How to Speak Strine...Part III

Well...here we go with Part III on learning some Australian slang from the book "The New Dinkum Aussie Dictionary" by Crooked Mick of the Speewa.

 

...and at letter E & F we have: (drum roll here)....

 

Ear basher:  A pub bore.

 

Fair dinkum:  The absolute truth as in, 'He's a fair dinkum bastard, fair dinkum he is, he's fair dinkum, my bloody oath.'  As a general observation anyone who utters such a phrase can be regarded as, 'three sheets to the wind', 'pissed as a parrot', or just drunk.

 

Flat chat:  To move or travel at high speed; 'flat tack' has the same meaning.  (The first time the Tour Guide said this to me I was like 'what the h*** are you talking about?'--it made no sense to me.)

 

Floating on ice:  Drunk (Now, here in Minnesnowta if you are floating on ice you are really in trouble as you're probably standing on a chunk of ice that's broke off and floating in a lake-amazingly this does happen & people have had to be rescued!  Me...I stay off frozen lakes pretty much...it would just be my luck to have to be rescued.)

 

Footie/Footy:  Abbreviations for football, the various forms of which are a national obsession.  Aussie Rules is played primarily in Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory.

 

Footpath:  The Australian version of pavement, sidewalk, etc.

  

...and under the letter G we see:

 

G, The:  The vast (it seats around 100,000 people) MCG, or Melbourne Cricket Ground---the main stadium for the 1956 Olympic Games, and a legendary cricket and Aussie Rules venue.  (The Tour Guide speaks in utter reverence about the G...huge cricket & footie fan she is!!)

 

G'day:  Good day---the universal Aussie greeting, pronounced 'g-deh' rather than 'g-die'.

  

Good on ya!:  Used to express approval and even admiration:  the Aussie equivalent of the much more restrained British term 'Good for you'. 

 

Great Australian salute:  A tongue-in-cheek description of the Aussie practice of waving one's arms and hands around the head and neck to discourage flies and other airborne pests.

 

...for letter H let's see what we have:

 

Hen's teeth:  As scarce as.  Even Blind Freddy knows that hens have no teeth.

 

Hoon:   A high-class dole bludger.  An idiot.  Also, someone who likes to drive fast and loud, and generally make mischief in the street.

 

Hooroo/Ooroo:  Literally goodbye, as in 'Well hooroo then, I'll catch yer later.'

 

Howzat!:  A cry made to a cricket umpire by a fielding side, as an appeal to have a batsman declared out for various incomprehensible reasons.  A bastardisation of 'How's that?',  'Howzat!' is normally screamed dramatically by an expectantly crouched bowler.

 

...can you believe it?  We are already to the letters I & J and then we'll be done with Part III.  Don't want to rush into all this slang at one time! ...and now we have:

 

Interstate:  Anywhere in Australia other than one's home state---as in 'They went interstate yesterday' or 'I'll be interstate for the next week'.  (Here if we say interstate we would be referring to one of the major highways.)

 

Jackaroo:  A generally young apprentice worker on a sheep or cattle station.  The female equivalent is a 'Jillaroo'.

 

Joey:  A cute baby kangaroo or wallaby, usually seen in its mother's pouch.

 

Joe Blow:  'He's just an average Joe Blow', an ordinary bloke. 

 

There are more slang words under each letter but I really don't want to completely bore you but just want to give you an idea of what some of the confusing 'English' I'm going to be up against when I arrive in Aus (or can I still say Oz since it is in the dictionary?!)

 

Anyways...hope you all are having a wonderful Monday...at least if you are in the Northern Hemisphere that is.  Stay tuned for Part IV of How to Speak Strine coming up tomorrow...not so much of the alphabet left to go now!!

 

P.S.  I'm thinking whomever came up with Oz for Aus had better keep their head low...the Tour Guide is not happy & looking for them!!  Same goes to whomever came up with 'strine' for Australian!!