Evolution of Colonial English Accents - Australia and New Zealand

[lolly_loisides]

Don't forget the "Edit: Yipes!". Particularly appropriate for the fellow who searching for his eel (you know who you are).

 

[BellyTank]

That's "looking", not searching, cuz.


B
T

 

[Creeping Past]

Another related issue is the whole "Valley Girl" speech syndrome. Linguists now tell us that this speech, called "Up talk", for its upward inflection at the end of phrases, originated with Australian surfers during the WW II period, and migrated to Southern California in the early 50's with the birth of the surf culture there.
There are a couple of enclaves on the coast of Maryland that supposedly preserve the closest thing to Elizabethan speech that exists today.

'Up talk' or high rising terminal may be a language fashion. But if we're talking origins, look no further than the fast-disappearing dialects of Suffolk and/or Norfolk and bits of Cambridgeshire and Essex, where an upward inflection is all the go.

Must dash, gotta drop the kids off at the pool.

 

[Smithy]

'Up talk' or high rising terminal

Fairly common with a lot of NZers too.

 

[BellyTank]

::::::it?
Isn't


B
T

 

[Talbot]

Lolly

The movie to watch for Aus sayings is "The Adventures of Barry Mackenzie".

Two of my favorite Bazza sayings are I need to point Percy at the porcelain, strain the potatoes....

Dons Party is also a favourite

Check out 'They're a Wierd Mob'. Made in about 67 - worth a look.

 

[JimInSoCalif]

That's one I've heard all my life in the Southern US, although the "blunt" part wasn't used that I recall.

Yes, in the South I always heard it as 'Better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick'.

There are a couple of others that I have heard the same or very similar in this country. 'Two shakes of a lambs tail' I have heard, but probably not since the 1940's.

If I ever get to OZ, I think I would need a dictionary - or an interpreter.

Cheers, Jim.

 

[Smithy]

Australian Citizen Test



1. Do you understand the meaning, but are unable to explain the origin
of, the term 'died in the arse'?
___________________________________

2. What is a "bloody little beauty"?
___________________________________

3. Are these terms related: chuck a sickie; chuck a spaz; chuck a U-ey?
___________________________________

4. Explain the following passage: 'In the arvo last Chrissy the
relos rocked up for a barbie, some bevvies and a few snags. After a
bit of a Bex and a lie down we opened the pressies, scoffed all the
chockies, bickies and lOllies. Then we drained a few tinnies and Mum
did her block after Dad and Steve had a barney and a bit of biffo.'
__________________________________

5. Macca, Chooka and Wanger are driving to Surfers in their
Torana. If they are travelling at 100 km/h while listening to Barnsey,
Farnsey and Acca Dacca, how many slabs will each person on average
consume between flashing a brown eye and having a slash?
___________________________

6. Complete the following sentences:
a) 'If the van's rockin' don't bother ?
b) You're going home in the back of a ?
c) Fair crack of the ?
_________________________________

7. I've had a gutful and I can't be fagged. Discuss
__________________________________

8. Have you ever been on the giving or receiving end of a wedgie?
__________________________________

9. Do you have a friend or relative who has a car in their front
yard 'up on blocks'? Is his name Bruce and does he have a wife called
Cheryl?
__________________________________

10. Does your family regularly eat a dish involving mincemeat,
cabbage, curry powder and a packet of chicken noodle soup called
either chow mein, chop suey or kai see ming?
__________________________________

11. What are the ingredients in a rissole?
__________________________________

12. Demonstrate the correct procedure for eating a TimTam.
__________________________________

13. Do you have an Aunty Irene who smokes 60 cigarettes a day and
sounds like a bloke?
__________________________________

14. In any two-hour period have you ever eaten three-bean salad, a
chop and two serves of pav washed down with someone else's beer that
has been flogged from a bath full of ice?
__________________________________

15. When you go to a bring- your-own-meat barbie can you eat other
people's meat or are you only allowed to eat your own?
__________________________________

16. What purple root vegetable beginning with the letter 'b' is
required by law to be included in a hamburger with the lot?
__________________________________

17. Do you own or have you ever owned a lawn mower, a pair of
thongs, an Esky or Ugg boots?
__________________________________

18. Is it possible to 'prang a car' while doing 'circle work'?
__________________________________

19. Who would you like to crack on to?
__________________________________

20. Who is the most Australian: Kevin 'Bloody' Wilson, John 'True
Blue' Williamson, Kylie Minogue or Warnie?
__________________________________

21. Is there someone you are only mates with because they own a
trailer or have a pool?
_________________________________

22. What does "sinkin at a mates joint and getten para" mean?
_________________________________

 

[Talbot]

Smithy

Bonzer post!

Killed the thread, but.

 

[BellyTank]

Eh.



B
T

 

[Mojito]

5. Macca, Chooka and Wanger are driving to Surfers in their
Torana. If they are travelling at 100 km/h while listening to Barnsey,
Farnsey and Acca Dacca, how many slabs will each person on average
consume between flashing a brown eye and having a slash?

Hmmm...good question. I think I'd need to know how far behind in their combi were Dazza, Bazza and Shazza and how their starting point related to the Black Stump (i.e., beyond, behind or before).

Ahhh...the Divvy Van. What one goes home in (a remote cousin of the Beer Scooter, perhaps, but directed at the more boisterously intoxicated). A Melbourne mate and I once got in touch with our inner Ocker on the streets of New York with this chant, to the bemusement of our American friends and the delight of an Irish mate, who joined in. Unfortunately, chanting "You're going home in the back of a Divvy van!" [stomp stomp stomp stomp-STOMP stomp-stomp STOMP stomp stomp or clap clap etc etc etc] does get a tad monotonous. After the first 50 times (unless one is completely sober, in which case it wears thin after one repetition).

 

[Miss Sis]

Good post, Smithy!

You're certainly no 'gutless wonder'!

S.
getting her dose of home here.

 

[Talbot]

I was musing last night about when the 'F' word meant 'flamin', and the 'B' word was 'bloody' - and you could get in trouble for using them around polite company

 

[splatt]

Brilliant post Smithy...number 4 is just grouse :eusa_clap

4. Explain the following passage: 'In the arvo last Chrissy the
relos rocked up for a barbie, some bevvies and a few snags. After a
bit of a Bex and a lie down we opened the pressies, scoffed all the
chockies, bickies and lOllies. Then we drained a few tinnies and Mum
did her block after Dad and Steve had a barney and a bit of biffo.'

And the translation would be...

In the afternoon during last Christmas, the relatives came around for a BBQ,
some drinks and a few sausages . After a bit of tea and a lie down we opened
up the presents, ate all of the chocolates, biscuits and sweet confectioneries.
We then drank a few cans of beer and Mum lost her temper after Dad and
Steve had an argument and a bit of a fight.

 

[Miss Sis]

I have not heard anyone use the word 'grouse' or 'choice' for a very long time! lol

Also, I know what you mean BT and Smithy about how it is a bit strange to hear people from home speaking. I met up with my friend's parents the other night as they were in London and the first half an hour everything they said sounded odd to my ear.

In fairness, they said I sound like a Pom.

When I go home it takes about a day to get over the 'accent-awareness'.

 

[Fleur De Guerre]

My NZ colleague sent this email round when she left the country:

"So if you’re interested in coming down to gizza bit of a chin wag after a day of hard yakka, we will be skulling a few shandies or a fizzy in Wetherspoons!"

I like 'hard yakka'!

 

[katiemakeup]

I've always been fascinated with dialect and accents; somehow I have an ear for it. The pronunciation of a lot of Australian vowels is much more pinched, it seems. Such as 'eeksent' vs. 'accent'. But you can tell it's derivative from the English, or as my mother the Anglophile would say, Anglish.

 

[Talbot]

Ocker wedding

I'm not sure our American friends willl get this but I had to share.

I was out driving on Saturday and encountered a wedding procession. White ribbons on the cars, bridesmaids, fancy hats, bride, groom, the whole shebang.

Two hot Torana's, an early Monaro, and a GT Falcon. They each did a wheelie at the roundabout.

These guys would pass the Citizen Test - they're probably in it.

Just finished reading 'Cop this Lot' by Nino Culotta (aka John O'Grady). Written in 1960 about the adventures of some Ockers in Europe. Couple of passages:

'I don't think I like you'
'Your privelidge , matey. Yer don' give me the oo-ahs either.'

'When is wrong a driver Australian say blotty mog'
'Gees Renate, yer better than the pictures.'
'I sink he tell me so. Maybe wrong,ja? Maybe say go to bookery.'

'Before dinner, we all met in the bar. Dennis and I were wearing suits. Not Italian linen, but dark grey suits we had bought from Australia, and were now wearing for the first time. Joe had an open necked shirt, and no coat. 'Gees', he said, 'you blokles are done up like sore fingers. Wots the idea?'