Losing our identity

woody · Veteran Member

Losing our identity

justcruisin01 · Guru

woody wrote:
NBN news tonight, about obesity, says we eat too much "take out food"
Please we drive 2wd or 4 wd NOT Suv's ( what is a SUV anyway)' When did lifesavers become Lifeguards, there are many many other americanisms taking place of our own lingo,........... what can we do about it ???

Australia, what has happened to you ??

We used to kick a$$ ,

Now we lick it. disbelief

dazren · Guru

Love that saying, JC-01. If you don't have 'copywrite'on it , i might use it Ok

JRH · Guru

justcruisin01 wrote:
woody wrote:
NBN news tonight, about obesity, says we eat too much "take out food"
Please we drive 2wd or 4 wd NOT Suv's ( what is a SUV anyway)' When did lifesavers become Lifeguards, there are many many other americanisms taking place of our own lingo,........... what can we do about it ???
Australia, what has happened to you ??
We used to kick a$$ ,
Now we lick it.

Yep but it is yanky a** we are licking, it has got to stop before we completely lose our identity.

rockylizard · Guru

woody wrote:
----SNIP---- we drive 2wd or 4 wd NOT Suv's ( what is a SUV anyway)' ----SNIP---

Gday...

ya got my vote too ..... not only is it the phrases that have 'crept' (been shoved!) into our language it is also what our young-uns are wearing (for some time now for that matter).

But to be fair .... a 2wd is a vehicle like a Commodore/Falcon/Camry etc

a 4wd is a HiLux/Navara/Rodeo/Landcruiser (like 60/80/100 and the 'farmer's ute') but not 200 or Prado.

A SUV is a "sports utility vehicle" and is what so many new AWD (all wheel drive) vehicles are - eg 200 Toyota/Prado/Territory/Kia/etc etc

There is an excellent song by Graeme Connors that says it all on how we feel about "losing our identify"

Cheers

John

justcruisin01 · Guru

woody wrote:
there are many many other americanisms taking place of our own lingo,........... what can we do about it ???

Stop licking it.

Landfall · Guru

Absolutely love the cartoon jc1.

SUV - All the time I thought it was when you were too embarrassed to tell your friends you drove a Hyundai, so when they asked if you DID drive a Hyundai, you could you had a SUV. (some other vehicle)

The American media have a lot to answer for, but so do our own media for buying the rubbish.

No more "mates" we now have "buddies."

Fathers no longer have "sons" they have "buddies"

Can't find a place to buy tyres for my car anymore, I have to buy "tires."

And of coarse, if you don't swear like a trooper/miner/wharfie you are just not with it.

Thanks for starting this thread, I've got that off my chest now.

Cheers

Dusty biggrin

jimricho · Guru

Almost half of the English language has French origins, maybe we should complain about that too!

Also throw in a few expressions that have crept in from Italy such as "glitterati" and "papparazzi" too.

Perhaps words like "dinghy" and "pyjamas" that we stole from India should be added as well!

Oh, and how about some Yiddish language words like "kitsch", "schmatlz", etc

While we're at it don't forget that 5th wheel (from USA) I think is a type of large horse drawn dray and a caravan is a camel train.

rockylizard · Guru

Gday...

Struth mate - ya really makin' me feel flamin' un-aussie now. I reckoned wot we spoke 'ere in 'stralia woz all ours - now ewes are sayin' it is riddled wif foreign stuff - geez, stone the flamin' crows - wot's a bloke gonna do now. Fair dinkum blue - fair suck of the sauce bottle hey.

John

NeilandRaine · Guru

And the Poms have been calling people mate for many years.

rockylizard · Guru

rockylizard wrote:
Gday...
Struth mate cobber - ya really makin' me feel flamin' un-aussie now. I reckoned wot we spoke 'ere in 'stralia woz all ours - now ewes are sayin' it is riddled wif foreign stuff - geez, stone the flamin' crows - wot's a bloke gonna do now. Fair dinkum blue - fair suck of the sauce bottle hey.
John

Gday...

small edit .... although I think 'cobber' is ****ney anyway biggrin biggrin

John

dorian · Guru

Here are two more:

noodle - from German Nudel
kindergarten - from German, literally: children's garden

BTW, here's how I explain it to our American friends:

- an arse is the rear end of an ass, or the sum of two half-asses

-- Edited by dorian on Tuesday 13th of December 2011 10:35:52 PM

jimricho · Guru

rockylizard wrote:

But to be fair .... a 2wd is a vehicle like a Commodore/Falcon/Camry etc
a 4wd is a HiLux/Navara/Rodeo/Landcruiser (like 60/80/100 and the 'farmer's ute') but not 200 or Prado.
A SUV is a "sports utility vehicle" and is what so many new AWD (all wheel drive) vehicles are - eg 200 Toyota/Prado/Territory/Kia/etc etc

John

Landcruiser 200 and Prado owners will be shocked to hear that their vehicle is not a 4WD despite having a genuine low range gearbox and the ability to lock the centre diff to give it genuine 4WD capability.

Where does my Pajero fit? It has the option to engage and disengage the front drive with or without the centre diff locked.

I have no problem with the term Sports Utility Vehicle or its acronym SUV as my interpretation is that it's a generic term that covers a range of vehicle types. It matters little to me where the term came from.

Father Ted · Senior Member

rockylizard wrote:
rockylizard wrote:
Gday...
Struth mate cobber - ya really makin' me feel flamin' un-aussie now. I reckoned wot we spoke 'ere in 'stralia woz all ours - now ewes are sayin' it is riddled wif foreign stuff - geez, stone the flamin' crows - wot's a bloke gonna do now. Fair dinkum blue - fair suck of the sauce bottle hey.
John
Gday...
small edit .... although I think 'cobber' is ****ney anyway
John
Just,"LOVIN IT".....MIck Donalds garbage advertising.Lol.

jimricho · Guru

The time to start getting worried is when we start calling McDonalds "Micky D's" instead of "Maccas"!

jimricho · Guru

rockylizard wrote:
Gday...
small edit .... although I think 'cobber' is ****ney anyway
John

I think you meant 'c0ckney' wink (HA! HA! beat you, Mr Censor! put that in your **** and smoke it!) biggrin

-- Edited by jimricho on Wednesday 14th of December 2011 06:43:36 AM

Zoomtopz · Guru

Never done MUCK'd's - Never will .

My Mrs Is a Yank & Herself just loves me talking Aussie .

So do all her rellies when we go Stateside .

I spose we all havta change - I live in a village with about

40 people , you talk to some of th cow-co-kies - oh but th old

fellas did it this way , awh but th old fellas did it that way .

The old blokes have been dead 60-80yrs , but these blokes are

doing some things with new tractors & such but th mind-set is

over 100y/old . But like I said - I never was much @ singing

and I ain't a musical bloke - I have to translate me fav song -

Izzynozzyizzyaizzitbcozheiznozzithathekeepsudizzylizzyhazzy

jazzywazenduzzymakeudizzylizzyizzynozzyizzhe A

So you c I was well born not from melbourne - Minozzimia .

Richo.

PS - I do have a day time job

I'm retired.

R

-- Edited by Zoomtopz on Wednesday 14th of December 2011 02:32:13 PM

jimricho · Guru

Zoomtopz wrote:
Never done MUCK'd's - Never will .

Should try it once mate! you'll experience the ultimate gastronomic insult! disbelief

RALPHRALPH · Senior Member

wink biggrin geday mates its been brought to my attention that wer just as load mouth as the rest of the world,and all the other countries are trying to chatch up to the yanks,but its the new gens that are embracing it ,us mature winging fun loving,jokers can sit back an watch the entertaiment,yours truly ,fair dinken mate. confuse

jimricho · Guru

RALPHRALPH wrote:
geday mates its been brought to my attention that wer just as load mouth as the rest of the world,and all the other countries are trying to chatch up to the yanks,but its the new gens that are embracing it ,us mature winging fun loving,jokers can sit back an watch the entertaiment,yours truly ,fair dinken mate.

Several years ago I was travelling from London to Paris on the Eurostar (train) and a middle aged woman from Wagga, seated at the other end of the carriage was boring her fellow passengers witless with her cringe-worthy (one way) conversation. Her "carry-on" was as bad as any American tourist I've come across!

Gerty Dancer · Guru

One thing I would like to disengage from America, and that is the habit of sending our young men and women into harms way just because the US says so.

Vic · Guru

They were funny looking buildings, that were once a way of life,
If you couldn't sprint the distance, then you really were in strife.
They were nailed, they were wired, but were mostly falling down,
There was one in every yard, in every house, in every town.
They were given many names, some were even funny,
But to most of us, we knew them as the outhouse or the dunny.
I've seen some of them all gussied up, with painted doors and all,
But it really made no difference, they were just a port of call.
Now my old man would take a bet, he'd lay an even pound,
That you wouldn't make the dunny with them turkeys hangin' round.
They had so many uses, these buildings out the back,"
You could even hide from mother, so you wouldn't get the strap.
That's why we had good cricketers, never mind the bumps,
We used the pathway for the wicket and the dunny door for stumps.
Now my old man would sit for hours, the smell would rot your socks,
He read the daily back to front in that good old thunderbox.
And if by chance that nature called sometime through the night,
You always sent the dog in first, for there was no flamin' light.
And the dunny seemed to be the place where crawlies liked to hide,
But never ever showed themselves until you sat inside.
There was no such thing as Sorbent, no tissues there at all,
Just squares of well read newspaper, a hangin' on the wall.
If you had some friendly neighbours, as neighbours sometimes are,
You could sit and chat to them, if you left the door ajar.
When suddenly you got the urge, and down the track you fled,
Then of course the magpies were there to peck you on your head.
Then the time there was a wet, the rain it never stopped,
If you had an urgent call, you ran between the drops.
The dunny man came once a week, to these buildings out the back,
And he would leave an extra can, if you left for him a zac.
For those of you who've no idea what I mean by a zac,
Then you're too young to have ever had, a dunny out the back.

(Zac was slang for a sixpence coin before decimal currency came into
Australia in 1966)

Boroma577 · Guru

jimricho wrote:
Zoomtopz wrote:
Never done MUCK'd's - Never will .

Should try it once mate! you'll experience the ultimate gastronomic insult!

No, thanks.....I prefer HJs if I am going to eat out....LOL

Father Ted · Senior Member

jimricho wrote:
Zoomtopz wrote:
Never done MUCK'd's - Never will .

Should try it once mate! you'll experience the ultimate gastronomic insult!
And "Lovin it"..Lol.

Dougwe · Chief one feather

Landfall wrote:
Absolutely love the cartoon jc1.
SUV - All the time I thought it was when you were too embarrassed to tell your friends you drove a Hyundai, so when they asked if you DID drive a Hyundai, you could you had a SUV. (some other vehicle)
The American media have a lot to answer for, but so do our own media for buying the rubbish.
No more "mates" we now have "buddies."
Fathers no longer have "sons" they have "buddies"
Can't find a place to buy tyres for my car anymore, I have to buy "tires."
And of coarse, if you don't swear like a trooper/miner/wharfie you are just not with it.
Thanks for starting this thread, I've got that off my chest now.
Cheers
Dusty

I agree buddie biggrin biggrin biggrin

Gary · Veteran Member

Good on ya Woody: This is one of my favourite (Note the spelling of the previous word) gripes. You could say I'm fanatical about it. The younger generations are learning all about life from mindless so called "situation comedies from America. Our language is being taken over completely instead of just undergoing gradual developmental change as it should. Computers also should share ther blame due to American spelling being used. A lot of young people can hardly spell their own names as it is, and then you find out that their names are Kim-berr-lee or Chuck or some other Americanised name. Why not just Kim or Charlie? I have nothing against Americans. But I despair at the way so many Australians have to copy them instead of trying to maintain our own identity. We don't have to get around like complete Ockers but why not stick to traditional terms instead of going out of our way to copy others. My wife and I have a standing joke that others normally miss whenever it arises. I do a bit of singing and whenever the word "guy" comes up in a song I substitute the word "bloke" even if it doesn't rhyme. She gives me a smile from her seat and the rest of the audience either misses it completely or I suppose they think I just stuffed up. We both cringe every time we hear obvious Americanisms used by Aussies and sometimes even yell at the television. I thought we were a dieing breed, but at least it's nice to know that we are not alone in our thinking. Gary

JRH · Guru

Gary wrote:
Good on ya Woody: This is one of my favourite (Note the spelling of the previous word) gripes. You could say I'm fanatical about it. The younger generations are learning all about life from mindless so called "situation comedies from America. Our language is being taken over completely instead of just undergoing gradual developmental change as it should. Computers also should share ther blame due to American spelling being used. A lot of young people can hardly spell their own names as it is, and then you find out that their names are Kim-berr-lee or Chuck or some other Americanised name. Why not just Kim or Charlie? I have nothing against Americans. But I despair at the way so many Australians have to copy them instead of trying to maintain our own identity. We don't have to get around like complete Ockers but why not stick to traditional terms instead of going out of our way to copy others. My wife and I have a standing joke that others normally miss whenever it arises. I do a bit of singing and whenever the word "guy" comes up in a song I substitute the word "bloke" even if it doesn't rhyme. She gives me a smile from her seat and the rest of the audience either misses it completely or I suppose they think I just stuffed up. We both cringe every time we hear obvious Americanisms used by Aussies and sometimes even yell at the television. I thought we were a dieing breed, but at least it's nice to know that we are not alone in our thinking. Gary

The one thing that really annoys me is when both men and women are referred to as guys as in "How are you guys today"

Gary · Veteran Member

That drives us bonkers too JRH, and adds an element of aggravation to the original offence. Couldn't agree more.

Gary · Veteran Member

I have also noticed that if you listen to, particularly some of the teenagers speaking these days, you can hear American accents creeping in.........Things like the word "Car" being said as "Cahrrrr" for instance along with other things......... Terms like "Good Jarrrb" instead of "well done" or plain old "congratulations".

Boroma577 · Guru

Dougwe wrote:

I agree buddie

Stirrer....LOL