Australian english quiz

[MANICHAEAN]

Australia's every day language is rich & colourful with words and phrases that reflects its history. From borrowings of the Aboriginal language, through convict sources, the gold rushes and bush ranging, to the First World War, this has developed to reflect essential aspects of the Australian character and identity.

So in the following examples: what are the meanings & where were they derived from?

EASY:

Bush telegraph.
A digger.
Don't come the raw prawn.
Standing like a bandicoot on a burnt ridge.
Barbie.
Cossie.
Blowie.
Nulla-nulla.
Wombat.
Waddy.
Gang-gang.
Gone walkabout.
Hump one's swag.
Muster.
Cobber.
Dinkum.
Dinki-di
Bluey.

DIFFICULT:

Woop Woop.
Humpy.
Poddy dodging.
Puftaloon.
Shivoo.
Furpy

[The Atheist]

Bush telegraph.

Still operates, too! Word of mouth in the days before telegraphy was common.


A digger.

Aussie or Kiwi soldier - from digging trenches.


Don't come the raw prawn.

Raw prawns will make you crook, mate!


Standing like a bandicoot on a burnt ridge.

Can't say I know that one!


Barbie.
Cossie.
Blowie.

Aussie predilection for changing words by adding an "-ie" at the end:

Barbeque
Costume
Blowfly

Pretty stupid when it doesn't shorten the number of syllables, but that's Aussies for ya!

With names, it's more likely to be a "-a" at the end, i.e.

Barry = Bazza
Sharon - Shazza

and so on ad nauseum.


Nulla-nulla.

Wombat.

Aboriginal word.

Wombats can be nasty! (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1583051/Man-said-wombat-rape-led-to-accent-change.html)


Waddy.

Don't know that one - it's not just "wadi" is it?


Gang-gang.

No idea.


Gone walkabout.

This comes from the Aboriginal habit of going for a trek at whim, so simply describes what someone has done - gone away somewhere for an unknown time.


Hump one's swag.

The swag is an Aussie institution, and carrying it is "humping" it, from the English slang "humP', which is not be confused with the US version of the same word!

:D


Muster.

Sheep, especially.


Cobber.

Mate!

I think the etymology on it has been lost as none of the given versions ring true.


Dinkum.
Dinki-di

Fair dinkum, mate, they're both the same, and of disputed origin.

I use "fair dinkum" myself. Aussie and Kiwi slang are largely interchangeable and there is no clear division as to which side started the term. Given that Aussies love claiming Kiwi inventions as their own - pavlova, Phar Lap, Russell Crowe - they probably nicked them all from us!



Bluey.

Has various meanings.

]QUOTE=MANICHAEAN;907970]DIFFICULT:

Woop Woop.
Humpy.
Poddy dodging.
Puftaloon.
Shivoo.
Furpy[/QUOTE]

Can't say I've ever heard of them.

[sixsmith]

EASY:

Bush telegraph. - The transmission of information by gossip or rumour
A digger. - soldier
Don't come the raw prawn. - 'Don't try and fool me'. Rarely used these days.
Standing like a bandicoot on a burnt ridge. - Never heard this before though it could be a regional thing. I suspect it is attempting to convey a feeling of vulnerability.
Barbie. - A barbeque
Cossie. - Swimming costume
Blowie. - Blowfly
Nulla-nulla.- An Aboriginal hunting stick
Wombat. - Four legged marsupial. Can do a surprising amount of damage to you car should you hit one.
Waddy. - A stick. Aboriginal word but often used with respect to kids. i.e 'Put down that waddy before you take someone's eye out.' Or maybe that was just my Dad.
Gang-gang. - Cockatoo
Gone walkabout. - Gone missing or AWOL
Hump one's swag.- Carrying your swag. Swag is kind of like a sleeping bag. (Again, rarely used)
Muster.- Gathering livestock. Or people.
Cobber. - Mate (Cobber is rarely used).
Dinkum. - It's actually 'Fair Dinkum'. True or Genuine. Can be used as a question or an answer. i.e Q: 'Fair Dinkum?' A: 'Fair Dinkum!'
Dinki-di - Genuine
Bluey. - A red headed child, person or a red-heeler dog.

DIFFICULT:

Woop Woop.- Middle of nowhere
Humpy. - A shelter made from the scrub
Poddy dodging. - To steal calves
Puftaloon.- A Scone. Fried, I think?
Shivoo. - Party (never used)
Furpy - Do you mean furphy? A furphy is a lie.

[Joreads]

EASY:

Bush telegraph. - The transmission of information by gossip or rumour
A digger. - soldier
Don't come the raw prawn. - 'Don't try and fool me'. Rarely used these days.
Standing like a bandicoot on a burnt ridge. - Never heard this before though it could be a regional thing. I suspect it is attempting to convey a feeling of vulnerability.
Barbie. - A barbeque
Cossie. - Swimming costume
Blowie. - Blowfly
Nulla-nulla.- An Aboriginal hunting stick
Wombat. - Four legged marsupial. Can do a surprising amount of damage to you car should you hit one.
Waddy. - A stick. Aboriginal word but often used with respect to kids. i.e 'Put down that waddy before you take someone's eye out.' Or maybe that was just my Dad.
Gang-gang. - Cockatoo
Gone walkabout. - Gone missing or AWOL
Hump one's swag.- Carrying your swag. Swag is kind of like a sleeping bag. (Again, rarely used)
Muster.- Gathering livestock. Or people.
Cobber. - Mate (Cobber is rarely used).
Dinkum. - It's actually 'Fair Dinkum'. True or Genuine. Can be used as a question or an answer. i.e Q: 'Fair Dinkum?' A: 'Fair Dinkum!'
Dinki-di - Genuine
Bluey. - A red headed child, person or a red-heeler dog.

DIFFICULT:

Woop Woop.- Middle of nowhere
Humpy. - A shelter made from the scrub
Poddy dodging. - To steal calves
Puftaloon.- A Scone. Fried, I think?
Shivoo. - Party (never used)
Furpy - Do you mean furphy? A furphy is a lie.



Gottas love us. No wonder travellers have no idea what we are saying most of the time.

[The Atheist]

Woop Woop.- Middle of nowhere

Ah. That would be "wop-wop", in which case, you're quite right. Also known as "in the outback".

[MANICHAEAN]

"Standing likea bandicoot on a burnt ridge"
Feeling lonely & vulnerable.

The phrase "gone walkabout" was originally used intheearly 1800's to describe the seasonal patternsof movement of Aborigines across their land or country. Now I think it is used in a more general and sometimes inaccurate, way to describe a journey away from home. The Australian newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald even reported in 1981 that "Lady Diana takes a Royal walkabout in her stride"

The word "muster" in the Australian convict colony was applied to an assembly of what was ambiguously refered to then of "servants of the crown"

"Digger" I think you will find initially referred to the gold rush days, prior to dogging trenches in the First World War.

[MANICHAEAN]

Excuse "dogging trenches" for "digging trenches". I was in a hurry & was not endeavouring to add my own Pommy contribution to the Australian cultural heritage!

"Furphy" I believe means "a rumour" and was coined originally to reflect the cynicism of the Australian troops with the information they recieved about the fighting in which they participated.

In common with the Anglo Saxon sense of humour, one of the traditions of Australians is to take a word and use it as the opposite of its intended meaning. Thus " bluey" can be a nickname for someone for red hair. Mind you as Atheist points out, it can have a number of meanings. Bit like the Brits telling the Americans "to keep their peckers up"

[Fen]

The phrase "gone walkabout" was originally used intheearly 1800's to describe the seasonal patternsof movement of Aborigines across their land or country. Now I think it is used in a more general and sometimes inaccurate, way to describe a journey away from home. The Australian newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald even reported in 1981 that "Lady Diana takes a Royal walkabout in her stride"


A Royal walkabout is, literally, when royalty walks about shaking hands with people. Tends to be on a cleared road with people behind barriers on either side. I don't think the phrase has anything to do with the Outback.

[dafydd manton]

"Don't come the Raw Prawn" still very much in vogue with the Australian Air Force. Brilliant phrase!

[The Atheist]

"Don't come the Raw Prawn" still very much in vogue with the Australian Air Force. Brilliant phrase!

Not just the RAAF either - it's very much a current colloquialism. In fact, I imagine its origins must only go back a few decades at most as putting prawns on a barbie is not that old an institution, and there's no doubt that's where it originates.

[prendrelemick]

Gone walkabout - become a Jenny Agutter fan.

[sixsmith]

Not just the RAAF either - it's very much a current colloquialism. In fact, I imagine its origins must only go back a few decades at most as putting prawns on a barbie is not that old an institution, and there's no doubt that's where it originates.

That's odd. I've lived in various regions of Australia for nigh on 30 years and have heard the phrase used on only a handful of occasions. Maybe Queenslanders still use it. Maybe a few old timers. It's the kind of outdated colloquialism used (always unsuccessfully) by ingratiating politicians in an attempt to speak to the 'Aussie Battler.' For example, as other Aussies on this forum will probably remember, our esteemed leader K-Rudd, went through a phase where he employed the phrase 'Fair suck of the sauce bottle' (trans: Be reasonable). Now, that particular phrase still gets used quite frequently, but it wasn't the idiomatic jackpot that I'm sure K-Rudd and his minders thought it was (and certainly went out of fashion fast once he started using it) .

As the Atheist points out,(and I gather he does so from a little piece of worthless rock across the Tasman :ciappa:), Australians, in their everyday lives, have a tendency toward brevity. Therefore, when one is asked 'How are ya?' (trans: How are you doing today?),contra Crocodile Dundee, they are not going to say 'Flat out like a lizard drinking' (trans: really busy) when they can say 'flat-out'. Similarly you're more likely to be accused of 'takin' the piss' than 'coming the raw prawn'. The slang evolves pretty quickly. Individual words tend to have more longevity than expressions, though there are still plenty of what I'm sure are very unique phrases in common use.

As for 'Don't come the raw prawn', its origins, I believe, can be traced to the armed services during WWII, so I don't doubt that it still has currency in the RAAF. 'Prawn' more generally still gets a run. Often used to unflatteringly describe a woman. I'll leave people to figure out how it works.

[Emil Miller]

Gone walkabout - become a Jenny Agutter fan.


I think that most males on the forum who have seen the film will have a wistful smile on their faces now that you have reminded them of it.