Aussie English: A world apart

All it took was a single sentence by an Aussie and the confidence acquired after my almost lifelong association with English and a Masters degree in it, disappeared into thin air.

Never having heard the Australian English accent before, for weeks after my arrival in Sydney, I could not understand most of the conversation taking place. My confusion was taken as a sign of my ignorance of the language. Everyone was patient with me and gave me sympathetic looks, making sure they spoke slowly and repeated themselves. Even after I got used to their peculiar accent, it still sounded funny to me.

‘Strine’, as the Australian English is called, is direct, earthy and proudly profane, full of slangs and abbreviations. Their accent makes all Aussies sound like cowhands right out of the Outback.

‘Strine’, as the Australian English is called, is direct, earthy and proudly profane, full of slangs and abbreviations.

They use the sound of ‘a’ in every word, irrespective of its spelling. They say ‘yea’ instead of ‘yes’ or ‘yeah’, and ‘ta’ is not ‘ta-ta’ or goodbye, but ‘thank you’.

In Downunder, it does not take long for one to realise that in spite of their love of conversation, they like to shorten every word and use a lot of slang. This becomes obvious in their greetings and goodbyes.

‘G’day’ is their usual greeting, followed by ‘How yer doing?’ Of course the answer one gets is ‘Good’ again. Trust me, the pattern never changes.

In Downunder, it does not take long for one to realise that in spite of their love of conversation, they like to shorten every word and use a lot of slang.

Oh yes, they are peculiar in their goodbyes too. ‘Ta-ta’ is not difficult to understand, but who would think that ‘hooroo’ literally means ‘goodbye’? Either of these two words are always accompanied by the phrase ‘See yer later’ or ‘Catch yer later’ even if it’s the end of the world the very next moment. This can be pretty confusing in the beginning but once you start using it, you realise how much time and energy is saved in taking your leave.

Initially, it may be hard to get used to their casual usage of colourful insults and abusive words. Where everyone is `mate’ to them, from the milkman to the prime minister, the same person may be casually referred to as a ‘bastard’. The average Australian male uses it indiscriminately in place of almost any other word in the English language, and mostly in a positive sense.

Affectionately, one’s best friend is a ‘good old bastard’, while a ‘bloody bastard’ is a term of abuse and a ‘bastard of a day’ is a day either too hot or too cold. The one meaning that the word does not carry in Australian usage is its officially defined one referring to one’s birth. Sometimes ‘bugger’ is used as a substitute for bastard, as in ‘good old bugger’.

‘Bloody’ is the Australians’ favourite adjective, frequently used in conjunction with ‘bastard’, often to emphasise that something is particularly good, as in a ‘bloody good day’. As `bloody’ is used with every other word, it is inserted in sentences where the word makes even less sense than it normally does.

‘Bloody’ is the Australians’ favourite adjective, frequently used in conjunction with ‘bastard’, often to emphasise that something is particularly good, as in a ‘bloody good day’.

If one learns to take their usage of these words as casually as they speak it, there won’t be any problems getting along. In fact, it is fun to indulge in such colourful conversation without having to worry about people taking offence.

To Australians, a male is a ‘bloke’ and a female is a ‘sheila’. One is absolutely correct if one is ‘about right’, while ‘grouse’ is good and something ‘not half bad’ is extra grouse, and ‘beaute’ is something excellent.

If a guy ‘takes a shine to you’, he fancies you, but when he is ‘dirty on you’, watch out, he is annoyed with you. When a person is ‘ape shit’, he is stark raving mad and when the same guy is ‘floating on ice’, he is drunk.

There are various words to describe the mental state of a person, for example an ‘alf’, ‘droob’ and ‘dunderhead’ mean a fool and a ‘drongo’ or ‘hoon’ is an idiot.

There are also some very interesting phrases too that can be used in various situations, like to ‘hit the kapok’ is to go to bed and to ‘kick the bucket’ is, of course, to die, but to be ‘done like dinner’ is to be badly beaten.

All these words and phrases are not obscure, but heard everyday and within a few days one picks them up easily. So when in Rome do as the Romans do and while in Oz speak as the Aussies do.

This article was originally published in Dawn Magazine. You can also ready it on my website: www.ambreenarshad.com