Aussie Slang

I have been making a list of australian slang terms and what they mean in english. for your amusement (and because i really can't be bothered to start writing papers that are due in over 2 weeks), here's what i have so far:


australian..................................american
in hospital..................................in the hospital
mum and dad..................................my mom and dad
tea..................................dinner
arvo..................................afternoon
goon..................................boxed wine
get pissed..................................get drunk
brekkie..................................breakfast
poo..................................poop
ta..................................thanks
tomato sauce aka dead horse (because apparently that rhymes)..................................ketchup
crook..................................sick
bin..................................trash can
to chunder/spew/yack/munt..................................to throw up
no worries..................................it's okay/you're welcome

they also pronounce some words differently. here are some of my favorites
australian pronunciation..................................american pronunciation
tom-ahh-to..................................tom-ay-to (tomato)
a-dii-das..................................a-dee-das (adidas)
nike..................................nike-eee (nike)
p-uuu-ma..................................p-oo-ma (puma)
aluminium..................................aluminum (they even spell it differently)


sara

even though i consider myself technically savvy, i can't figure out how to rotate this picture. sorry. the BRA (Burwood Residences & Associates) Ball was on Wednesday night and it was tons of fun. it was just like prom, but better!
better because 1. there were drinks, 2. i am in australia (still hard to believe, i know), 3. i wore a dress totally out of the ordinary (at least for me!

it was totally an 'adult' evening. everyone was dressed up and looking super fancy. as people were arriving, we were being served fancy little appetizers and drinks (vodka orange, vodka rasp, bourbon and coke, champagne [ooh la la], and beer). the main room was then opened up and we all sat at our assigned tables. i sat with roommates megan (pictured above), phoebe, jacqui, next-door neighbor jane, jacqui's friends jacqui jen and alice, phoebe's friend megan, and a couple other girls i hadn't met before but were very nice. we danced and danced and danced, then ate a nice dinner of steak (or) chicken (i had the steak), danced some more, then had a nice dessert (chocolate tart, ice cream and raspberry puree).


i received a very nice present from my parents in the mail for Rosh Hashana. It was the first thing I have gotten in the mail during my 2 months here and, needless to say, i was very excited to receive it. Inside the beautiful box (pictured to the left) was:

• peanut brittle
• chocolate covered macadamia nuts
• chocolate covered coffee beans
• belgian chocolate shells
• nougats
• white chocolate covered popcorn (which is surprisingly very tasty)
• macadamia crunch (which is basically caramel covered popcorn)
• chocolate chocolate chip cookies
• milk chocolate
• strawberry yogurt butter cookies
• macadamia butter shortbread bites, and finally....
• lindt milk chocolate truffles (my favorites!)

since receiving the box of sweets on tuesday, my roommates and i have shared the peanut brittle, white chocolate covered popcorn, nougats, chocolate covered macadamia nuts and chocolate covered coffee beans. tonight i am going to a barbie and i will bring the strawberry yogurt butter cookies and macadamia butter shortbread bites for dessert. i will not share the lindt chocolates with anyone.


tonight's barbie will be followed by watching the footy game on tv. we're in the second round of finals and the collingwood magpies are playing the west coast eagles. collingwood is the team i support since i got to see some of the players up close and personal.

the past couple of weeks have been full of schoolwork. i have written a 2000 word essay on whether cognitive therapy is an effacious treatment for depression (it is), a 1500 word essay on the social and economic importance of australian rules football based on my experiences, and a 500 word essay on australia's multicultural policy in conjunction with a presentation on the topic. i have a 600-700 word assignment due on monday that will outline my final paper for my reading children's literature class. that's the work i should be doing now, but instead i am using my blog as a productive tool for procrastination.


as i mentioned before, if i liked the essay i wrote about the AFL i would post it here. well, i don't hate it so here it is. if you want to see my list of references i will be happy to provide them:


Australia is a country that is well known for its enthusiasm for sport. Therefore it is no surprise that Australian Rules football, a sport that is unique to Australia, has a significant impact on Australian society (Alomes & Jones 1994). Families flock to the games, which take place every weekend during the regular season. My experience at an AFL football match has given me insight on the social and economic importance of the game.
The truth of the matter is that I have been to two footy games. The first game was an afternoon match between St. Kilda and Fremantle and the second was an evening game between Collingwood and Sydney. Having experienced the huge amounts of children and their families at the early afternoon game, I expected a more adult-oriented crowd when I went to the evening game. This was not the case at all as children were almost as highly represented as adults at the evening game. This surprised me since the game lasted until almost ten in the evening. The fact that parents take their children to AFL games that most likely occur past their normal bedtimes is a sign of the value of tradition and family bonding that is an integral part of the experience of a footy game.
The feeling of family at the footy game was ever-present. Not only were there families with small children, there were older family units with their adult children. What stood out to me even more than this was how spectators addressed the players. In America, we call our football players by either their last name (“What are you doing McNabb?”), or their numbers (“Come on number 5!”). As a foreigner trying to follow the game and who’s who on the oval, the use of nicknames confused me. Spectators yell out to players using names that I assume come from the fans, such as Pebbles and Bucks. When I finally caught on to the game and started yelling out these nicknames myself, I felt an immediate connection to the players and even more so to the fan base.
The halftime ‘show’, unlike the extravagant programs in the United States, consisted of children playing footy on the oval for the entirety of the mid-game hiatus. The kids, from ages five to twelve, were participating in the Nab AFL Auskick program, a program focused on teaching young children the skills they need to play footy (Australian Football League 2007). In comparing the AFL’s halftime events to those that are familiar to me in the United States, it is clear that the values of the AFL and the sport of Australian Rules football are geared towards their youth and not just the entertainment importance of the game. I am sure that the enthusiasm of the children during their twenty minutes of play on the footy oval was sure to make them, if they weren’t headed in that direction already, avid fans of footy for life. In my opinion, the implications of these programs for school-aged children are significant as the proliferation of the game into the future is of utmost importance. In addition, children’s views of footy players as role models aid in the economic benefits of the game, seeing that players endorse certain projects
One of the first things I noticed at the start of the game was that the Australian national anthem was not sung. In the United States, this is a customary practice and it is often an honor to sing the national anthem at a sporting event. What was sung, to my surprise, were the clubs’ songs. Both clubs’ songs were performed before the game and the winning teams’ club song was performed after the game, and repeated an indefinite number of times. It seemed to me that the club songs were the major factor that unified the fans from each side, who were scattered throughout the stadium. At both games I went to, I spotted every age group, from young children to old men and women, singing along to their clubs’ ‘fight song’. The singing of clubs’ ‘fight songs’ is an important social aspect of Australian Rules football.
One of my footy experiences was on an excursion with Deakin’s Study Abroad Club. The heads of the club obtained and distributed many copies of an activity book designed for school-aged children concerning the multicultural nature of the AFL. Players Brazilian Heritier O’Brien, Polish David Wojcinski, and Italian Daniel Giansiracusa, to name a few, were featured to put an emphasis on the international diversity of the Australian Football League. The diversity within each and every club has served to attract more of Australia’s culturally diverse international public (Alomes & Jones 1994). Having learned about Australia’s multicultural policies in class, I noted that the football clubs, in a way, mirrored the principles of Australian multicultural society in today’s ‘global era’ of sport (Alomes). Individuals, some from different cultures and countries around the world, worked together on a team and shared a common goal.
Both of my experiences at footy games have given me many opportunities to spend my money. Whether it be an overpriced (but delicious) meat pie, a Collingwood scarf, a face painting, betting on the outcome of the game, or drinks at one of many bars throughout the MCG and Telstra Dome, going to a footy game can be financially demanding. I haven’t been in Australia for very long, but I have seen it all when it comes to fans dressing up for the footy. According to Sport and Recreation Victoria, Victorians are Australia’s most avid sports fans (1997). Being among sports-crazed Victorians, I was tempted to jump on the bandwagon and buy a mass amount of articles of clothing with a club’s insignia. I did not purchase random memorabilia at either footy game since, as an international student, I do not have a team to support. This logic conflicts with that of locals, who support football clubs for the entirety of their lives and pass their love for the sport down into future generations (Murray 1998). This undoubtedly guarantees the future success of Australian Rules football in not only the proliferation of the game itself, but of its economic benefits from merchandising. Even though as an international student without ties to any particular team, I plan on buying Collingwood gear to wear around Melbourne and, more importantly, at home amongst the gridiron fans.
Australian Rules football has a great importance on the economy of not only Victoria, but also Australia as a whole. The large amounts of jobs provided accept all skill levels. Jobs range from servers at food stands to commercial lawyers for the entire corporation, from part time and volunteer to full time positions. Another economic aspect of Australian Rules football is that sport is the most sponsored activity in Australia, receiving more monetary income than any other cultural activity from a wide range of sponsors (Australian Bureau of Statistics 1999). Sponsorship of football not only benefits the AFL but also benefits the sponsoring company by providing it with a wide market of potential customers to advertise in.
It is safe to say that even before stepping into Telstra Dome and the MCG, I have experienced the marvel that is Australian Rules football. Through vast media coverage of the AFL in television, radio, newspaper, magazines and more, the sport has certainly made its way into the daily lives of most people living in Australia (‘AFL and the Media’ 2002). Independent of socioeconomic statuses, anyone interested can experience the footy through one of the many media outlets that the AFL belongs to.
All in all, Australian Rules football has a significant impact on Australian society. Socially, footy brings a diverse group of people together to support a common end and is also an activity the entire family can enjoy. Economically, media sponsorships not only support the Australian Football League but also aids in making the game more popular. In the same vain, footy provides sport enthusiasts with many opportunities to purchase merchandise. My experiences at an AFL football game have been very special and I look forward to following the sport in the future.