Chundering Through Rooland
Jan 3rd, 2007, 05:38 AM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 750
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Chundering Through Rooland
Link to CNN.com article about the origin of some of the colorful slang used today in Australia.....
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TRAVEL/01/01...eut/index.html
Keith
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TRAVEL/01/01...eut/index.html
Keith
Jan 3rd, 2007, 06:20 PM
#2
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 9,922
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
"You'll want to avoid a stoush ... with a larrikin or troublemaker, where you might suffer a Larry Dooley or a beating, derived in part from the name of a boxer famous a century ago."
It sounds like this article was compiled from a guide to Australian slang written a century ago. Maybe they should have run it past some of the many Australians who work for CNN (I heard one on the radio this morning, but he was in Baghdad).
"Larry Dooley"? Never heard it in my life. "Stoush" - more like 50 years ago.
It's all a bit suss. Don't come the raw prawn with us, CNN.
It sounds like this article was compiled from a guide to Australian slang written a century ago. Maybe they should have run it past some of the many Australians who work for CNN (I heard one on the radio this morning, but he was in Baghdad).
"Larry Dooley"? Never heard it in my life. "Stoush" - more like 50 years ago.
It's all a bit suss. Don't come the raw prawn with us, CNN.
Jan 4th, 2007, 01:18 AM
#3
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 1,077
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
But Neil, I hear "stoush" on ABC radio all the time - usually with reference to political infighting (or outfighting. Sorry about that!).
Don't think I've heard it outside Australia. ditto dunny and chunder. Surprised "crook" didn't make the list.
But I like this best of all:
"Sweets or candies are called lollies in Australia, and they don't have to be iced, as the word would mean in Britain."
And I pictured an acid drop or a liqourice allsort covered in white sugar icing. Now if the writer had said "iced" I would have known what he/she meant - though in my book it is an "ice lolly" not an "iced lolly".
Just another example really of the amount of disinformation floating around. Those column inches have to be filled; there must be no dead air - so let's just waffle.
Waffle... hhmm
Don't think I've heard it outside Australia. ditto dunny and chunder. Surprised "crook" didn't make the list.
But I like this best of all:
"Sweets or candies are called lollies in Australia, and they don't have to be iced, as the word would mean in Britain."
And I pictured an acid drop or a liqourice allsort covered in white sugar icing. Now if the writer had said "iced" I would have known what he/she meant - though in my book it is an "ice lolly" not an "iced lolly".
Just another example really of the amount of disinformation floating around. Those column inches have to be filled; there must be no dead air - so let's just waffle.
Waffle... hhmm
Jan 4th, 2007, 01:26 PM
#4
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 9,922
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Come to think of it, you're right about "stoush", fuzzy. And yes, you definitely should know that "crook" means unwell.
"Chunder" was popularised by Barry Humphries, who said he'd often heard it used among private school boys but seldom elsewhere. There's no evidence for the derivation given in the CNN article - that's probably a furphy. In any event I don't think it's used much these days.
Same with "dunny", which I noticed was still popular among school-age children when my kids were at school but otherwise has mostly taken on the specific meaning of an old country outhouse.
I have a couple of friends who are in their '60s, have spent most of their lives in country towns and do their best to keep alive usages such as "sheila" and "dunny". But it's probably easier in the regional cities they live in than it would be in the major cities.
Articles about other countries usually focus on the quaint, strange and different to grab the reader's attention. But it's not as though visitors to Australia have to pass a test in mostly outdated slang terms to survive here.
"Chunder" was popularised by Barry Humphries, who said he'd often heard it used among private school boys but seldom elsewhere. There's no evidence for the derivation given in the CNN article - that's probably a furphy. In any event I don't think it's used much these days.
Same with "dunny", which I noticed was still popular among school-age children when my kids were at school but otherwise has mostly taken on the specific meaning of an old country outhouse.
I have a couple of friends who are in their '60s, have spent most of their lives in country towns and do their best to keep alive usages such as "sheila" and "dunny". But it's probably easier in the regional cities they live in than it would be in the major cities.
Articles about other countries usually focus on the quaint, strange and different to grab the reader's attention. But it's not as though visitors to Australia have to pass a test in mostly outdated slang terms to survive here.
Jan 4th, 2007, 05:41 PM
#5
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 2,248
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Neol
Andrew Symons said he decided to give some of those badly Pom-bowled balls Larry Dooley during the 4th Test in Melbourne.
He hit them into the middle of next week - roughly!
So - it is in current use - at least in the Australian cricket team! 5 - 0!
Andrew Symons said he decided to give some of those badly Pom-bowled balls Larry Dooley during the 4th Test in Melbourne.
He hit them into the middle of next week - roughly!
So - it is in current use - at least in the Australian cricket team! 5 - 0!
Jan 4th, 2007, 06:10 PM
#6
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 9,922
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
margot, hasn't the English cricket team gone home yet? It seems as though they've been here for months.
Well, I don't watch or listen to cricket (as you may have guessed) so I reckon I'd get through months if not years without hearing that term. Maybe I should have said that in the first place about a lot of the terms mentioned - they may still be used, but aren't so widespread that a tourist would be guaranteed to hear them.
Well, I don't watch or listen to cricket (as you may have guessed) so I reckon I'd get through months if not years without hearing that term. Maybe I should have said that in the first place about a lot of the terms mentioned - they may still be used, but aren't so widespread that a tourist would be guaranteed to hear them.
Jan 9th, 2007, 04:04 PM
#7
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 54
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
As Neil said the use of such slang is not likely to confront the tourist except rarely and then the context will more likely then not provide the meaning. If you do come across an Aussie who uses such tripe when talking to you, walk away. If it is your guide, ask for your money back as such a drongo probably has nothing else to impress you with.
