sh1ft.org : a lesson in the australian language

Wednesday 26 January 2005
a lesson in the australian language

in the spirit of australia day, i thought it would be appropriate to give a quick lesson on duplicating the aussie accent. the authentic aussie accent.

with the help of various 'strine' (that's 'australian' in .. australian) guides - try these in your best aussie strine..

1. "Jareedna piper wairtsed abat the bushfires?"

"Eiche nardly bleevit."

2. "Jeer that noise? Wodger reckna itiz? Scettin lairder."

click here for translations

after learning about 'strine' and reading through the many written sentences - i've definately allocated myself as a strine speaker. my aussie accent was very noticable over in america last year, and i was actually amused with myself :P maybe one day i'll make a sound clip or post a video of me and my crazy australian accent

while i'm at it, there is a lot of aussie slang that Regan is still getting used to.. for example

arvo. Afternoon.
mate. Friend, pal, colleague.
shout. pay for a round (of drinks).

is there any aussie slang you've never heard of before?

translations

1. Did you read in the paper where it said about the bushfires?

I can hardly believe it!

2. Did you hear that noise? What do you reckon it is? It's getting louder.

Replies: messages (6)

Oh I'm going to be so lost.

Graham sent me a joke but I didn't get it with words like, "crim", "two-up", "boong", and what the heck is a Kiwis?

Posted by Katherine @ 26 january 2005 10:48 PM AEST

ok, so it was an old joke. and these days 'boong' is kind of politically incorrect, so perhaps dont use that when you are here ;) dont worry, just smile and bat those beautiful eyes and you wont need to understand what people are saying :)

Posted by graham @ 26 january 2005 10:58 PM AEST

LOL. :) I needed the translations for help, then I said them outloud and was like, "WOW IT REALLY DOES TRANSLATE!" :) Haha, I'm such a dork. Happy Australia DayA

Posted by Sharleen @ 27 january 2005 02:10 AM AEST

Hehe I think it's safe to say that those of us in the States probably don't know most of those slang terms--unless we've been Down Under or know someone from there.

In college I came to be good friends with an Aussie who was doing a year abroad thing. Her parents freaked her out when they visited by saying that she'd totally lost her accent--it sounded that way to THEM, but to us natives it was still VERY obvious she was Australian. Any change in accent was imperceptible.

Speaking of Australia Day, we took the Aussie to Outback Steakhouse on Australia Day and tried to convince the waiter that she should eat for free since we were in an Australian-themed restaurant and she was from there. It didn't work.

Did you eat at or see any Outbacks when you were touring the country? Very amusing, I'd think.

Posted by Icyshard @ 27 january 2005 04:26 AM AEST

There are a lot of Aussie slang words I haven't gotten used to yet. The very first one I can think of is "squizz". When I walk up to a customer at work and ask if they'd like a hand with anything (which even THAT isn't normally said in America), they reply "No thanks, just having a squizz". It makes me want to say, "Well, go to the toilet if you're gonna do that!"

Posted by jamieanne @ 27 january 2005 08:20 PM AEST

I love the Aussie accent! I couldn't get enough of it when I went on tour 5 years ago in Europe. About 90% in our group were Australian including the guide and bus driver. The tour guide was not from the city though so his very heavy accent took a bit of getting used to. I'm only familiar with the common slang words but I'm sure once someone talks really fast with the slang and accent, then I'd be lost...

Posted by Marie @ 28 january 2005 07:46 AM AEST