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Your pick for the most amazing Aussie animal you've seen

Your pick for the most amazing Aussie animal you've seen

Old Jan 10th, 2006, 01:05 PM
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A "yob" is defined as "a lout or hooligan"; "yobbo" is an Australianisation which I'd say is closer to "uncouth loudmouth".

"Yob" is "boy" spelled backwards. This "backslang", like rhyming slang, was originally used by London petty crims elements to confuse any copper's narks who might be listening in while they were rabbiting on* in the rubbity#. The techniques were not always successful, which explains how they came to Australia.

Xenophobia is by no means confined to Anglo-Celtic Australians. Some of the worst offenders I've met have been post-WW2 European immigrants and their offspring.

* rabbit (rabbit-and-pork) = talk
# rubbity (rub-a-dub-dub) = pub
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Old Jan 10th, 2006, 06:43 PM
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We have a strange breed of yobs in the Bay area. Yes, they do like drinking VB or XXXX beer (no sauvignon Blanc around here), they still dress in stubbie shorts from the 1950's. You usually find them sitting around the foreshore drinking, and leaving all their rubbish in the parks or on the beach. Some like to go for a swim holding a full bottle of beer, then after consumption, you drown in the sea, and let it sink. Others like to walk out into the water still smoking, then extinguish their smokes in the water, whilst others on the beach think the sand is one huge ash tray.
Most sentences are finished with the letter "A" or "A But".
If your driving on the Bruce Highway (not a very safe highway), you must always give away to the yobbos, when they accelerate to close proximity of your car, then tailgate you for a few kms, then when the double lines appear, then overtake on the lines, curve or a hill. Every so often you will see flowers or crosses on posts or trees beside the roadway, depicting the stupidity of these yobbos. Unfortunately, for every yobbo who dies on our roads, it seems that another yobbo is ready to take his place.
Just digressing a bit, this is a bit scarey.....in 30-40 years time, we are going to have lots of OLD WOMEN with tatooes.
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Old Jan 10th, 2006, 07:50 PM
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Tassie Twister reminded me of a film I saw years ago ( I can't remember the name ) which was set in a particularly small otback town or settlement. For some reason a gentle, quiet,guy ( not sure now if he was English or Australian )came to town and could not cope with the occer or down to earth approach of the local men who seemed to be without any speck of culture. He raved on for ages to one of the guys desperately trying to understand and explain that there is more to life than booze and sheilas. The bloke who had listened to this ranting for ages simply looked at him and said.." You're mad, ya bastard!"
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Old Jan 11th, 2006, 01:20 PM
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That film sounds like "Wake in Fright" (released in the US as "Outback"). British, directed by Canadian Ted Kotcheff. Made in 1971, went out of circulation for many years until a copy was found in a Pittsburgh warehouse in 2004, in a box marked "for destruction". No, my trivia recall isn't that good - I looked it up at imdb.com.
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Old Jan 11th, 2006, 07:46 PM
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That's the one Neil, thanks. Sorry leniram we seem to have railroaded your quest. The cane toad might be one you've missed but it is an interloper!
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Old Jan 11th, 2006, 07:55 PM
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As we're on the banch line ..... what about "Sunday too far away"? I seem to remember it had some fairly raw characters.
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Old Jan 12th, 2006, 03:40 AM
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Would this one qualify ?

Only an Aussie could pull this one off!
From the State where drink driving is considered a sport,
comes a true story from the Sunshine Coast, Queensland.
Recently a routine police patrol parked outside a local
neighbourhood tavern. Late in the evening the officer noticed a man
leaving the bar so intoxicated that he could barely walk. The man
stumbled around the car park for a few minutes, with the officer quietly
observing.
After what seemed an eternity and trying his keys on five vehicles,
the Man managed to find his car which he fell into. He was there for a few

minutes
As a number of other patrons left the bar and drove off.
Finally he started the car, switched the wipers on and off
(it was a fine dry night), flicked the indicators on, then off, tooted
The horn and then switched on the lights.
He moved the vehicle forward a few cm, reversed a little and then
Remained stationary for a few more minutes as some more vehicles left.
At last he pulled out of the car park and started to drive slowly down
The road.
The police officer, having patiently waited all this time, now started up
the patrol car, put on the flashing lights, promptly pulled the man over
and carried out a Breathalyzer test. To his amazement the Breathalyzer
indicated no evidence of the man having consumed alcohol at all!
Dumbfounded, the officer said "I'll have to ask you to accompany me to The
Police station this Breathalyzer equipment must be broken."
"I doubt it," said the man, "tonight I'm the designated decoy".
True story...





| |
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Old Jan 12th, 2006, 07:52 PM
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Though, Peteralan, i felt my topic was indeed railroaded. I am amused with the stories you guys are sharing.



keep it coming!
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Old Jan 12th, 2006, 08:40 PM
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My apologies, leniram. Would you accept a goanna in reparation?

http://www.kidcyber.com.au/topics/goanna.htm

Not cute & cuddly, this is Attitude on legs!
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Old Jan 14th, 2006, 06:42 PM
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Congratulations to all for a very amusing read! Unfortunately these genuine Oz Yobbos DO exist in increasing numbers with no chance of becoming either rare or endangered. But just think Bokhara, those tattooed old ladies (complete with their body piercing and ankle bracelets) are really going to liven up the old peoples homes of the future!
For my choice I nominate the tiny Sugar Glider, so cute and furry.
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Old Jan 14th, 2006, 11:40 PM
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Hey, let's not get carried away here. Having more or less clear memories of every decade since the '50s, I'd have to be convinced that the number of yobs is increasing. Where's the evidence?

Australia has nothing on Britain in the soccer thuggery, public drunkenness and brawling stakes, and we trail the United States by a long way in violent crime figures. This is not meant as a finger-pointing exercise, more a suggestion that we should be careful to avoid that traditional Australian disease, the Cultural Cringe.
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Old Jan 15th, 2006, 07:24 PM
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Neil, you must be the only one who has clear memories of the sixties!
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Old Jan 15th, 2006, 07:50 PM
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Mmmm what's that saying "If you remember the 60's, you weren't there"?
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Old Jan 15th, 2006, 08:29 PM
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The sixties didn't really arrive in Australia until the seventies ... or maybe the late sixties ... the early sixties weren't much different to the fifties, actually ... or maybe my memory is playing tricks on me. Damn, what was I just saying? Seem to have lost the thread. Hey, who else is hungry?
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Old Jan 18th, 2006, 04:45 PM
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I have enjoyed a good laugh, thanks. However, I don't think you Aussies have yobs on your own. There are still some alive and kicking in NZ.
Neil, isn't the other monotreme the platypus, which I have yet to see in the wild? I would have to say the wombat is also my favourite animal.
My 30-year-old daughter's favourite Australian animal would have to be the Tasmanian Devil closely followed by the echidna, which in a moment of excitement when she was young she called an enchilada, and which the echidna is now known by in our family! Mind you, this is a girl who fell in love with warthogs, and African dogs while on a 3-month safari in Africa.
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Old Jan 18th, 2006, 06:04 PM
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My sister just arrived back from holidays in Tasmania and was very excited to have seen a platypus in the wild in a little stream . A rare sighting even for us Aussies.
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Old Jan 19th, 2006, 08:33 AM
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Most amazing: echidna
Favorite: bilby
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Old Jan 19th, 2006, 11:33 AM
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Changed my mind. The most amazing animal to me is the Irukandji jellyfish. Actually, Irukandji is the name of the sydrome; there are several species that give you it. They're an inch across, can easily drift through the stinger nets. You don't even notice the sting, but a half hour later the nerve toxin is destroying your body. Not (usually) as fatal as the blue ring octopus but extremely unpleasant.

Come to think of it, the blue ring octopus is pretty amazing. Tiny little thing, paralyzes your heart and lungs, and there's no antitode -- if they get you to a hospital in time they can massage your heart and artificially respirate you for a day or so until the poison works out, otherwise you're a goner.

Or maybe the plain old box jellyfish, much larger, but the pain of the sting is so intense that people have reportedly been seen screaming their heads off even after being knocked out by a massive dose of morphine.

Not very cute and cuddly, and no, I've certainly never seen any of these, but if "amazing" is your criterion, here you go.
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Old Jan 22nd, 2006, 04:06 AM
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Irukandji type jellyfish are not native to Australia alone, and are hardly endearing.

How about the frill necked lizard which no-one has mentioned, was reminded today when I saw one in full flight on hind legs. Hilarious sight, our Japanese visitors are completely entranced.
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Old Feb 2nd, 2006, 05:51 AM
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Another vote for the Thorny Devil. They used to be in the back yard when I was a child living in Carnarvon, Western Australia. I find them fascinating.
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