This post has been writing itself in my head for the last three months. Every day, out and about in my new city, I hear things that amuse, entertain and delight. Many of these pronunciations and usages slip by unnoticed, similar as they are to their British cousins. Others confuse or make me laugh out loud. Here are a handful.
Australian | American | British | Last heard
Skoll-up Skal-lup Skoll-up Another scallop?
Tumah-to sauce Ketchup Tumah-to sauce More tomato sauce?
Forrud Four-head Forrud Hands to your forehead
Across it On it On top of it Is he across it?
Thongs Flip-flops What? ‘right if I wear my thongs?
Bogan Redneck Chav It’s a bit bogan
Rock melon Cantaloupe Cantaloupe Wow, there’s rock melon
Heaps Lots Loads Oh yeah, there’s heaps
Vin-yaaahd Vin-yurrd Vin-yaaahd Where’s the vineyard?
And then of course there’s the Australian penchant for adding “o” or “ie” to every word that extends beyond a single syllable. My absolute favourite is “bottle-o” as in the bottle shop. Other words I try to shoehorn whenever possible into daily conversation are: “cozzie” for swimming costume, “brekky” for breakfast and “tradie” for tradesman (I don’t know if we have a word for this in America). So fun! 🙂
