The expression "G Day"

 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)...

His pronunciation is : /ɡəˈdeɪ/

I am going to leave you a funny video..

 - Source: Wikipedia

An Advice!!!

“Give you what for”

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!

typical expressions

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.

Australian Expressions to Indicate Surprise

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!!

Sources: 

<http://www.englishtown.com/community/channels/article.aspx?articleName=157-aussie>

<http://www.abc.net.au/newsradio/txt/s2251570.htm>

Plural 'you'

Why do australians say youse?

                                              

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?

Sources:

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingl%C3%A9s_australiano

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=youse

Australian Language Evolution, Expressions.

“Storyteller words”

At the present time, Australian English is famous for its air of novelty, is something of a living museum, preserving several eighteenth- and nineteenth-century regional words from Cornwall, Wessex, the Midlands, East Anglia, Northumbria, Scotland and Ireland.

To take just a few examples, words like corker, dust-up, purler and tootsy all came to Australia from Ireland via the cotton mills of Lancashire.  Billy comes from the Scottish bally, meaning 'a milk pail.'

Australians get larrikin from Worcestershire and Warwickshire, where the word originally meant 'a mischievous youth'.

' A typical Australianism like fossick, meaning 'to search unsystematically', is a Cornish word, showing the influence of the Cornish miners who settled in Southern Australia.

 Cobber almost certainly came from the Suffolk verb to cob, 'to take a liking to someone.' and Tucker, widely used for 'food,' had various English origins.

(Robert McCrum;  The Story of English. Viking, 1986)

Australian colloquialisms

Australians often abbreviate words and then add 'o' or 'ie' on the end. We also like reverse nicknames, calling people with red hair 'bluey' or saying to someone with dark hair. Australians also tend to flatten our vowels and end sentences with a slightly upward inflection.

Common Australian colloquialisms include:

·        Bring a plate – when you are invited to a party and asked to 'bring a plate', this means to bring a dish of food to share with your host and other guests. Take the food to the party in any type of dish, not just a plate, and it is usually ready to serve. This is common for communal gatherings such as for school, work or a club. If you are unsure what to bring, you can ask the host;

·        BYO – when an invitation to a party says 'BYO', this means 'bring your own' drink. If you do not drink alcohol, it is acceptable to bring juice, soft drink or soda, or water. Some restaurants are BYO. You can bring your own wine to these, although there is usually a charge for providing and cleaning glasses called 'corkage';

·        Arvo – this is short for afternoon. 'Drop by this arvo,' means please come and visit this afternoon;

·        Fortnight – this term describes a period of two weeks;

·        Barbecue, BBQ or barbie – outdoor cooking, usually of meat or seafood over a grill or hotplate using gas or coals;

·        Snag – the raw type sausages usually cooked at a barbecue. They can be made of pork, beef or chicken;

·        Chook– means a chicken;

·        Cuppa – a cup of tea or coffee 'Drop by this arvo for a cuppa' means please come and visit this afternoon for a cup of tea or coffee;

·        Loo or dunny – these are slang terms for toilet. If you are a guest in someone's house for the first time, it is usually polite to ask permission to use his or her toilet;

·        Fair dinkum – honest, the truth;

·        To be crook – to be sick or ill;

·        Flat out – to be very busy;

·        Shout – to buy someone a drink. At a bar or a pub when a group of friends meet, it is usual for each person to 'shout a round', meaning buy everybody a drink;

·        Bloke – a man. Sometimes if you ask for help, you may get be told to 'see that bloke over there'; and

·        How ya goin? 'How are you going?' – means how are you, or how do you do?

Differences between Australian and American English

Hi everyone!!! Today I am going to leave you a video which, in my opinion, is very interesting and helpful to try to understand a little better Australian accent.  In the video, we can also learn some differences between American and Australian vocabulary, an example for that could be “gas station” in America and “service station” in Australia, like the blond guy (who looks exactly like an Australian guy) explain to us in the video. I hope you enjoy it!!!

Pubs or hotels?

Let´s met in a hotel?

One of the Australian peculiarities is that the word hotel is actually “pub”. Then when somebody proposes “let´s met in a hotel?” don´t be astonished because they really want to say “let´s go for a drink?”

This started in the University of Melbourne. It is surrounded by “hotels” (also called pubs) with similar characteristics:  old buildings, an environment student, usually crowds of people and with a large variety of beers and wines.

Most of the “hotels” (pubs) are hanging a placard saying “live music”. That is what makes it so attractive. You can have your nice glass of wine while you are listening live music.

Ubicacion: The Corkman Irish Pub, Leicester Street, Carlton, Victoria (Australia)

YES, YOU MUST COME AND VISTIT  IT BECAUSE IS ONE OF THE BEST PLACES!!!

Please pass me the “Dead Horse”!!

Imagine the following situation: You get a scholarship or a grant to study English abroad and you decide to go to Australia. Once you arrive there, you meet a lot of people from different places around the world; however some of them are Australians as many teachers are. One day, all of you decide to have a barbecue and then, someone (one of the Australian boys) says: Please pass me the “Dead Horse”!!

What does he mean by that? Certainly not to kill a horse and give it to him!! The answer is much simpler than that. And the fact is that Australians use that curious expression to refer to ketchup or tomato sauce.

An explanation of that expression may be that much Aussie slang (That is based on British slag) involves a rhyming game. Thereby, following the phonology of Australia, horse a sauce rhyme somehow.

Moreover, to avoid getting caught by surprise, Aussies pronounce this expression as: dead ‘orse.

Where the word “Kangaroo” comes from?

      As almost every word, the origin of the word “kangaroo” has different versions. The most popular is a common myth about the kangaroo's English name is that "kangaroo" was a Guugu Yimithirr phrase for "I don't understand you." According to this legend, Lieutenant Cook and naturalist Sir Joseph Banks were exploring the area when they happened upon the animal. They asked a nearby local what the creatures were called. The local responded "Kangaroo", meaning "I don't understand you", which Cook took to be the name of the creature. However the Kangaroo myth was debunked in the 1970s by linguist John B. Haviland in his research with the Guugu Yimithirr people.

Thereby, this is a more acceptable origin of the term: The word kangaroo derives from the Guugu Yimithirr (an Australian aboriginal language) word gangurru, referring to grey kangaroos. The name was first recorded as "kangooroo or kanguru" on 4 August 1770, by Lieutenant (later Captain) James Cook on the banks of the Endeavour River at the site of modern Cooktown.

…And you, which one would you choice? 

An introduction of the Australian vocabulary

Australian English has, as almost all varieties of English, several words, expressions, and idioms which have moved across borders and therefore they are spoken in all territories where English is present. Some well-known examples of Australian terminology include outback, meaning a remote, sparsely populated area, the bush, meaning either a native forest or a country area in general, and g’day, a greeting. 

Australian poetry, such as The Man from Snowy River, and folk songs, such as Waltzing Matilda, contain many historical Australian words and phrases that are understood by Australians even though some are not in common usage today.

Australian English, in common with several British dialects (for example, Cockney, Scouse, Glaswegian and Geordie), uses the word: mate. Many words used by Australians were at one time used in England but have since fallen out of usage or changed in meaning.

Nevertheless the sort of vocabulary, expressions, and idioms that we are going to talking about are those ones which are unique to Australia. 

We will try to find the most curious ones and treat them with a humor point of view. Have fun everybody!!!