Monday, August 24, 2009

A Strine in time saves Nine

Here's what happens when you do a little Internet research on Strine...

"SPEAKING AUSTRALIAN SLANG OR "STRINE"

G'day,mate..how are you, to-die? (pronounced "Good-die, mate..how are you, to die?) which means "Good-day, my friend...how are you doing today ?" (in BBC English) is how you'll often be greeted in Australia.... and it's not someone rudely asking how you are going to pass away.

Aaaahh....the refinements of Australian English or "Strine" as it is known. Australians also tend to speak with a rising intonation which makes their sentences sound like questions. So, please don't think you are always being questioned !

The term "Strine" derives from saying the word "Australian" through both closed teeth and the nose - a local accent that some "scholars" claim arose from the need to keep the mouth ("trap") shut against blow flies ("blowies"). "



Then I looked for Australian pictures and found this one that said "You know you're Australian when.." and nothing more...so can ANYONE explain this one to me? Joolz, what does this mean?

This book would come in handy if I am ever so blessed as to get to visit Australia....

This is a Kookaburra bird from Australia, very pretty, isn't it?...

And here is a kangaroo laughing at my attempts to conquer Strine...



Little koalas are just too cute...when my son was younger, he LOVED all things Australian and only wanted to see the Aussie animals or fauna when we went to the zoo!





Now there are some very talented kangaroos in Australia as this fellow shows by his sign...



Some more valuable info from the Internet on Strine...



"Don't get into a blue. Know a bit of Strine and you'll be fine.

In a pub you could get asked to shout. Don't holler your head off. You're just being reminded it's your turn to pay for the next round of drinks.

If you're visiting Australia and are non-Australian but you do speak English, you should have no real problem understanding the local lingo. (We try to make sure we use only words that we think are common to your kind and our kind of English.)

When there's tucker and grog
In a social setting, especially when there's tucker and grog, or just grog (or plonk), we do tend to slip into our dialect, which means: Hey, you're one of us, so none of this Queen's English bizo.

So whether it's this morning or this arvo, a few good words to know in the pub are middy and schooner, with a fair sprinkling of mate here and there. Don't be a mug or a lair, be fair and do your shout -- reckon that's the go.

Listen to your mate's corker of a story, and don't go crook if you can't come up with your own ripper yarn. And don't tell the bloke to rack off, sport, or you could get into a barney and in all sorts of strife.


Or you need to go to the loo
If you need to go to the rest room, comfort room, or whatever else you call that room , that place is the loo, or call it toilet. A dunny is a different thing altogether.

Whatever you talk about, don't act the wowser as everyone tends to be given a fair go, fair dinkum, mate. And don't go acting the yobbo either.

Also, it doesn't hurt to say ta or thanks for anything done for you; you'll hear a lot of taing around, thanks is so much a part of the Aussie language.


And so, Half your luck, mate."

AUSSIE SLANG
MEANING IN PLAIN ENGLISH
HOW THE AUSSIES USE IT...

"avago"
Have a go
"Avago, ya mug" (Have a go, you mug)

"barbie"
Barbecue
"Throw a yabbie on the barbie"

"ankle biter"
young child
"She has an ankle biter to feed"

"banana bender"
Queenslander...because they grow lots of bananas in Queensland
"He's a banana bender"

"battler"
One who struggles for a living
"What a tough battler!"

"beaut"
beautiful
"That's a beaut...!"

"billy"
Tin container used for boiling water to make tea
"Can you pass the billy?"

"billabong"
Waterhole in semi-dry river
"And his ghost may be seen roaming at the billabong" (from "Waltzing Matilda)

"bickie"
biscuit
"Let's have a bickie..!"

"bloke"
Man, used like "guy" in the US
"That bloke...!"

"blowie"
Pesky Australian blow fly
"There's a loadful of blowies out today"

"bludger"
scrounger
"You dole bludger" is one who lives off social security payouts

"BYO"
Bring Your Own drink to a restaurant
"It's a BYO only"

"Bonzer"
Terrific
"That's a bonzer ...!"

"Bottle Shop"
Liquor shop
"Let's drop by the Bottle Shop"

"Bull dust"
Bullpoop
"What a load of bull dust...!"

"Bunyip"
The Australian equivalent to the mythical "Yeti/Bigfoot". Lives in a billabong.
"Bunyip, Bunyip, Bunyip...!" (if you ever see one)

"bush"
The countryside
"Let's go to the bush..."

"bushranger"
Outlaw, highwayman
"Ned Kelley - the bushranger"

"cask"
Boxed bag of cheap wine
"Let's get a cask at the bottle shop"

"chook"
Chicken
"There's a chook in the fridge"

"chunder"
To vomit
"I feel as I'm going to chunder"

"crooked"
Sick
"I'm feeling real crooked..."

"Crissie"
Christmas
"Where will you be, this Crissie?"

"dag/daggy"
Mild term for fool or unfashionable person
"What a dag..."

"daks"
trousers
"Where's my pair of daks?"

"Digger"
Australian soldier, or any old male character
"He was a digger... in WW2"

"dinkie die"
The truth
"That's dinkie die, I swear..."

"dingo"
Australian native wild dog
"He's as wild as a dingo..."

"dinkum"
Genuine or honest
"That's real fair dinkum..."

"dunny"
Toilet
"Excuse me, where's the dunny?"

"esky"
Cooler
"Let's bring an Esky to the picnic"

"footy"
Australian football
"Let's go to the footy this weekend..."

"garbo"
Garbage collector
"The garbo will take it away..."

"good on ya"
Well done or "Good for you" in the US
"Great job...good on ya"

"greenie"
A conservationist
"He's a greenie..."

"grog"
Alcoholic drink
"He's had too much grog..."

"Kiwi"
A New Zealander"
"He's a Kiwi..."

"knackered"
Tired
"I'm really knackered today...!"

"mate"
Friend (does not mean spouse"
"G'day, mate"

"milk bar"
Small general store
"Go get some bickies at the milk bar"

"mozzie"
Mosquito
"Bloody mozzies...!"

"ocker"
Australian male of crude manners
"He's a real ocker of a bloke"

"oodles"
Plenty
"Oodles of noodles..."

"Pom/Pommie"
English person
"He's a Pommie"

"Pissed"
Drunk (not angry, as in American)
"I think he's totally pissed, now"

"poof/poofter"
Male homosexual (derogatory)
"What a poofter..."

"ratbag"
Trouble maker
"He's a real ratbag..."

"Sheila"
Female (derogatory)
"Where's your Sheila?"

"sickie"
Sick day off work
"I'm taking a sickie..."

"she'll be right"
It will all be o.k
"She'll be right, mate...!"

"stingers"
Jellyfish
"Beware of stingers...!"

"stubby"
Small bottle of beer
"Let's have a stubby first, shall we?"

"stunned Mullet"
Someone who looks shocked
"He's looking like a stunned Mullet"

"tall poppies"
High achievers
"The tall poppies should pay more taxes..."

"Tassie"
Tasmania
"Let's go holiday in Tassie..."

"trap"
Mouth
"Shut your trap...!"

"tucker"
Food
"Let's dig into the tucker..."

"uni"
University
"He studied at a uni..."

"ute"
"Utility" truck - a pickup truck
"I drive an ute..."

"Vegemite"
Brown yeast sandwich spread which Australians grow up on, but is regarded by most foreigners as "semi-toxic".
"I'll have a Vegemite sandwich, thanks..."

"whinge"
Complain
"What a whingeing Pom..."

"wog"
Someone who comes from the Mediterranean countries (derogatory)
"He's a wog"

"wowser"
Killjoy, prude
"Don't be such a wowser...!"

"yack"
To talk
"Can you stop yack-ing?"

"yonks"
A long time
"It's been yonks that I've seen him"

"yabbie"
An Australian shrimp-like sized lobster with claws
"Let's throw a yabbie on the barbie..."
Some humor from an Australian site...


Canadians: Endure bitterly cold winters and are proud of it.
Brits: Endure oppressively wet and dreary winters and are proud of it.
Americans: Don't have to do either, and couldn't care less.
Aussies: Don't understand what inclement weather means.
*************
Americans: Spend most of their lives glued to the idiot box.
Canadians: Don't, but only because they can't get more American channels.
Brits: Pay a tax just so they can watch 4 channels.
Aussies: Export all their crappy programs, which no one there watches, to Britain, where everybody loves them.
*****************
Joke about Australian yobbo
A man and his wife were sitting in the living room and he said to her, "Just so you know, I never want to live in a vegetative state, dependent on some machine and fluids from a bottle. If that ever happens, just pull the plug."
His wife got up, unplugged the TV and threw out all of his beer.

~~~Thank You Lord for the blessings of new ways of communicating, may we remember that kindness is always a universal way of communicating.

14 comments:

  1. I recognize quite a few of these because some terms are used in Swedish too, and also one of Ray's uncle's had moved from Sweden to Austrailia. Thanks for posting these as I visit with quite a few bloggers from Australia!
    Love, E

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  2. Did Blogger spell check not notice that I spelled Australia wrong once or did I not notice that it was underlined?
    Okay, I'm getting out of here because my computer keeps freezing up on me on your blog here, Marcy!

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  3. So that is where you've been for so long - Australia doing all this research!
    Some of those words are used in England as well, such as knackered, oodles and yonks, to name but three.

    I bet the Aussies are a bit "pissed off" that Englad won the ashes at cricket. Oh! you guys don't know what cricket is! Well we invented it and as usual everyone seems to be better at it than us, until now!!!

    I found your post highly informative and my vocabulary is much the better for it. Thanks for your comment at my place - I shall start writing with 'gusto'

    You did not used the word 'strooth' (not sure of exact spelling, may be struth) that the Aussies use when the are amazed at something, like us winning the ashes. What are the ashes? you might ask. It's a long long story - either England or Australia lost a series and someone got upset and set fire to the cricket stumps in anger but these were rescued and placed in an urn and we play very competitively to keep the ashes in either country that wins. Boys will be boys - these things are very important to us.
    Bye for now
    Eddie

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  4. Enjoyed this post immensely Marcy..I blog with a few from England and Australia and come across a few unfamiliar words...one friend is tanking her recently bought cottage...too complicated to explain...but an example.

    Enjoy your day Marcy...I need to go work on a post!

    Smiles Always,
    Wanda

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  5. Tamara has a post up and the whole time I was reading it, it reminded me of you! Seriously, all the 'happy, joyful' people she talked about, I could have been writing those exact words about you!
    AND about a lot of my other happy, joyful blogger village friends! Don't want to leave anyone out, but I'm POSITIVE anyone reading here will agree that Marcy truly is a spoonful of sugar!

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  6. I loved this post Marcy, very informative and I agree with Eileen, you are a spoonful of sugar....luv ya......:-) Hugs

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  7. Great post, Marcy. I learned a lot of new words and recognized some I had already heard ("Crocodile Dundee")!!
    You do bring info and smiles to me...and I enjoy your blog so much.
    Love to you,
    Jackie

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  8. Very interesting post Marcy. I enjoyed learning all of the Aussi slang. I will forever think of my tea kettle as a billy :>) I hope you are having a beautiful day. Many blessings to you.

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  9. Well ERMA ya did it again. Topped it off with a great post and I am sure our Aussie villagers will appreciate you setting us straight! Lots of fun reading and I am SURE I will not remember any of the slang, which could be a lot of fun trying to speak here in the US. LOL

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  10. Brain not working now. What is going on?

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  11. Ok..seriously..I just spit out MY coffee...Diana you crack me up!! May I suggest some of that nicotine gum?
    Sorry, Marcy...I really liked this post..
    Mozzies, chook and chunder were my faves!! I told Diana that someone should post on these crazy word verifications...who thinks them up? Then again..I tend to be a night owl and it could just be me being slaphappy as I said on Diana's post the other night...I get that way a lot..especially after no sleep, like last night..so essentially right now I'm about as slaphappy as I've ever been :) But I am going to bed as soon as I'm finished with this comment...
    I had better stop yacking my trap, because I'm pretty knackered..If I don't head to bed soon I may become crooked and start seeing Bunyips!!
    Good on ya and a Bonzer post Marcy!! How was that? Love You!! Jerelene

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  12. Well Marcy, you have set me a challenge. I did get a laugh out of all the 'colloquialisms' that you used. You had them all right, except crooked should just be crook - I am feeling crook!

    Pop over to see my "You know you're Australian when..." reply.

    Cheers mate,

    Joolz

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  13. I bet that took ages to find.
    I am an Aussie and just so you know we don't all talk like that ALL the time.
    Ineteresting though our children think Koalas and Kangas(Kangaroo)are very boring and would rather have squirrels and chipmunks etc
    There are a couple I wouldn't use in polite society too.

    Many Blessings

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  14. love the joke!! wow, i learned alot!! thank you.

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