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    Australian Humour and Slang
    Australian Humour and Slang
    Australian Humour and Slang
    Ebook117 pages1 hour

    Australian Humour and Slang

    By Ian McKenzie

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    About this ebook

    “Black, dry, irreverent, ironic, self-mocking” are all words that have been used to describe Australian humour. This humour is reflected in the unique slang that is used by Aussies. The author has compiled a comprehensive catalogue of Australian colloquialisms and has included not only explanations of their meanings, but in several cases short stories and examples of them.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherIan McKenzie
    Release dateJul 8, 2012
    ISBN9781476446271
    Australian Humour and Slang
    Author

    Ian McKenzie

    Ian McKenzie has spent a major part of his working career in Primary, Secondary, Special and Tertiary sectors of Education. Currently he is semi-retired and working on a part-time basis with International Post-Graduate students helping them come to an understanding of Australian work-place culture and communication.

    Read more from Ian Mc Kenzie

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      Book preview

      Australian Humour and Slang - Ian McKenzie

      Preface

      Australian humour can be black, dry, irreverent, ironic, and self-mocking. This humour is reflected in colloquial language used in Australia. This book is a collection of those colloquialisms with some explanations of their derivation and meaning.

      Languages in use are living entities and are constantly changing. The English language has many variations depending among other things, upon the geographic location in which it is spoken.

      Australian English can therefore be very different from American English or U.K. English. Australian English can also vary from location to location within Australia.

      The author, Ian McKenzie, has spent a major part of his working life in Primary, Secondary, Special and Tertiary sectors of Education. In recent years he has worked closely with International Post-Graduate students in Australia who wish to work in and/or obtain permanent residency status to live in Australia. Understanding differences in cultural expectations and language usage between their place of origin and their new potential home in Australia can be a major obstacle for many of these students.

      This publication is a collection of some common and not-so-common Australian colloquialisms. In some cases it gives the derivation of the term and the context in which it is generally used. Sometimes with Aussie slang, the meaning is dependent upon the context in which the term or phrase is used. However, common meanings are given and sometimes a sentence giving an example of how the term or phrase could be used.

      Grouping of colloquialism terms and phrases have been made and these groupings are listed on the Contents page. In each grouping, the terms and phrases are also alphabetized.

      Some interesting short stories regarding the use of Australia English are given under the Chapter entitled Anecdotes. If you have your own interesting story that you would like to share, the author would be interested in hearing from you. Languages in use are constantly changing and this book which is about language will also change from time to time. The author plans to review and publish revised editions to make the work as relevant as possible. Each new addition will probably be an expanded version of its predecessor.

      Ian McKenzie is currently semi-retired and teaches still on a part-time basis. With the additional time available to him he is able to spend more time on two of his passions, writing and photography. The text in this book is punctuated by photos which have been taken by the author.

      Anecdotes

      Waltzing Matilda

      Can I nurse your baby?

      Knock off for tea!

      Waltzing Matilda

      The song Waltzing Matilda could almost be considered the unofficial Australian National Anthem. Whenever a group of Aussies get together for an informal sing-song Waltzing Matilda will probably be on their repertoire.

      The words of the song were written by well-known Australian poet Banjo Patterson, and the music based on an old Scottish ballad.

      Waltzing Matilda

      Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong,

      Under the shade of a Coolibah tree,

      And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled,

      You'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me.

      Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda,

      You'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me,

      And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled

      You'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me.

      Down came a jumbuck to drink at that billabong

      Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee,

      And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tucker bag

      You'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me.

      Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda,

      You'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me,

      And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tucker bag

      You'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me.

      Up rode the squatter mounted on his thorough-bred

      Down came the troopers One, Two, Three

      Whose is that jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag?

      You'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me.

      Waltzing Matilda Waltzing Matilda

      You'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me

      Whose is that jumbuck you've got in your tucker-bag?

      You'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me.

      Up jumped the swagman and sprang in to the billabong

      You'll never catch me alive said he,

      And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong

      You'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me.

      Waltzing Matilda Waltzing Matilda

      You'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me

      And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong

      You'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me.

      Waltzing Matilda is choc-a-block with Aussie colloquialisms, so it’s probably a good topic to get started with in this book.

      Waltz

      Refers to walking or moving in a quick and/or nimble way. He waltzed into the office and announced that he was resigning. The word waltz can also refer to taking something very easily. He easily waltzed off with the blue ribbon for his prize bull at the agricultural show.

      Matilda

      Colloquial for a swag. Matilda is also a female name and the use of the name for a swag probably comes from a swagman having all his personal possessions rolled up in his swag. He is therefore close to his swag and not some female.

      Waltzing Matilda

      Walking around with a swag

      Swag

      A swag is portable bedding rolled up with a few other minimal basic personal possessions and some food

      Swagman

      In the early days of European settlement in Australia, a swagman was a person who wandered around the country on foot carrying all his personal possessions in a swag on his shoulder. He would rely on gifts of food or money and do the occasional odd jobs for payment.

      Camp

      The word camp has numerous meanings. However the way it is used in Waltzing Matilda refers to a temporary place to stop for the night. Drovers and others travelling in the bush would set up primitive cooking facilities a camp fire to boil the billy and sometimes some basic shelter. In Banjo Patterson’s song, the swagman camped by a billabong.

      Billabong

      A water-hole. Australia is a country which can have extremes of

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