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! 🙂