Practical Australian English guide for American Immigrants

I've been living in Melbourne, Australia for over 3 years. I made the mistake when I moved here from the US of assuming they spoke the same language but just with a different accent. I had read about 'Strine, a heavy slang based version of Australian that is not commonly spoken in the circles I travel in Melbourne. Those phrases are funny and popular in lists of Australian words. But I was unprepared for the terms that are in common usage here and new to me. Note that British immigrants will find many terms listed here familiar, but since Americans split from the empire much sooner than Australia we developed a more distinct dialect.

The first thing you notice is that Aussies have a great sense of humor. Or at least, they like to think so. They poke and joke and they call it "taking the piss", which is NOT the same as "taking a piss" or "getting pissed", though these often happen in the same venue. It can be quite off putting as a new immigrant, unsure of my place in the social structure and eager to learn the Aussie ways. In the end you just have to learn to be more incredulous of every surprising thing you hear; drop bears are just the beginning!

"Did you know that wombats' poo is square?" or "A Tasmanian devil ate my tires!" - I'll leave it to the reader to figure out which is true, I have heard both at a recent cocktail party.

And now for my handy list of practical words an American needs to know when relocating to Australia. Please send me your favorites and I'll add them on.

coriander = "cilantro", one of my favorite herbs, the seed and the leaves have the same name in Australia

rocket = "arugula", a slightly bitter lettuce common at cafés here. This one I learned in London, so I figure it must be a British label.

capsicum = "bell pepper", I suppose the Aussie version is technically more accurate since it uses the latin word, but I still prefer the "bell" shaped reference

fairy floss = "cotton candy"

icy pole = "popsicle"

skinny = not just for jeans, use this when ordering a "skim" milk drink

cap = short for "capuccino", my morning starts with a "skinny cap"

reckon = as in "I reckon it will take 5 minutes", used instead of "I think" or as a quick way to agree with someone "yeah, I reckon"

heaps = same meaning as "lots" but used lots more, I reckon it is one of the more common words I hear

old mate = used instead of "whatshisname" or "whatamacallit" when you can't remember or are too lazy to name a place or person. As in "I reckon old mate will be here soon". Hopefully you know who they are talking about from context.

chips = "french fries" as in "fish and chips", but also used to mean "potato chips", which the British call "crisps", but the Aussies just overload "chips" for both types of crispy potatoes. Very common to order a "bowl of chips" at a pub with beers.

sanga = "sandwhich"

burger = any sanga with some form of patty, usually round; can be beef, lamb, chicken, fish, vege. 

sauce = multipurpose: any liquid condiment that you can put on a sanga or burger. Typically tomato or bbq. Aussies love their sauces.

tomato sauce = "ketchup". Typically a bit less sweet here and more tomato flavored. Note that what American's call "tomato sauce" is called "marinara sauce" here. You may also hear "dead horse" or "deadorse" when someone is using 'strine to be funny, ask them to tell you why they call it that.

pumpkin = "butternut squash" or other forms of squash. You will not find big orange jack-o-lantern style pumpkins here.

corn flower = "corn starch"

polenta = "corn meal"

university/uni = "college". As in "when I was in uni..."

maths = "math". Why is there an extra 's', it is just one subject!!!!

drink driving = "drunk driving" 

Autumn = "fall". I note this one because if you say "fall" out of context, they won't know what you mean, just stick to Autumn.

toilet = "restroom". Some people use "loo" in Aussie, but the word on all the signs is "toilet" and "restroom" confuses them.

bin = "garbage can"

rubbish = "trash" or "garbage"

car park = "garage". I get laughed at sometimes for using "garage", it is the most common word that gets me mocked for my strong American pronunciation of "a". Houses have a "garage", cities have "car parks".

fringe = "bangs". Remember that "she bangs like a dunny door" is a 'strine reference to sex and avoid using "bangs" at the salon.

serviette or tissue = "napkin". They know what you mean when you ask for a napkin at a café, but I was told by a friend that they usually reserve the word napkin to refer to the feminine variety.

fanny = "vagina", so best not to talk about your "fanny pack"

rubber = "eraser", not a condom

doing it tough = "having a hard time" 

on the dole = "on welfare". Except that the whole system is different, so it is hard to make a direct comparison.

pants = "pants" (British say "underpants"- thanks for the correction!)

trousers = "pants" (another way to say it)

pushbike = "bicycle". They do ride them rather than pushing them, so I'm not sure where this came from.

dinking = riding with a friend on handlebars of a pushbike. And you thought it meant something naughty!

beetroot = "beet". To me it is obvious it is a root and so why add the extra 4 letters. Odd that the Aussies go through the effort of the full word given their tendancy to shorten everything else. These show up in the most unlikely places, including on burgers with an egg.

caster sugar = finer grain "granulated sugar". This one drove me nuts at the supermarket. I just had to buy a bag and take it home to find out.

onesie = no longer just for babies, this is a popular form of costume for adults and you will see them for sale in the oddest places.

Ripper! = "Brilliant!" or "Awesome!" Remember not to pronounce the second 'r', it is more like "rippa!" Usage is well demonstrated in the classic Aussie film "The Castle", which you must watch because otherwise your Aussie friends will keep asking you if you've watched it yet.

chockers = "full" kind of like "Chock full of nuts", but it can be used to express how crowded a place is, as in "that pub was chockers".

chuck = "toss", as in "chuck it in the boot"

boot = "trunk", clearly a Britishism

bum = "butt"

mum = "mom"

bubba = "baby"

chook = "chicken"

How ya going? = "how are you?"

cuppa = cup of tea

flat white = somewhere between a latte and a cappucino, but very inconsistent from cafe to cafe I find

CBD = "central business district". This is a global English term and basically means "downtown"

bloke = "guy"

hens night = "bachelorette party"

bucks night = "bachelor party" ... what does this say about gender stereotypes here? I leave it to the reader to decide. 

milkshake = a sweet, flavored glass of milk

thickshake = closer to an American "milkshake"

slice = a dessert that is cut from a sheet into rectangles. Common instances are "lemon slice" or "caramel slice"

bake = "casserole", as in "pasta bake" which is kind of like baked ziti.

lollies = "candy"

tick = "check", as in "I got that done, tick!" or "tick the box"

In a tick/just a tick = "in a minute/just a moment"

dosh = "cash", as in "I need to get some dosh from the ATM"

quay = a location by the water, pronounced "key"

pokies = "poker slot machines", commonly found in pubs as well as casinos since gambling is legal in Australia 

prozzie = "prostitute", legal in some states in registered brothels

mozzie = "mosquito", sadly they have them here too

fuel/petrol = "gas"

servo = "gas station"

barbie = Bar-B-Q or "grill"

prawns = "jumbo shrimp", I haven't seen what I know as "bay shrimp" here at all, they only seem to have the big kind of shrimp. Yes they put them on the barbie, but if you say "put another shrimp on the barbie" you will get glared at.

esky = "cooler"

bench = "countertop"

lounge = "couch"

brolly = "umbrella" - I just learned this one from the Facebook forum for "Yanks Down Under", good addition! The contributor asks, "why not brelly?" and I think that is an excellent question!!

footpath = "sidewalk"

trolley = "shopping cart", and the ones in Melbourne are coin operated. My theory is that it is too expensive to hire staff to collect them ($15 min wage) so they make it so you have a $2 incentive to return the cart.

shops = "mall"

ta = "thanks"

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This is just the list I felt would be most useful, clearly there are many more. 

Some other quick tips for new American immigrants:

1. When attempting to pronounce place names: soften your 'r's. For example "Cairns" is pronounced like "Cannes" and "Prahran" is "Praan".

2. They use grams and kilometers. So when you hear "kilo" it could refer to kilogram or kilometer depending on the conversation.

3.  Everything can be shortened and a 'y' or 'ie' added: brekkie for breakfast, lappy for laptop, tradey for tradesman,  sparky for electrician, etc. Make up your own and try it out!

Here's some other fun reading on the topic of Aussie and British English:

http://www.playbuzz.com/stephanies15/can-you-speak-australian-english

http://joannagoddard.blogspot.com/2013/06/what-british-people-say-vs-what-they.html?m=1

Fein Walkabout - Sorted

I named my blog 'A Fein Walkabout' as a flippant reference to a significant ritual that used to mark the coming of age of males in the Aboriginal culture of Australia. I like to think my time here has been proof of my ability to withstand pain and survive in new lands - if not exactly in the way of the ancient people - but I know very little about exactly what a true Walkabout entails.

So I signed up for a spot on the Blue Mountains Walkabout to see what more I could learn. The email directed us to meet on the train platform at Faulconbrigde at 10:50am, a very precise time that aligned with the train schedule, but not our guide's arrival time.

The four of us: myself (the American), a male Austrian backbacker on a multi-month Asia Pacific tour, and a mother/daughter pair from Paris visiting Sydney for 10 days, had gathered at the station and waited patiently for the tour to begin. Within 10 minutes, Evan came walking up the road, wide brimmed hat and backpack - looking like a proper outdoorsy Australian. As we walked together he explained that the Aboriginal gene for dark skin is recessive, which is why he looks the same as the British settlers rather than the original peoples of Australia. The last of his full-blood people died in the 1800's.

Evan did his best to keep the day focused on positive things, but there is always a tinge of sadness to contemplate the end of an ancient civilization. The Aboriginal people lived on Australia for over 60,000 according to Evan. I'd heard statements from other sources that "Aboriginals were the oldest continuous culture, surviving for over 40,000 years", but I'm sure it is hard to date things of that age especially given Aboriginals did not have a written language. It is also a bit fuzzy to speak of Aboriginals as a single entity since there were so many tribes and languages (250 language groups and 500 dialects). Evan represents the bloodline of the "Darug" (yam eaters) people, a collection of clans spread from Botany Bay in Sydney to the Blue Mountains (1.5 hour train ride away). There are few remaining speakers of the original language and he is not one of them, but Evan shared some terms with us. Note that there is no standadized spelling for these terms (since writing is only something that has been adopted with recent generations) and this is poorly documented in general. As someone who is used to having all information at my fingertips, it was interesting to spend a day learning through stories in the way that all humans used to acquire information. It requires patience, attention, focus and practice to absorb information in this way.

New ways must be practiced for a moon before they have an impact on your life. This was the first wisdom of the tour, dispensed at the turn off from the sealed road onto a dirt "road".

The road less travelled

This tour was not just a history lesson about how people used to live, it was a chance to learn about things Aboriginals used to do that could apply to modern life to counter modern maladies that they did not suffer. Evan calmly challenged us to absorb these lessons or "challenges" today and practice them for 28 days. He was soft spoken, and at first I felt the pace was a bit slow, but as he wove his spell througout the day I came to appreciate the way he slowed our minds by pacing his words so we could be present with his words and focused on the challenges.

We had walked away from the train station, where there are modern bathroom facilities, before he asked us about needing a toilet break. He pointed the women in one direction and the men in the other, putting a hand up to me as I attempted to move down the trail, which was in the "male" direction. I can only assume it was intentional that he made the first bathroom break in the bush. Welcome to the Walkabout; there are no toilets here.

Can you spot the green beetle?

I had my camera with me so I was happily snapping shots early in the tour, until it became clear that this tour was about being present, not documenting for those who are not there. I snapped this green beetle early on and then later we ate the fruit of this type of tree as "bush tucker".

Almost immediately after we stepped off the dirt "road" onto an unmarked path into the bush, we stopped for another lesson. Evan was here to help us connect with the "Dreaming", which is a way of being connected to the spirit of everything in the past, present and future. This is what Catholics achieve in their awe inspiring cathedrals, Southern Baptists achieve with Gospel song and dance, Yogis with Asanas and chants (Evan didn't tell us that, but I extrapolated). And that day in the Blue Mountains we achieved it by feeling our body's energy through the experience of the natural world around us. Evan encouraged us to touch everything (rocks, trees, plants and water), walk softly and dance! 

The sap is good for wounds, and also for fueling fires

The tree in the photo above is a Sydney Red Gum, similar to Eucalyptus. The sap oozes out as a red, gummy substance and can be used as an antiseptic. This sap is what makes these trees burn so well, which is why bush fires are a big problem for communities near the forests. Despite being aware of the dangers and the need for these forests to burn for their reproduction and health, modern Australians still struggle to find a balance. It is known that Aboriginals did controlled burns to make sure the plants that needed fire to seed would flourish. I don't know whether they also suffered from out of control blazes, but it seems possible. Perhaps that is why they didn't create permanent settlements like other long lived ancient cultures. "Lightning brother" is one of the forms of the Rainbow serpent, the source of creativity in the Dreaming. Clearly they respected the power of lightning to bring change to their world. 

Note: filter used to bring out red color in the scene and contrast with the forest, the red is the actual color, but all other color has been removed.

Evan pointed to another tree, where the bark peels off like paper and called it the "bandaid" tree, because the bark was antiseptic and antifungal. Now that we have antibiotic resistent super bugs perhaps we'll need this knowledge again soon.

We came to a sacred place and Evan suggested we remove our shoes to feel more grounded on the rock. A few of us did so and it was nice to feel the ground as he told his stories about this sacred place where people carved their symbols into the rock a long time ago and then held their initiation ceremonies. Evan did not know the exact age of the carvings present, but they are likely to be thousands of years old. It was awe inspiring to come across this site so close to the train station, yet unmarked and unnoticed by so many.

Female Rainbow Serpent, the eyes are at the top and the body is wide and then tapers to a tail. This hole was natural, giving the site its sacred status. There is a male version of the rainbow serpent that is more snakelike in form.
The female refers to the earth and the male to the spirit (or sky).

Swamp Wallaby (looks like a mini Kangaroo) carved into the rock along the Song line where rituals were performed over thousands of years. There was also a joey (baby wallaby) and other symbols nearby.

We walked further into the bush, stopping for stories, to sample bush tucker (food) and to feel the ground, trees and plants. After about an hour, I was starting to feel the pace and settle into the rhythm of Evan's stories and lessons. The Aboriginal society was very segmented by gender: men's business and women's business. Evan often used the word "sorted" to describe Aboriginal life. It seemed to be highly disciplined and ritualized. Life progressed through phases and you were led through the right phases for your gender using initiations and rituals. Women had 5 major initiations and men had around 10. The women's initiations centered around their natural cycles: menstration, child birth and menopause. Men had more initiations because they were tasked with the spiritual aspects of clan life  (which required more practice) and because women were busy with the children. 

That kind of comment would have once inflamed my feminist side, but these days I recognize the reality of how hard raising children is, and that it is an important role that should be more respected in our modern age than it is. I do not know for sure how "respected" Aboriginal women were by our standards, but I'm guessing they were respected for their proscribed roles, and veering from those roles was not as respected. Evan emphasized that their world was "sorted", meaning both "figured out" as well as "organized into logical groups". There was work that women did and work that men did. One of his take home points of wisdom was to arrange your own life in a way that had clear lines of responsibility - a truism they also teach in management courses, yet so often ignored. Many of us have thrown off the traditional separation of duties, but not everyone has a comfortable replacement that balances responsibilities in a way that both people respect. While I can see the appeal of sorting on gender lines, I like to think as modern people we have the capacity to make finer distinctions and still have clear lines of responsibility.

One of the rites of passage for men he described included knocking out one of the man's front tooth. I commented that this seemed a bit impractical, and Evan retorted that you couldn't fake it. Today we often struggle with building "trust" and "identity" in the online world, because it is easier to fake pretty much everything. In the clan, there was no faking it - either you made it through the initiations and became a man or you didn't - and everyone could tell at a glance; effective if a bit brutal by our standards.

Cave ceiling with intricate natural patterns.

Rainbow in the rock makes this a sacred place

For lunch, we sat in the shade of a large open cave. I could have stared up at the rock formations for hours, but sadly the wind whipped the sand up and we had to move on. The pictures only capture a glimpse of the feeling of being in that space, I would recommend the tour just to visit this cave.

While we ate the lunches we brought with us (not bush tucker), Evan drew some symbols for us and gave us material to paint. At first I was put off by the black charcoal I was given when Evan explained it symbolized death, but then he added that it also symbolizes change. Since I'm happily in the midst of a lot of change I decided to draw a meeting circle in black and then used the reddish brown coloring to paint a female rainbow serpent on my arm to represent the earth mother that Evan spoke of often as we walked through her realm.

Samples of symbols used in aboriginal painting: emu, kangaroo, male rainbow serpent on the left, female on the right

Meeting place on the hand, female rainbow serpent on my arm

We walked along the song line (literally a path that would have been walked while singing) which was also a ravine. The path was not straightforward, but I loved that it felt like we had gone off a typical trail and felt very much a part of the bush. I was so engrossed that I didn't take any pictures; Evan would approve.

We ended our tour with more stories which I will not spoil for those who will take this tour some day. As a closing ritual Evan used the Bullroare, a device that makes an interesting noise and was used to communicate across distances by men only. Out of respect, I closed my eyes so as not to observe the man's business, but I listened and enjoyed the meditative whirring sound as an appropriate end to the lessons of the day.

We were returned on schedule to the train station and I made my train back to Wentworth Falls. I took the long way back to my B&B via the Charles Darwin Walk, a lovely track cut through the town along a little stream. It was quite well maintained and there were houses just up the hill; a stark contrast to the bush trail I had just been on. Yet I still saw a big lizard lounging in the late day sun and encountered more spring flowers - including the Waratah, a flowering shrub unique to Australia, this variety is the state emblem of New South Whales (where the Blue Mountains are).

Waratah flower in full bloom

As I walked, I did my best to feel grounded and touch the trees and plants as Evan had taught us. It was an exquisite day and I am grateful for the time to appreciate and be present in the company of someone who had many stories to share from the Dreaming.