A repost because frankly I am plum worn out from the AAUW Book Sale. Come back next week for some new musings.

When Chris and I lived in Australia we found a lot of words didn’t mean quite the same as they did in the States.   I decided that it was time to take a trip down memory lane and refresh my memory on what some of the fun words were that were common place in Australia and reincorporate them into daily use.  I actually do use quite a few of these common ones and thought it might be fun to share them with my readers.  After all you never know when you might take a trip and need to know them.

Arvo—afternoon
Bathers—swimsuit
Crack onto—to hit on someone, pursue romantically
Dog’s eye—meat pie
Esky—cooler
Fairy floss—cotton candy
Gobsmacked—surprised, astounded
Hoon–hooligan
Icy pole—Popsicle
Jug—electric kettle
Kangaroos loose in the top paddock—-intellectually inadequate
Lucky country—-Australia, of course
Mozzie—mosquito
No-hoper—somebody who will never do well
Oldies—parents “I’ll have to ask my oldies.”
Perve—-looking lustfully at opposite sex
Not the full quid—-low IQ
Rotbag—mild insult
Seppo–American
Techincolor yawn—vomit
Uni—university
Vee Dub—Volkswagon
Whinge—complain
XXXX—beer made in Queensland—pronounced Four X
Yakka—work
Zack—sixpence—5 cents

Of course there are some words that we use in America that are totally inappropriate to use in Australia.  One of those words was “root”.  For example the sentence “I am going to root for the Tarheels.” just means that I am going to back them to win the game.  In Australia it takes on another connotation and translates to a derogatory way of saying someone is having intercourse.  Yikes.  I was made keenly aware of how I misspoke when I talked to a competitor in the Paralympics and quickly corrected myself.

Another phrase that takes on a different meaning is “luck out”.  In America it means that you got lucky.  In Australia it means basically the opposite.

Another term which is somewhat understandable is “bum”.  In America panhandlers are sometimes referred to as bums.  In Australia this refers to someone’s bottom so calling someone a bum would be inappropriate.

A napkin is a serviette in Australia.  When you ask for a napkin there you are asking for one of the sanitary kind which would be a bit embarrassing to have at a dinner table, don’t you think?

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Hope you enjoyed this throwback to our days in Australia.  Have a fabulous weekend and Happy Flag Day!