Aussie-isms

 

Someone I just met asked me, "When do you want to catch up?" My immediate thought was, we just met, we have nothing to catch up about. We can "meet up" or "get together", but we have no past that needs to be caught up. Yes, it makes sense when Kyla has a catch up (yes it is a noun and a verb) with her friends she only sees every few weeks. 

But it got me thinking about those little Aussie-isms that have started to creep into my vocabulary (no Mom, I"m not getting an accent), and those that I refuse to say out loud because they a) don't make sense b) don't sound as cool without an Aussie accent or c) I feel like I'm trying to be an imposter saying them. Mostly Australians just shorten everything, but there are some peculiar phrases woven throughout common day speech. I'm sure I've missed some and will keep learning as I go, so expect another list in the future.

Aussie-isms I've found myself saying:

• How ya going?
• Take the stairs instead of the lift
• Waiting in the queue=everyone's vocabulary could use more words that start with q
• Bottle shop or bottle-o= even in the states we had different names depending on your region
• I'm taking holiday= yes of course I am!
• Bogan=because who doesn't need another word for a redneck
• Toilet=not just the porcelain bowl, but a general term for the restroom or bathroom, it just seems a bit more direct to me
• Partner=girlfriend, boyfriend, husband, fiance (not with the same-sex conotation it has in other places as we discussed today during lunch)
• Ruck up=as in "Ruck up to rowing" or "Whoever rucks up" 
• Reckon=I think I've started this one almost regularly, "How'd you reckon it went?"
• Fortnight=every two weeks, I'd probably heard it before, but when they told me I would be paid every fortnight, I had to look it up
• Uni=university, one of those shortened words that gets thrown around a lot where I work

Aussie-isms that make me feel like an imposter:

• Biscuit (or bickie)=this is a cookie, all types of cookies. I had a big discussion trying to explain what a biscuit (as in the southern buttermilk kind) was. I would bake them to bring them in, but they're best when they're warm and I don't want to make a bad impression of the buttery deliciousness. 
• Good on ya=equivalent of well done, especially used in sporting matches. I've started to think this one in my head
• Arvo=people use this one A LOT, "What you doing this arvo?" "I'll get that to you this arvo"
• Ta= or thanks this was my first exposure to aussie-isms, when my boss signed his email. But people say it as well. 
•  Ute=truck, like a pick up truck or SUV
• Take a sickie= a sick day
• Mozzie=mosquito
• Thongs=a rather common word for flipflops, but you know the other meaning
• Bitumen=pavement, I used this in a game of "I spy" with a Brit and a Swiss. They didn't get it.
• And they really do use mate and barbie (but you don't put shrimp on it, they're prawns)
• Esky=cooler, you know, the things you pack your drinks in, like an eskimo
• I refuse to say the cities Melbourne and Cairns. For get the "r", It's Mel-bin and Cans.
• Windscreen, boot and bonnet=parts of a car, you can probably figure out which ones
• Cuppa=a cup of coffee or tea, they drink a lot of that around here

Aussie-isms that don't make sense:

• Push bike=this is just a regular bicycle
• Fair dinkum= this makes no sense
• We're watching the tennis, or the cricket= why is there a "the" in front of all sporting events?
• Snag=sausage, I don't get it, there's no "n" is sausage 
• Stickybeak=apparently someone who is nosy, someone actually used this to me
• Capsicum and aubergine=pepper (like a green or red pepper) and eggplant, yes I know they use them in other parts of the world too, but when I go to self-checkout at Wooly's (Woolworth's) with my green pepper, I don't look under "C"
• Ez or Ezza=the shortened would be nickname for Erin, yeah I won't be answering to that one :)

If you're interested in some Perth-isms, check this video out (I apologize for the title). I'm told by a local it's pretty accurate :) But you may not get most of it until you come to visit me!

And don't even get me started on the spelling! Favorite is autocorrected to favourite, color to colour (but I want to know why the Color Run wasn't the Colour Run when it came to Perth...) and behavior to behaviour depending if I'm at my computer at work, my laptop at home, or on my phone. I don't even know which I type now, it always seems to be wrong. I guess I should just get used to those little red squiggly lines.

PS sorry for the lack of fun photos. 
PPS Thanks for everyone who left a comment on the last blog! And those who didn't, tsk tsk...