AUSSIE LANGUAGE.

Sheba · Guru

AUSSIE LANGUAGE.

BarbandDaz · Senior Member

here here Sheba. Hear where you are coming from......

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

Our "own language" may not be as much 'ours' as you think.........
It has been said the "American" English is more like the English of 300 years ago than "Australian" English.
The yanks now have BBQs.
They used to have "cook outs".

Cheers,
Peter

tonyd · Guru

Couldn't agree more Sheba. My personal pet hate is "bathroom" for toilet, or dunny. It's becoming very common. Even saw it on a shopping centre toilet recently. Cheers, Tony

whoppa · Veteran Member

No worries cobba whats the world coming to next they will be changing the names of the
Fireries, Ambos, and servo,s we will end up with gas instead of petrol.
turn our Gerni,s in to presure blasters and wipper snipers in to line trimmers.
not to mention Booka rod and shiftas.
They might even make supermarket trollies we can push around that don,t go sideways down the (sidewalk).
and hey you can forget Holdens they will be all Pontiacs
I think I will climb back under my Doona and go back to sleep
Fair suck of the sav mate!!!!

goinsoon · Guru

Sheba wrote:

I am so p--------------ed off!!! Too many Yank words creeping in to every-day language.

The last one to get me this angry, was CUP-CAKES, instead of PATTY-CAKES.

A minute ago, DOMINOES' PIZZAS advertised Pizzas with AUSSIE GROUND BEEF!!!

What is wrong with MINCED BEEF, or just plain old MINCE !!!

If I want to be that much of an American, I'll go there. Why can't we keep our own LANGUAGE ?

Sheba.

Forgot FROSTING instead of ICING before.

-- Edited by Sheba on Wednesday 28th of July 2010 07:39:01 PM
Well yure sure damn rite there buddy

Gerty Dancer · Guru

Remember when we used to hear "struth!" and "Blimey!" instead of foul language? Even though a lot of what we think of as Australianisms were in fact slang expressions from the UK, I prefer them to the "f-bombs" I hear from our younger generation.

I still say "G'day," call men "blokes" instead of "guys" , "exservicemen" instead of "veterans", but cant bring myself to call women "Sheilas"! And "bonza" is too corny altogether.

At least if we go to the US we are able to understand them, where as the Americans I met kept politely asking me to repeat myself!

thommo · Senior Member

I agree with all of the above, however my pet hate:

Chips not Fries

Sheba · Guru

Forgot about "PUT ANOTHER SHRIMP ON THE BARBIE!" Where the hell did that one come from?
I still can't believe Hoges never questioned that before making that stupid commercial, but then I suppose he was paid enough to ignore it.

Cheers,
Sheba.

-- Edited by Sheba on Thursday 29th of July 2010 12:49:36 AM

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

Sheba wrote:

Forgot about "PUT ANOTHER SHRIMP ON THE BARBIE!" Where the hell did that one come from?
I still can't believe Hoges never questioned that before making that stupid commercial, but then I suppose he was paid enough to ignore it.

No point spending a lot of money on an advertisement if the target population does not understand what you are saying.

Cheers,
Peter

elliemike · Guru

Peter_n_Margaret wrote:

Our "own language" may not be as much 'ours' as you think.........
It has been said the "American" English is more like the English of 300 years ago than "Australian" English.
The yanks now have BBQs.
They used to have "cook outs".

Cheers,
Peter

I once saw some BBC university broadcasts   on Shakespeare's plays. Done in the accents of the time.   I was surprised at how much better the dialogue flowed and sounded. Also it was stated that New England, USA,    accents were the closest to this.
So a play performed in Connetticut would probavly sound closer the original way it was performed,    as to say one performed in Stratford Upon Avon today.

Is'nt Barbecue   a Carib Indian word?

Interesting language English.   Bathroom for Toilet (french I suppose) whats wrong with the good old Anglo Saxon Sh**T or P**S Ho**e.

Regards
Mike and Ellie

Pam · Guru

I agree with all the above and want to add that there are big differences state to state too.

While on hols recently Hubby asked for the tank loaf and the reply was do you mean the pipe loaf.

Do you put bub in a stroller or pusher??

Does beer come in cartons or slabs?

When ordering takeaway fish and chips what is a scallop?/ potato or seafood?

william the third · Veteran Member

G'day all, beer comes in cartons and slabs. A carton is 24 stubbies or cans and a slab is 30.

Rolly · Guru

Mike & Ellie, you have raised a topic that raises my ire: simple words, with simple meanings which were once considered vulgar ( a word derived from the latin "of the common people") or really just a little "down market", as the jargon might have it, now being considered offensive and obscene.

The religious moralists have a lot to answer for in their prohibitionist attitudes to everything which may not agree, to the letter, with how they believe it ought to be.
It's pure exclusionism, intended to keep the rabble under control by confusing them with unnatural restrictions and morés.

This forum platform is a classic example.
Hey! Folks! Be reasonable. Do it our way. Or not at all. We are, after all, God's representatives, and He is right to choose us.

What a crock of equine excrement.
[trans: load of horse****]

ozi2 · Guru

Geez Whoppa, ya sounding just like K Rudd!! biggrin

jimricho · Guru

Why just pick on American-English words..... what about French ("au fait", "fait accompli" etc), Indian ("pyjamas", "dinghy" etc), Yiddish ("schmaltz", "kitsch" etc). and many other languages too.

If we really rid our language of all it's nuances taken from other idioms and languages (English and foreign) we can convert our language from one of the most colourful and interesting to one of the most boring!

Most of our colloquialisms originated elsewhere, even "dinkum" originated in Midlands England!

PS: by the way Sheba, the terms "p1ssed off" and "p1ssed" (meaning p1ssed off) are very commonly used in America and hence could be regarded as "Americanisms"

-- Edited by jimricho on Friday 30th of July 2010 07:03:41 AM

petengail · Guru

language is always changing - when i was a boy "fair dinkum" was a common everyday phrase.... now its only used by politicians... both abbot and gillard used it in the debate. rudd trotted it out and howard could hardly say a sentence without using it. but who else uses it?

Dougie · Veteran Member

"Where the bloody hell are ya" guys. This is AUSTRALIA!!

Zoomtopz · Guru

I talk Aussie ALL the time , but I have a good audience - my lovin strife is a
Yank , when we go Stataside , they Just lurv my accent , so being a good
Aussie I lay it on . I have been to resorts & hotels where they have offered
me free nights to stay so they can listen to my accent . I am Certainly doing
my bit to keep "Th bronze Wal" alive - well after being around Sailors &
Truckies for 45yrs , I would Not be able to talk anything else .
My 2/- worth

jimricho · Guru

petengail wrote:

language is always changing - when i was a boy "fair dinkum" was a common everyday phrase.... now its only used by politicians... both abbot and gillard used it in the debate. rudd trotted it out and howard could hardly say a sentence without using it. but who else uses it?

The more they say they are, the less they're likely to be!

countryroad · Senior Member

I'm pleased / sorry to say our language is constantly evolving, all the IT language that wasn't in existence a few years ago, remember when I T spelled it. Every new Australian from somewhere else adds to our food choices...I remember when at school on a Monday I could buy my lunch...meat pie and a cream bun...now there are almost too many choices.

Anyway we're paying back the poms their kids are developing Aussie accents from watching Neighbours and Home & Away.

And.....I didn't realize cup cakes were American..although our patty cakes were never the size of the cup cakes we see, I can remember making butterfly cakes don't see them now...much nicer than that huge amt of boring cake that people seem to toss....just eat the top half.

And.....didn't we teach the Americans to throw their shrimps on OUR Barbie, don't you love it, we have influence too.

-- Edited by countryroad on Monday 2nd of August 2010 11:03:29 PM

Travel Bug · Guru

I know that languages always evolve...and that even dictionaries end up adding the "common usage" words.
I also know that I can't change the world...BUT...
I flat out REFUSE to ever call chips "fries."

Pam...I agree with you about the State to State differences too.
I was in Melbourne on a very hot January day and we called in to a little take away shop to buy lunch. As an after thought, I asked for 2 lemonade ice blocks, only to be met with a blank stare. We finally worked out that what I wanted was 2 "icy poles."

Cheers all and stay safe.

Happywanderer · The Master

Well! Being a kiwi / aussie, better I not make a comment, haha

But I will ask what the word for suitcase up in Qld, Its a funny word that I can't remember at the moment.

JRH · Guru

Happywanderer wrote:

Well! Being a kiwi / aussie, better I not make a comment, haha

But I will ask what the word for suitcase up in Qld, Its a funny word that I can't remember at the moment.

I think the word is Port for Portmanteau but I could be wrong as I am a Sandgroper.

Sheba · Guru

You got it in one JRH.

Cheers,
Sheba.