Aussie Slang is a richly-textured, often ribald world of
understatement and laconic humour. This guide aims to do three
things; (a) to help the traveller decipher what they hear around
them in everyday Australian life, (b) give the causal reader some
insight into informal Australian culture, and (c) make a record of
some old Australian expressions that are slipping into disuse now
that English has become a global language. Readers will recognize
both British and American terms in this list. Australian English
has absorbed much from these two great languages. For depth of
knowledge of their own language, no-body beats the British. Its
their language after all. A thousand years in the making, the
English language is embedded deep in the DNA of the British. No-one
uses their language more skilfully than they do. On the other hand,
American English has a creative power that recognizes no
boundaries. Americans have taken a very good all-purpose language
and extended it in all kinds of directions with new words
describing the world as it is today. They do not generally cling to
old forms out of respect for tradition. As Winston Churchill
observed, Britain and America ... two great nations divided by the
same language. Australian English sits comfortably in the space
between the two. Australian English began in the early days of
settlement as English English with a healthy dash of Celtic
influence from the many Scots, Irish and Welsh settlers who came to
Australia. Large numbers of German settlers also came in the
1800's, and their influence on the language is also clearly
evident. For over a hundred years, Australia developed in splendid
isolation its unique blend of English, tempered by the hardships of
heat and cold, deluge and drought, bushfires and cyclones. The
harsh environment united people in a common struggle to survive.
People helped each other. Strong communitarian loyalties were
engendered. It is from this that the egalitarian character of
Australia evolved. There is a strong emphasis on building a feeling
of solidarity with others. Strangers will call each other "mate" or
"luv" in a tone of voice ordinarily reserved for close friends and
family in other parts of the world. Everyone was from somewhere
else, and no-one was better than anyone else. A strong
anti-authoritarian attitude became deeply embedded in Australian
English. This was mainly directed towards their British overlords
who still ran the country as a profitable colony. The Australian
sense of humour is generally understated, delivered with a
straight-face, and is often self-deprecating in nature. No-one
wants to appear to be "up themselves." Harsh or otherwise adverse
conditions had to be met without complaint, so when discussing such
conditions, it was necessary to do so with laconic, understated
humour. Anyone not doing so was deemed a "whinger" (win-jer).
Following World War II the American influence came increasingly to
influence Australian culture and therefore the language. No-one is
better at selling their popular culture to the world than the
United States of America. Their pop culture is a beguiling
instrument of foreign policy, so pervasive and persuasive it is.
Young Australians enthusiastically embraced American culture, and
since the 1940's the old established British language and customs
have become blended with the American. If Australian English has a
remarkable quality, it is the absence of regional dialects. It is
spoken with relative uniformity across the entire nation. Brisbane
on the East coast is a 4,300 kilometre (2,700 mile) drive from
Perth on the West coast, yet there is little discernible linguistic
difference between the two places compared with the difference, for
example between Boston and San Francisco in the US. Nowhere else in
the world do we see such linguistic uniformity across large
distances.
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