G Day is a contraction of good day....
Australians used this expresion to say `hello´ and `hi´.
Also, used in the constructions G´day mate ( a greeting to a friend or acquaintance) and G´day, stranger
(ironically, to a friend not seen in some time)...
One of the traditions of Australia that most distinguishes it from the rest is that this country has a day itself, when the calendar reaches de January 26, all people celebrate ¨Australia Day¨ to commemorate the anniversary of the declaration of Australia as British colony for almost 225 years. As one of the last days summer holidays, many families and children take advantage of the holiday to have fun with music, picnics and fireworks.
Here you are a video how about Australians celebrate that day:
Among other celebrations, on April 25 is a day important for Australian community because "Anzac Day" isa tribute to all those killed in the wars that included the singing of the Austalian Anthem, a prayer, recitations and moments of silences...
Cricket was first
played in southern England
in the 16th century. By the end of the 18th century, it had developed into the
national sport of England.
The expansion of theBritish Empireled to cricket being played overseas and by the mid-19th century the
first international matches were being held.
Crickethas been played in Australia
for over 210 years and the first recorded cricket match in Australia took place in Sydney in December 1803.
It is quite popular
in all Australian states, so it is considered Australia'snational
sport. Cricket
Australia is the governing body for professional and
amateurcricket, which operates all of the Australian national
representative cricket sides, including theAustralian cricket team, theAustralia national women's cricket
teamand youth sides as well. CA is also responsible for organising and
hostingTest toursandOne Day Internationalswith
other nations, and scheduling the home international fixtures.
Here is a piece of a cricket match: Australia vs. England
As said my classmate, the music is a direct way to share accent or dialect. To show you another Australian accent, we have chosen another Australian singer: "kylie Minogue¨, who is one of the most representative in. In my opinion, although this was not his first single, ¨Can´t get you out of my head¨is their best known song... So, I leave you a video of this amazing song.. listen and enjoy it!
Australia is a land
like no other, with about one million different native species. More than 80
per cent of the country’s flowering plants, mammals, reptiles and frogs are
unique to Australia, along with most of its freshwater fish and almost half of
its birds.
Australian
population is so engaged with the flora and fauna, such was the case that all
of the states have different emblems of animals, plants, etc.
Australian
cuisinerefers to thecuisineof theCommonwealth of Australiaand its preceding indigenous and
colonial societies.Indigenous
Australianshave occupied the
lands of Australia for years, during which time they developed a unique hunter
gatherer diet, known as "bush tucker", drawn from regionalAustralian floraandfauna,
such as thekangaroo. Australia
was, from 1788 to 1900, a collection of British coloniesin which culinary tastes were strongly
influenced byBritishandIrishtraditions, and agricultural products
such as beef cattle,sheepandwheatbecame staples in the national diet.
Postwar Australia'smulticulturalimmigrationprogram lead to a diversification of
the cuisine of Australia, particularly under the influence of MediterraneanandEast
Asian immigrants.
Australian cuisine of the first
decade of the 21st century shows the influence ofglobalization.Organicandbiodynamic,kosherandhalalfoods have become widely available and
there has been a revival of interest inbush-foods.
British traditions persist to varying degrees in domestic cooking and the
takeaway food sector, withroast
dinners, theAustralian meat pieandfish
and chipsremaining popular, but
there are also new elements featured in these foods. Tobarbecuemeats in the open air is considered a
treasured national tradition. While fast food chains are abundant, Australia's
metropolitan centers possess many famedhaute
cuisineandnouvelle cuisineestablishments.
Restaurantswhose product
includes contemporary adaptations, interpretations or fusions of exotic
influences are frequently termed "Modern Australian".
It
is another typical expression but it has the opposite meaning with the one
explained before, “fair crack o´the whip”.
“To
give someone what for” means to give them what they deserve in terms of
punishment. For example, let´s say little Johnny deliberately poured black
paint on the new beige carpet. Mum might say, “Johnny, you just wait until dad
gets home. He´ll give you what for”
It
is not an useful expression, but you might heard it sometimes.
A good advise for turist, don´t make anybody say that to you!
The
language in Australia is English as everyone knows, but there are some
differences on some expressions between the English and American English. And
some expressions doesn´t have anything to do with the British meaning.
Here
I attached some expressions with the Australian meaning. I will explain it with
practical examples to make easier for you to understand the purpose.
“Fair crack o´the whip”
This
expression might make you a bit scared if you haven´t heard before... but don’t
worry it will be good news whatever is going to say after that.
Imagine
that your boss says to you, “i´m going to give you a fair crack o´the whip”, be
calm! He is just trying to say that he will give you another opportunity or a
fair chance.
Is there such a thing as Australian jazz, or is there
just jazz which is made in Australia? Why does that distinction matter?
In attempting to examine
these questions the intent is not to bullishly trumpet national cultural
triumphs, but to document the intriguing implications of one of the richest
seams of creativity in the land. Trying to pin down what it is that makes
Australian jazz Australian, may be as fruitless as trying to describe the wind:
ultimately you can just hear it and feel it. There is no single musician you
can point to and say, ‘That’s what Australian jazz sounds like’. (John Shand)
Australia has spawned
many extremely original practitioners who have pursued their own nuances and
developments in the music. The result is that, despite a hostile environment on
a host of levels, Australia has become a creative centre of jazz, rivalling the
Scandinavian and Western European countries that have steadily diluted New
York’s pre-eminence over the last three decades.
Many of the leading
"Australian" jazz were the renowned pianist-composers Mike Nock, Dave
MacRae and Judy Bailey, drummer Barry Woodsand and vocalist Ricky May.
Sources:
-Shand,
John. Jazz : The Australian Accent -Wikipedia
Today we are going to
see an expression that is unique to Australia; Struth!! This curious word is
just the contraction form of the expression “is it the truth?” Thus, the
meaning is often used to express surprise. For example if someone has just won
the lottery, his friend would say: Struth!! It is like saying “Oh my God!! (The main expression that English speakers use)
Other curious
expressions that Australian people use for the same meaning are: “strike a
light” or “Hogan's ghost”
Regarding the last one, “Hogan’s
ghost”, we can add that:
-The Australian National Dictionary tells that "Hogan's ghost!"
is an exclamation is recorded from 1930 - and adds that it's origin is
"unexplained."
-The Australian National Dictionary
suggests that "Hogan's ghost!" might possibly be a euphemism for
"Holy ghost!" - making it a softened blasphemy.
-"Hogan's
ghost!" might have been inspired by a Banjo Paterson bush ballad called
"The Road to Hogan's Gap" - about a surprisingly dangerous place to
travel to.
Here, there is a link to see the bush ballad: Hogan's ghost . Just click down, that's culture!!
Although Australian
English is relatively homogeneous, some regional variations are notable.
The dialects of English
spoken in South Australia, Western Australia and Victoria, Queensland and the
Torres Strait islands differ slightly from each other and from the English
spoken in New South Wales. Differences in terms of vocabulary and phonology
exist.
Most regional
differences come down to word usage. For example, swimming clothes are known as
cossies or swimmers in New South Wales, togs in Queensland, and bathers in
Victoria and South Australia. The word footy generally refers to the most
popular football code in the particular state or territory; that is, rugby
league in New South Wales and Queensland, and Australian rules football
elsewhere. Beer glasses are also named differently in different states.
Distinctive grammatical patterns exist such as the use of the interrogative
eh?.
There are some notable
regional variations in the pronunciations of certain words.
This phonological
development is more advanced in South Australia, which had a different
settlement chronology and type than other parts of the country.
L-vocalisation
is also more common in South Australia than other states. In Western Australian
English the vowels in near and square are typically realised as centring
diphthongs, whereas in the eastern states they may also be realised as monophthongs.
A feature common in Victorian English is salary–celery merger.
There is also
regional variation in /u:/ before /l/.
Here you are a comedian video about the AusE accent in different places:
As we all know, Music is
the most direct way to share different accents or dialects people have. Due to
that, we are going to show you several Australian bands or singers in order to
hear their accent in different songs. The very first band is, in my opinion,
the most famous and global band Australia has; they are AC/DC.
This is a curious
anecdote of the name of the band:
Malcolm and Angus Young developed the idea for the
band's name after their sister, Margaret Young, saw the initials "AC/DC" on a sewing machine. "AC/DC" is
an abbreviation meaning "alternating current/direct
current" electricity. The brothers felt that this name
symbolised the band's raw energy, power-driven performances of their music.
"AC/DC" is pronounced one letter at a time,
though the band are colloquially known as "Acca
Dacca" in Australia slang.
I leave you here a video of a concert of them in the Olympic Stadium of "La Cartuja" Seville, (Spain) , the city where we live.
What
are youse talking about?Have you ever heard something like that?
English used to have singular and plural second person pronouns "thou"
singular and "you" plural. Over time the singular form was dropped
and the one word "you" was both singular and plural.
However, many languages have singular and plural second person pronouns
as the Irish language. Australian slang contain much evidence of the Irish -for most of the nineteenth century at
least a quarter of the population of Australia was Irish or of Irish parentage-and one example is the use of “youse” as attempt to differentiate singular “you” from
plural “you.”In some regions this
term is considerated unsophisticated and it is an example of lack of
education.
....and what about use
the Spanish alternative ustedes?
