Aussie Language Survival Guide

As I was rummaging around my stash of Australian memorabilia, I found a little yellow pamphlet with the above title. As I've mentioned before, some words and phrases that mean one thing in the States mean something totally different in Australia. I thought you'd like to see some of the different meanings.

American = Australian

or, We say = They say

Food:
biscuit = scone

cookie = biscuit (or bickie)

food = tucker

french fries = hot chips

chicken = chook

kool-aid = cordial

breakfast = breckie (they say breakfast, but they abbreviate as many words as they can)

supper = tea

late night snack = supper

cup of coffee, tea, etc. = cuppa

bell pepper = capsicum

ketchup = tomato sauce

tomato sauce = tomato puree

jello = jelly

jelly = conserve

candy = lolly

spaghetti = bolognese

shrimp = prawn

carry out (like fast food) = take away ( I remember in Hobart, the capital of Tasmania, we went to McDonald's - the first time I'd eaten fast food in WEEKS...this college girl was having withdrawals! - and the girl taking my order said "Dine in or take away?" and it caught me off guard...I just stood there looking like the clueless American tourist that I was, until I finally answered her)

and finally,

vegemite = it defies definition...it's a spread, and it looks, smells, and tastes N.A.S.T.Y. Of course, I don't like raw tomatoes either.

Clothes:

sweater = jumper

ladies undies = knickers

swimsuit = bathers

undershirt = singlet

tennis shoes = sand shoes

Various other non-related but very interesting at least to me words:

apartment = flat

friend = cobber, digger, mate

napkin = serviette

diaper = nappy

elevator = lift

flashlight = torch

American football = gridiron

Australian football = footy (and heaven help you if you get in the way of them watching it! Of course, I wouldn't know this from experience)

gasoline = petrol

t.v. = telly

hood of a car = bonnet

trunk of a car = boot

drunk = feeling under the weather

extremely tired = knocked up (remember the phrase Elizabeth teased me with?)

way to go! = good on ya!

how are you? = how ya goin'?

don't worry = no worries

truly, really = fair dinkum

are you all right? = are you right?

check out the possibilities = sus it out

Australia(n) = Oz, Aussie

Tasmania = Tassie

busy = flat out

really busy = flat out like a lizard drinking (my personal favorite)

Now, there were a couple of times that I either messed up or nearly messed up. The times I nearly messed up were times I might have almost said "blood" with a "y" attached to it, as in: I screamed b----y murder when I saw that huge spider! Or even, "He has a b----y nose." That word is EXTREMELY rude, which is why I'm not spelling it out. I'm hoping Ruth and her family will read this one of these days! And I scream b----y murder all the time. Or at least when I see a huge spider.

Then there was the time that I did mess up. What do you say when you really haven't done anything all day long, just sort of this or that? Well, I say piddled. As in, I piddled around the house. In fact, when posed the question of "Heather, what did you do all day by yourself?" answer: "Oh, just piddled around the house."

You know where this is going. "Piddle" in Australia does NOT mean "doing nothing of interest." It means peeing. Yes, I told them I peed all over the house. Of course, they (meaning Stephen M, and probably Grant M and Ruth M, as well as Keith) thought that was the funniest thing they had ever heard and laughed all the way into town, with me in the back seat wishing a hole would open up in the floor board and put me out of my misery. I quickly apologized and said that I was tired and wasn't paying attention to my vocabulary, blah, blah, blah. They still laughed at me.

I can't say that word now without thinking about that faux pas and smile just a little. Of course, when I'm thinking about Tassie I can't help but smile, even if it's a memory I'd just as soon forget.