Australian English

History and Vocabulary

Socio-historical linguistic context

• Australian English began diverging from British English shortly after the foundation of the Australian penal colony of New South Wales (NSW) in 1788. British convicts sent there, including Cockneys from London, came mostly from large English cities. They were joined by free settlers, military personnel and administrators, often with their families. A large part of the convict body were Irish (at least 25% directly from Ireland) and other non-English speaking Welsh and Scots .

American Influence

• Among the changes wrought by the gold rushes was "Americanisation" of the language – the introduction of words, spellings, terms, and usages from North American English.

• Since the 1950s American influence has mostly arrived via pop culture, the mass media – books, magazines, television programs, and computer software – and the world wide web.

Variation and change of Australian English Three main varieties of Australian English are spoken according to linguists: •Broad •General •Cultivated

Broad Australian English

• Broad Australian English is recognisable and familiar to English speakers around the world because it’s used to identify Australian characters in non-Australian films and television programs.

• Examples are television/film personalities Steve Irwin and Paul Hogan.

General Australian accent

• The majority of Australians speak with the General Australian accent. This predominates among modern Australian films and television programs and is used by the Wiggles, Dannii Minogue, Kylie Minogue, Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett.

Cultivated Australian English

• Cultivated Australian English has many similarities to British Received Pronunciation, and is often mistaken for it. Cultivated Australian English is spoken by some within Australian society, for example Judy Davis and Geoffrey Rush.

General vocabulary list

• arse nuts or bum nuts - eggs • avos - avocados • barbie – short form of barbecue (also written as BBQ); an outdoor meal of cooked chops and sausages (snags or bangers) and usually garnished with "dead horse" (tomato sauce) or sometimes BBQ sauce • bikkie - biscuit, also it cost big bikkies - it was expensive • billy - teapot, container for boiling water • billy - a deep, round tin used to make tea (or used more generally for cooking) over a campfire • brekky – short for breakfast • Breville - a toasted sandwich. Breville is the name of a company that makes sandwich toasters • bubble and squeak - a stew made from leftovers • chewie - chewing gum

• chokkie - chocolate • chook - chicken • counter lunch/countery - pub lunch • cuppa – a cup of tea or coffee • cut lunch – sandwiches • damper - bread made from flour and water • dead horse - tomato sauce • deli - a small shop open at times when other shops are closed and selling food, cigarettes and convenience items. From 'delicatessen' A deli does not necessarily sell fine foods, as would a delicatessen in other countries.

• dingo's breakfast - a yawn, a leak and a good look round • dog's eye = maggot bag - meat pie • emu's eye - a method of frying an egg, using a slice of bread with the centre removed to contain the egg on a barbecue plate or frying pan.

• esky - large insulated food/drink container for picnics, barbecues. Short for Eskimo, the word is a registered trademark.

• fairy floss - candy floss, cotton candy • fizzy drink - used to describe any carbonated drink/soft drink (non-Alcohlic).

• flake - shark's flesh (sold in fish & chips shops) • jug - electric kettle • little boys - Cocktail sausages • lolly – confectionery (cf. American candy, UK sweets).

• lolly water - used to describe soft drink/soda and any alcoholic drink of low alcoholic content. Used as a term of derision, the 2nd meaning is used by seasoned drinkers. Can describe a drink which is too sweet, as in "God! This is like lolly water!"

• mash - mashed potatoes • mystery bag, banger, snagger or snag - a sausage • pav – pavlova, a large plate sized kind of meringue dessert, with cream and fruit topping. • pie floater – a meat pie floating in a bowl of pea soup. Generally limited to South Australia.

• plate, bring a - instruction on party or BBQ invitation to bring a plate of food to share; it doesn't mean they're short of crockery.

• poofter beer - a derogratory term for any of a variety of canned and bottled pre-mixed coloured alcoholic drinks if drunk by a man • saltana - a raisin • sanger - a sandwich • spud – potato

Drink, drinking and drunkenness

• amber fluid - beer • binge - any alcoholic beverage, mainly in use among teenagers • blow in the bag - have a breathalyser test; originates from the days where you would blow into a plastic bag with crystals in it. If the crystals changed colour, you were over the limit.

• blotto - drunk to the point of being incoherent and/or unable to stand • blow chunks - to throw up • booze bus - police vehicle used for catching drunk drivers. BAD (Breath Alcohol and Drug) bus • boozer - a pub

• bottle shop – a shop selling alcoholic drinks (for external consumption). cf. British English off-licence • bottlo or bottle- diminutive form of bottle shop; ; originally a man with hessian bags going around picking up beer bottles in the late 19th and early 20th century.

• (to)break the seal- to urinate for the 1st time during a drinking session. • BYO - unlicensed restaurant where you have to bring your own alcohol, also similar party or barbecue • cab sav - cabernet sauvignon (a type of wine or the variety of grape from which it is made) • charged, full or legless – drunk • coldie - a cold beer • Darwin stubby – a very large bottle of beer. Derived from NT Draught bottles, which came in sizes up to 2 litres.

• dead soldier or dead marine – empty beer bottle • drink with the flies - to drink alone • drunk tank - police cells used for holding offenders arrested drunk and disorderly • franz lizst - rhyming slang for pissed • goog, as full as a - drunk; goog is a variation of the northern English slangword goggie meaning an egg • goon – cheap cask wine, also can mean the bag containing the wine also know as a goon bag • grog - liquor, beer • king brown- 750ml bottle of beer, used in Western Australia • piss - alcohol

• school - a group of people drinking together, taking it in turns to "shout" • shout - turn to buy - a round of drinks usually • slab - a carton of 24 bottles or cans of beer, recently augmented in some states by the block, which contains 30 cans.

• Stollies - Stolichnaya vodka, especially in pre-mixed form • tinny - can of beer • turps - any alcoholic drink • XXXX - a popular beer in Queensland, pronounced ‘4 x'. American visitors shouldn’t confuse this brand with the American FourEx, a brand of condom. In other States it’s held that XXXX is used because Queenslanders can't spell 'beer'.