Curiosities Down Under

By now we know that Australians really do say “How ya going, mate?” and “No worries” all the time. But I’ve always been interested in parts of language that have extensive terminology due to their importance. Cheese in France, has countless varieties. The rain in England has ample words to describe it.

Steph and I are just getting the hang of language for the open road, pub, beach and bbq. Allow us to share what we've learned so far.

The 'ute' - Along with 4-wheel drive SUVs, this is the outdoorsman's car of choice.

Driving - lots of O’s in Oz

Servo: service station (serve-o)

Rego: registration (pronounced rej-o) for vehicles, university, or any other usage

Bottle ‘o: bottle shop, often drive-through

Thing ‘o: what’s it called, thingamabob

Arvo: afternoon (arv-o)

Smoko: smoke break

Drive, Revive, Survive - The roads promoted plenty of rest stops, some in New South Wales are called 'Driver Reviver' and even have free coffee, tea and biscuits!

Kangaroos Crossing - Driving is dangerous at night - we never tried it. Everyone seemed to have their own advice for what to do when kangaroos cross during the day. We were told that when one is sprinting out in front of you, another one will always follow. The key is to not swerve. Keep on a straight course and you might have to hit to avoid putting yourself in danger.

Milk cans and beer kegs serve as mailboxes.

Main Streets - Dusty towns we drove through usually had a predictable main street. There was always a General Store & Gas Station, "Milk bar", bottle shop, butcher, one or more 'op shops'. They are usually built with traditional awnings. In England the smallest of villages may or may not have a post office, but certainly will have three pubs to choose from. Here it is much of the same except the pub is called a 'Hotel', serving the more traditional role of public house that has rooms for rent upstairs.

The Pub - An obvious place for Australians to have lots of words.

Hotel: public house (pub)

Coldie: cold beer

Stubby: bottle of beer

Glass of Beer: 200ml

Pot of Beer: 250ml

Schooner: a little less than a pint

Grog: alcohol

Just ordering a half pint was confusing enough for Steph. Not to mention phrases like… If you are a ‘two pot screamer’, you may become ‘fool as a goog’ and even ‘technicolour yawn’. I’ll let you guess at those.

The BBQ:

Barbie: bbq

Snag: sausage

Rissole: flavored burger

Dead Horse: ketchup or sauce

Tucker: food

Free Public BBQ facilities are available in parks, campgrounds, rest stops and just about everywhere. Just push the button and get cooking if you ever need an impromtu grill-up.

Beach and rockpools - Coastal towns also had rockpools and sea baths

The Beach

Thongs: flip flops

Togs: swimsuit

Cricket Grounds and Bowling Clubs - Cricket is played at designated areas with traditional white uniforms here, unlike in India where makeshift matches are pretty much anywhere. At formal events, you might even see women in Fascinator race hats! Lawn bowling clubs are also still big news in Australia. You will find that they are not just for the old men like in Europe. In fact young people have figured out that they sometimes serve some of the cheapes beer in town.

Working on the Farm – We would get ‘up at sparrow’s fart’ and the day would go ‘slow as a wet week’.

Yakka: work

Ripe: alright

Sanger: sandwich

Bushman’s hankie: blowing your nose in the ground

Iconic Souveniers

Here are some unusual items to take home from down under. Unfortunately we have no room!

Surf Board - It seems that surfing was a hobby for most Australian men we met along the coast at some point or another. Surfers affectionally call boogie boards 'shark biscuits', and wave runners are nicknamed as 'mozzies' for their buzzing sound and general nuisance.

Surfers also reccomended a few quintessential Australian products to us around the campfire, such as 'Itch off' for blue bottle jellyfish stings, and 'no fly' to keep away the famously annoying Australian flies on land.

Swag: a roll-out bedding that serves as a sleeping bag and waterproof tent.

The Esky = cooler or cool box. An essential item that is taken very serious by australians. Esky brand have made an exceptionally successful version that is synonomus now with the product. (like Band-aid or Kleenex, in the US).

Finally, it's a bit cheesy, but there is a need for protective headwear here. One cliche souvenier would be a cowboy hat or one of the fancier white ones.