Learn to Speak Aussie...

[Phillip Brooks]

Shooey? I had to look it up.

After reading the forum above, I won't ever say "shrimp on the barbie" again.

Should we should start referring to homework hustlers as Mug Galahs?

[crelf]

After reading the forum above, I won't ever say "shrimp on the barbie" again.

Now I'm starting to feel homesick! I can't say I've ever called anyone a "mug galah", but I've certainly called plenty of people "mugs" and "galahs" - both mean pretty much the same thing, and combining them only intensifies the meaning. In fact, that's an ancient aboriginal language technique: if you repeat a word it increases the meaning - for example, "dubbo" means imbicile (that's right Aussie punters - go grab a recent Macquarie Dictonary and look it up!), so "dubbo dubbo" would mean a really stoooopid imbecile.

As for the "schooey", it's short for "Schooner" which is the size of beer glass in New South Wales between a half pint and a pint. Depending on what Australian state you're in, beers come in plenty of sizes: middy, seven, schooner, pot, fat, thin... :beer:

A fairly accurate reference of a lot of Aussie words can be found on this page on wikipedia. As a country boy myself (I grew up here), I still use many of the terms here in the US (I still can't keep a straight face during the 7th innings stretch at Comerica park when everyone signs that they "root" for the Tigers ).

Be warned: some of the terms listed on Wikipedia are regional and/or out of date, so be prepared for flaming (not like Alf on Home and Away: "Flamin' galah!") if you use them incorrectly

[JDave]

So based on your previous post and looking at the map of where you grew up, I presume that people from the nearby town of Dubbo were often teased.

[crelf]

So based on your previous post and looking at the map of where you grew up, I presume that people from the nearby town of Dubbo were often teased.

Not just from us - the people of Dubbo are served by the whole country

[Mike Ashe]

Thanks for the Wiki page, this is better than learning how to cuss people out in front of them in Klingon ...

Maybe we should have a Shiner Bock meeting at NI week sometime where only Aussie is allowed and if you flub a phrase you have the appropriate penalty ;-)

[AnalogKid2DigitalMan]

crelf said:

"(I still can't keep a straight face during the 7th innings stretch at Comerica park when everyone signs that they "root" for the Tigers )."

Thanks crelf, I'll never think of root beer the same again :laugh:

'Come' to think of it, sometimes beer consumption leads to rooting

[crelf]

I'll never think of root beer the same again :laugh:

Thanks for the reminder - there are a couple of stronger beers back home that are often preferred by the ladies. When said beer is purchased by a gent for a lady that he is attempting to pick up, it is often referred to as a glass of root beer (not that I would know - epecially if my lovely wife is reading this... )

Maybe we should have a Shiner Bock meeting at NI week sometime where only Aussie is allowed and if you flub a phrase you have the appropriate penalty ;-)

I don't think I could drink that much beer!

[Mike Ashe]

I don't think I could drink that much beer!

Never thought I'd hear or read such an admission from any Aussie

[crelf]

Never thought I'd hear or read such an admission from any Aussie

I suppose I should have finished my sentance:

"I don't think I could drink that much beer, but I'll give it a go!"

[Mike Ashe]

Is it just an American Urban Legend or is/was there an Aussie saying that, "I'm so thirsty I'd drink water..." ?

[crelf]

Is it just an American Urban Legend or is/was there an Aussie saying that, "I'm so thirsty I'd drink water..." ?

Can't say I've ever known an Aussie that thirsty! Yes, that saying is used a lot, often in variations like: "I'm so thirsty I'd drink Fosters" or "I'm so thirsty I'd drink yank beer"

[i2dx]

Can't say I've ever known an Aussie that thirsty! Yes, that saying is used a lot, often in variations like: "I'm so thirsty I'd drink Fosters" or "I'm so thirsty I'd drink yank beer"

That's why they sell it in Germany as "Fosters - Famous Australian Beer". Nobody want's to drink it @ home => they have to sell it somewhere else.

By the way, crelf do you live in Australia /if yes: where?

cheers,l

CB

[crelf]

That's why they sell it in Germany as "Fosters - Famous Australian Beer". Nobody want's to drink it @ home => they have to sell it somewhere else.

By the way, crelf do you live in Australia /if yes: where?

cheers,l

CB

Not that I'm standing up for Fosters (no fair dinkum Aussie would ever do that ), I have had it in the USA and the recipe is certainly different - still not great, but much better that the brew at home (then again, maybe I was spoilt for choices in Australia). My beer of choice in Oz is Toohey's Old, and my beer of choice in the USA is Shiner Bock (when I can get it) - they're very similar.

I'm not in Oz at the moment - I grew up in the bush here, and spent most of my professional life here, but now I'm here working for them.

[Mike Ashe]

...(no fair dinkum ... in Oz

Hmm, I never knew which part of the world the term dinkum came from. I had read the term years ago in the novel "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress" by Heinlein (one of the best scifi novels of all time in my opinion.) After looking through the Aussie wiki page I see a lot of other terms from the novel. For some reason I always thought RAH was portraying his protagonist as being of russian descent, but I now suspect he wrote this after a cruise to the land of Oz.

Another of life's little dangling threads cleared up.

[Yair]

That's why they sell it in Germany as "Fosters - Famous Australian Beer". Nobody want's to drink it @ home => they have to sell it somewhere else.

I once saw a German wine expert tell Jeremy Clarkson the same thing about Blue Nun wine - no one in Germany likes it, so they send it all to the UK.

I had read the term years ago in the novel "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress" by Heinlein (one of the best scifi novels of all time in my opinion.)

Amen to that (although I can't say I read that novel). I could see how someone going through the various LL books would resort to drinking a lot of beer as a solution, though. Those books can be extremely hard to follow properly. It's almost like a space (soap) opera.

[crelf]

Another of life's little dangling threads cleared up.

Glad to have helped! :laugh:

[Kurt Friday]

How can I not respond :laugh:

All this talk of Aussie slang reminds me of the warmest welcome I have ever received. The MD of one of the Alliance members from Melbourne had just come over for a visit to our office, and as I got out of my chair to shake his hand he said with a big grin, "G'day you old bastard"

BTW, my favorite beer is someone else’s

[crelf]

...as I got out of my chair to shake his hand he said with a big grin, "G'day you old bastard"

Hey - how is Pat? He's a top bloke!

[Kurt Friday]

Ha, well done Chris

I havent see Pat for a while but he is indeed a top bloke. Whenever I'm next in Melbourne I'm going to pop my head in the door for a yack.

[Mike Ashe]

Amen to that (although I can't say I read that novel). I could see how someone going through the various LL books would resort to drinking a lot of beer as a solution, though. Those books can be extremely hard to follow properly. It's almost like a space (soap) opera.

Maybe that's why they have a genre called "space opera" (E.E. "Doc" Smith, David Brin, etc) although RAH tended to write more character driven & harder SF.

Part of the reason some of the LL novels after "Time Enough For Love" seemed to wander is because the author's head was wandering and I mean that with no disrespect. He was suffering from a lack of oxygen to the brain caused by blockage of an artery. Once this was properly diagnosed he was saved by an operation that included an ultrasound imaging technique that took it's roots, appropriately enough, from NASA's spaceship inspection program. So one might argue that the space program stories he wrote about and championed and which were eagerly soaked up by future NASA engineers, eventually saved his own life.

Talk about casting your bread upon the waters ...