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I'd love to see one of these for Australian English, although I don't think it would be possible. Aussies have a love of metaphor a simile that's unmatched in a
by toomanybeersies 7y ago
I'd love to see one of these for Australian English, although I don't think it would be possible. Aussies have a love of metaphor a simile that's unmatched in any other dialect of English, especially if you hang out with bogans (basically Australian Rednecks, for lack of a better description). It's basically the opposite of America, where instead of trying to be excessively polite, we try to be excessively offensive. The other habits of Australians are to shorten words down and add an "O" to the end, and to swear excessively.
Here's a couple of my favourites:
"Not here to fuck spiders" => Not here to waste time
"Mad as a cut snake" => Very angry
"Busier than a one armed brickie in Baghdad" => Very busy (a brickie is a bricklayer)
"Built like a brick shithouse" => A large, muscular man
"Crack the shits" => get annoyed
"Dog act" => something done to a friend that's uncalled for, e.g. skipping your round at the pub
"Stitch up" => A scam or a trick
"Sick cunt" => An outstanding person
"Old mate" => Someone who's not your friend
"Smoko" => Morning break at work
"Misso" => Girlfriend (short for missus)
"Ambo" => Paramedic (short for ambulance)
"Servo" => Service Station (gas station for Americans)
"Seppo" => American
"Pokies" => Poker machines
"Yeah nah" => either yes, or no, depending on context. Can also be used as filler in a sentence.
This leads to beautiful sentences, such as:
"Yeah nah, the misso cracked the shits at me 'cause I spent the whole arvo at the pokies"
Here's a decent sized list of Aussie slang: https://nomadsworld.com/aussie-slang/ https://nomadsworld.com/aussie-slang/
- ulfw 7y agoMy goodness. That’s why one really has to love you Aussies!
- acherion 7y agoIt should be pointed out that the word 'Seppo' meaning American comes from the rhyming slang of a septic tank rhyming with 'yank', and then seppo being the shortened form of septic tank.
- Thorentis 7y agoTo clarify the "yeah, nah". It often depends on the order, e.g: "Want to go out tonight?" "Yeah nah let's stay home." ('nah' last = no) "Should we leave now?" "Nah yeah let's go." ('yeah' last = yes). Sometimes "yeah nah" by itself said strongly can be synonymous with "no way". Sometimes "nah yeah" said strongly can be synonymous with "hell yeah". Australian is the best dialect of English.
- mcbain 7y agoAnd for extra points explain the addition of “but” as a sentence final. Maybe it reverses the meaning of what proceeded it, maybe it is just a full stop. “Nah yeah but.”
- rktdno 7y agoAs an American living in Australia this one took me a while. Just substitute “though” for “but” and you’ll have the meaning. “You don’t look tired.” “I feel tired but.” For a long time I just kept waiting for the rest of the sentence. “You feel tired but....but what?”
- benj111 7y ago"Built like a brick shithouse" Interestingly this has a different meaning in the US, and explains the Commodores 'Brick House'[1] "Busier than a one armed brickie in Baghdad" At the risk of over analysing, I wouldn't employ a one armed brickie, unless he were cheap ofcourse. [1] https://www.idioms.online/built-like-a-brick-shithouse https://www.idioms.online/built-like-a-brick-shithouse
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- MrsPeaches 7y agoFor full context of "Smoko" see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j58V2vC9EPc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j58V2vC9EPc
- magicbuzz 7y agoLooks like a third of the country has watched that video. The others were all on smoko.
- MrsPeaches 7y ago"Seppo" => American Seems related to the cockney rhyming slang: Septic tank = Yank http://www.cockneyrhymingslang.co.uk/slang/septic_tank http://www.cockneyrhymingslang.co.uk/slang/septic_tank
- caf 7y agoThere's a rich vein of terms for occupations where Ambo comes from: Brickie, Sparkie, Chippie, Truckie, Garbo, Cabbie, Firie, Cockie...
- DanBC 7y agoAmbo has made its way over to the UK and is slowly starting to spread. There's not much use among the public yet. Usage tends to be by commissioners and providers.
- cco 7y agoAll of these strike me as being very similar to Southern American phrases. "Cuter than a bug's ear", "Madder than a stuck pig", "Don't piss on my shoes and tell me its raining" etc are all examples of sayings that sound very similar from the South.
- jamil7 7y agoVery good list, I hear my dad's voice when I read these.
- phillc73 7y ago> "Old mate" => Someone who's not your friend Yeah, I dunno about that. I reckon "old mate" refers to someone you don't know particularly well, rather than someone who specifically isn't your friend. Synonym with "bloke".
- jboles 7y ago“Not bad” - something is pretty good, or at least better than expected. Had to laugh when I saw that phrase on the linked page. “Not bad at all” - something is really good “Munted” - trashed or unserviceable
- biztos 7y agoWhere I'm from -- Northern California, USA -- "built like a brick shithouse" was used frequently, and exclusively, to describe very sexy females. It had nothing to do with muscularity per se, and would never have been used to describe a man, not even in jest. At least, in the 80's it was thus.
- sdrothrock 7y agoFrom southern Pennsylvania, in the 90s-00s, I've heard it used for both men and women. If you forced me to subtitute another phrase, I'd probably say "well-built." (Edit: maybe "better-built than the average") For men, (to me) it means that they're big, strong, and muscular. For women, (to me) it means that they're whatever kind of woman the speaker prefers. So, as a kid, Arnold, Sly, and Hulk Hogan were all built like brick shithouses. But so was Cindy Crawford.
- markdown 7y agoLove these. Also, don't forget to watch the five "How to Talk Australians" clips on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHQRZXM-4xI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHQRZXM-4xI Hilarious
- anotherevan 7y agoThere's also a little thing Aussies employ called sarcasm that often goes through to the keeper.