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Strictly Australian: Five Steps to Becoming a True Aussie

5/20/2012

2 Comments

 
1. Abbreviate, abbreviate, abbreviate.

When in doubt just cut the last few syllables out from a word and you will sound unforgettably Aus. Here are a few of the key abreves you need to learn:

university=uni
mosquitoes=mossies
vegetables=veg
breakfast=brekky

Even city and tram signs for Melbourne's Queen Victoria Market read Queen Vic Market. If the government approves, your new Australian friends surely will too!

2. Don't forget, walk on the left.

Nuff said. Try walking on the right side of the sidewalk and the Aussies burst out into a funky chicken dance sort of move trying to figure out which side you are passing them on, and they barely avoid running into you at the last minute. It seriously freaks them out. But then again, maybe you should try walking on the left side of the sidewalk in the U.S. and see what happens! 

3. You don't have friends, you have mates.

4. Voice your enthusiasm for Vegemite. 

Vege-what?! It's a sodium-loaded black paste used as a pastry filling and toast spread. It was invented by Kraft as a means for recycling the otherwise useless yeast extract. It's an Aussie staple and repulse to the rest of the world. Here's what President Obama has to say about it: 

"It's like a quasi-vegetable by-product, that you smear on your toast," going on to exclaim that it's horrible! I agree.

5. Forget your thank you's. It has now become ta and cheers. While the Aussies still use thank you, ta and cheers have so much more character and will prove your true inner Australian even if they don't sound very Australian coming from your mouth. It's easy to work on the accent once you've got the lingo down!

Start practicing these five steps on a daily basis and you will be rolling with sheilas and blokes down under in no time! Australian slang lesson coming soon...
2 Comments
Aunt Mick
5/21/2012 09:43:36 pm

I do remember. Just got a e-mail from cousin in Gingin, North of Perth, he writes like that.

Reply
Sasha link
5/29/2012 02:51:02 pm

Hahaha this is so funny. AJ and I have been working on our Aussie accents and I have to say its turning out nicely. However, I can't imagine it would be quite as good if I actually lived there. We'll have to Skype so that you can be the judge. Anyways, I recently worked on a fabric inventory project (aka folding drapes for eight hours) for an AV company and the warehouse manager had such a thick Australian accent, I almost died laughing because its such a different language. I was like what is he saying? Plus it reminded me of you and how awesome it must be to hear it all the time. When I first met him, I had my purse on my shoulder and he told me to go ahead and put my 'gear' down so we could get started :) Not to mention a girl that I just started working with at my other job has an Australian boyfriend who says good 'arvo' instead of afternoon. I must have you on my mind a lot lately because everything's Aussie. The only thing I love more than Australian lingo is you haha...more of these blogs please!

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