G'day!

When I landed in Melbourne, I was not sure how many would actually follow my accent and also wondered if I would be able to follow their accent. But really, it was not that difficult. People say Aussies speak fast. But if you ask me, I find we speak faster than them. Many a times I have been asked to slow down while saying something and now I feel I have slowed down quite a lot. When I visit India, I find it extremely hard to follow the youngsters these days. They speak like a bullet train or TGV to me. When talking to a proper Aussie from the country regions (a bushie), I find that people in those areas are very laid back even in their speech. I have been tempted many times to complete their sentences while in conversation with them or you know just pull out the words from their mouths! They probably never suffer from any major illnesses like blood pressure or heart conditions as they are always relaxed – no rush, no stress, no worries mate (mAIte)!

Many things caught the attention of my curious mind after coming here. One such is the Vegemite – the delicious, nutritiously rich in Vitamin B and the gooey stuff you spread on sandwich. This is quite an Aussie icon you know and children love it. The popular Vegemite jingle is very catchy. Have you heard it? Here is the link if you wish to listen to it. ()

And so popular the jingle became that it is now used even in conversations like “Oh! Look at her, a happy little vegemite!” Well, I did taste the gooey stuff and okay the first impression was “yuck”. How could the whole nation sing about this thing??? But then take two… mmmmmmmm… it was not that bad really. Now if you ask me - not bad at all! But the trick is you should never spread it so generously like jam and butter, as they show on the ads.

Australian slangs/phrases are very interesting, to say the least. They tend to shorten certain words and it is funny sometimes. I know probably a handful of them maybe but as I was surfing through the net earlier today, I could not help smiling when reading some of those that are commonly used. So I wish to share some with you, for those who have not heard much about it.

·Away with the pixies – dreaming
·Arvo – afternoon
·Brekkie - breakfast
·Bloody oath – that’s the truth (Example: Bloody oath it works.)
·Bob’s yer uncle -- if you follow this, it will work (Example: Add some extra sugar in it and Bob’s yer uncle)
·Bludger – an idle person
·Bathers – swimming costume
·Barbie -- BBQ
·Chuck a U-ee –make a U turn
·Cooking with gas – same as Bob’s yer uncle
·Chuck a wobbly – to throw a tantrum
·Dunny – toilet
·Esky – portable food cooler
·Fair dinkum – someone really genuine
·Greenies – environmental conservationists
·Garbo – a garbage/rubbish collector
·Go walkabout – to go missing
·Gazza – the name Garry
·Happy as Larry – very pleased
·Jiffy – a short period of time (Example: I will be there in a jiffy)
·Joe Blow/Joe Bloggs – an average bloke
·Mozzie – mosquito
·Milk bar – a small general store
·Onya – expression Good on you!
·Ooroo – good bye
·Oodles -- plenty
·Ratbag – strange person/trouble maker
·Rellos – relatives
·Sheila – an Australian female
·Shonky – suspicious, doubtful
·Smoko – a break from work for morning or afternoon tea
·Sook – a cowardly person
·Truckie – truck driver
·Up the duff – pregnant
·Uni - university
·Veg out – rest and relax
·Weeties -- cornflakes
·(Hard) Yakka – hard work
·Yonks – a long time

Did you enjoy them? Onya!

Ooroo.

[Source of information: Internet
http://www.dagree.net/aussieslang/
http://alldownunder.com/oz-u/slang/index.html and a few more]

 

Dear Shiva
It might just be best to taste vegemite somehow before you decide to buy one. Or if you can find a smallest tub of that, then please give it a go. Please do not curse me if the taste ends up being horrible which I am pretty sure will be for people like us. I guess you will never forget me in that case...hahahah. It is a cultivated taste and really not a pleasant one when you start off. So good luck with it! A Sheila is normally referred to an Aussie girl or a woman (young chickadee!), if I am not mistaken.

Also thank you very very much for dropping a few lines as feedback. Good to know that you enjoyed.

 

Hey TL!
Nice to see you and you are indeed glowing with a very bright light after the win and I just see Tubelight everywhere! Onya mate!

It is a very strange vocabulary and I have been very careful to select the acceptable ones to present here . You should read some of the more funnier ones on the net. It is quite interesting. My ex-colleague used to always use Ratbag to address us (pyar se of course) when we ended up doing something at work, without the knowledge of our boss . Fair dinkum is mostly seen used among tradespeople or true blue aussies. I could be wrong here, but I seem to have noticed them using it more. Thank you for dropping by. Here is one more. Chippie is a carpenter.

 

Dear Saraswathi
Firstly, I loved your avatar. Such a cutie thing. Aruna also has the same I think. Glad you did not have to use Oops button this time...hehehe! You are right, before I came to Melbourne, Eight(Aait) and Today(Todie!) are probably the words I remember hearing the most. I still can't understand why they would change a name like Garry to Gazza, Barry to Bazza and Mario to Mazza!....Its fun though. Thank you for your comments.

 

G'planet
Thats right. I too remember watching Richie Benaud on TV and we used to make fun of him as well at that point, mostly because he looked funny to me and secondly the lingo was all too funny at times. Thanx for dropping by.