movies are understood better by the wider audience - can't think of any names now but I'm sure there has been. Come on y..."Don't drown, Carmel! No movies leap immediately to my mind in the context you mean, but I do remember that Americans who saw "The Castle" didn't get it at all. Hubby and I must be awful bumpkins, it just seemed normal to us!
And Ray Lawler's play "Summer Of The Seventeenth Doll" ran in New York for a few days. They couldn't get it, either. I still remember, cringing, that when it was made into a movie the cast selected were two American actors (Anne Baxter and Ernest Borgnine) and two British ones (John Mills and I know who the woman was, her name's on the tip of my tongue but I have a brain blank re her name)! I saw an excellent T.V. version on an Oz channel some years ago that made perfect sense.
Also, slightly off topic, one reason the three Star Wars prequels were so awful was the script/dialogue. I mentioned this to I.T. expert son who explained, "That's so they'll be easy to dub into other languages!"
I was eighteen and engaged when the first drive-in opened in our home town. First movie we saw there was "The King And I". When our first two boys were small we took them to see "Hatari" - but you got two movies for your money then and they were asleep when the main feature came on. And there was a Bugs Bunny cartoon before the first one started. The kids loved that, but when the movie started they begged us to "change the channel"! They were only used to T.V.!
The one we went to when the kids were growing up, in another town, no longer exists. Was deserted for a long time then land was sold off and retirement village built there.
Aussie Readers
Books mentioned in this topic
In a Sunburned Country (other topics)Speaking Our Language: The Story of Australian English (other topics)
Enforcer: The Real Story of One of Australia's Most Feared Outlaw Bikers (other topics)
Aussie Slang Pictorial (other topics)
They Have a Word for It: A Lighthearted Lexicon of Untranslatable Words & Phrases (other topics)
More...
I never fully understood why people did it in RL..I thought it looked stupid in the movies/tv shows and then people reall did that in the pub.
Well, I am glad to know about the rubber thing and it isn't just a family thing. It seems a shame for that one to change. But mm :/