Uhm... say what?

Living in Australia for the past two months has certainly taught me one thing.  Aussies have their own language.  Absolutely.  Just because we all speak english, does NOT mean that we can easily understand each other.   Aussies certainly have some bizarre words for things and some very odd phrases.

Also, they abbreviate evveerrrryyyttthhinnnnggg.  Seriously. I'm surprised they don't abbreviate, abbreviate. Ha.


Examples:

Air Con - Air conditioner
Expiry - Expiration Date
Kindy - Kindergarten
Uni - University
Speedo - Speedometer (Not just the little swim suits, that older, grey and excessively tan men, like to wear here... ewww.)
Sunnies - Sunglasses (Apparently "Shades" is a lame name for sunglasses, but "sunnies" is normal....uh huh, sure.)
Devo - Devastated
Aggro - Agressive
Veg - Vegetables, Veggies, etc.
Maccas - McDonalds (because saying McDonalds is too difficult)
Arvo - Afternoon (How does THAT even make sense??)
Brekky - Breakfast
Doona - Comforter (I said comforter once, and my aussie friends looked at me like I was psychotic).
Fairy Floss - Cottton Candy... (my personal favorite, might be bringing this back to the states with me!)
Pissed - (Not used in our terms, as in angry, but used to describe being drunk, "He's pissed/on the piss/let's grab some piss"- too funny, when they say that, as I just imagine someone going to buy...well, not beer hahahaa)
Smoko - Morning break, tea break, smoke break, etc
I Reckon/Do You Reckon - I think/Do you think?



I truly could go on and on with all of the odd little Aussie- isms I have become adjusted to, but I'll choose to stop there.  You all will just need to visit and see the language differences yourself! (Again, visit this place. It's magical.)

Although Aussie's have their own way of saying things, they all seem to believe that it's us Americans that are the weird ones.  Hence why my Aussie friends thoroughly enjoy making fun of me and the way I say and do certain things.

Bananas, Tomatoes, and Potatoes are some of their favorite words to give me crap for.  They sound all proper when they say Bananas, like British people do, (Don't let Australians hear you compare them to the English though, they dislike it.), and yet when I say Bananas, I automatically sound like a country bumpkin as soon as they imitate me.   Not so nice.

However, undeniably one of the most entertaining differences I have observed is in the way we cut our food.  It was described to me once that, "You Americans kill your food again when you're cutting it".  I guess the way we stab our food with the fork and then hack at it with a knife seems very primal to them.  At first I was shocked, as I never thought of my cutting of foods to be violent in nature, but in comparison, it actually really is.  Now, I get all self-conscious when I cut my food, because as soon as I resort to my normal American cutting ways, my friends decide to aggressively attack their food in mockery.  I have such kind and thoughtful friends if you couldn't tell.


The differences between Americans and Australians are certainly more prominent than I would have believed before living here.  They say strange things, drive on the wrong side of the road, and have noooo idea what real iced coffee is... (Their iced coffee is ice cream, coffee, and cream. Uhm, Noooo.). But, it's a beautiful place that I am certainly acclimating myself too, and currently have no intention of leaving!  Hopefully you have enjoyed this little glimpse into some Aussie culture and word use, and plan on experiencing it for yourself some time!

Until next time peeps!!

Cheers!