Recent Posts

Categories

Archive

Colloquialisms

by Leigh K Cunningham
in Everything Else
31 May 2010 | 23 Comments

As some of you may know, I am originally from a regional town in Central Queensland, Australia (population 60,000+). I moved to Melbourne in 1994 and it was only then that I realized there were some notable differences in dialogue between Australians from the north and those from the south, not to mention certain other quirks.

For example, Queenslanders tend to use "eh?" at the end of sentences. To my colleagues in Melbourne, this was amusing, and probably annoying as well, so a penalty jar was introduced to which, I had to contribute $1 per offence. I no longer say "eh" except, curiously, whenever I return to my hometown.

In Queensland, your swimsuit or bathers are called "togs" which is one term I still use. Your suitcase is a "port", and the evening meal is "tea" whereas in the south and most everywhere else, it is "dinner".

The evening meal is also taken at different times—in Queensland, it is usually around 6:00pm whereas in Melbourne it is 8:00pm. When we first arrived in Melbourne, and were living in an apartment in the city, we would venture out around 6:00pm to find a place to eat. We could not understand why many restaurants were not open, and if they were, it was very quiet and easy to get a table since it was just us and some elderly people. This reminds me of the Seinfeld episode, The Cadillac Part II, when Jerry visits his parents in Florida to present his father with a brand new Cadillac. His parents are getting ready to go for dinner at 4:30pm for the $4.95 early-bird special. I love the scene, so I'm inserting it below. And now, whenever we return to Queensland and have "tea" at 6:00pm, we feel much the same as Jerry does in this scene.

One difference I've noted between states in the USA is the word for a carbonated drink, which in Australia is called a "softdrink". In the Upper Midwest and in Canada, it is called "pop", while in other areas, notably the Northeast and west, it is referred to as "soda". In the Southern states, it is called "Coke" regardless of the brand.

There are a couple of words used freely in the USA, which have entirely different connotations in Australia. I'll say no more.

What other dialogue differences are there within your country or between countries?

Regards
Leigh

EXTRACT FROM THE CADILLAC PART II

Morty (Jerry's father) is fastening a jacket as he enters.
MORTY: Alright, are you ready to eat?
HELEN (Jerry's mother): (glancing at her watch) Oh, right, let's go. Jerry, let's go, it's time to eat. We're going to dinner.
Jerry wanders into the room. He's in a t-shirt and sweatpants, and holding a comic book he's been reading.
JERRY: (confused) Dinner? W..What time is it?
HELEN: (pulling on a coat) It's four-thirty.
JERRY: (bewildered) Four-thirty? Who eats dinner at four-thirty?
MORTY: By the time we sit down, it'll be quarter to five.
JERRY: I don't understand why we have to eat now.
HELEN: We gotta catch the early-bird. It's only between four-thirty and six.
MORTY: Yeah. They give you a tenderloin, a salad and a baked potato, for four-ninety-five. You know what that cost you after six?
JERRY: Can't we eat at a decent hour? I'll treat, okay?
HELEN: You're not buying us dinner.
JERRY: (emphatic) I'm not force-feeding myself a steak at four-thirty to save a coupla bucks, I'll tell you that!
HELEN: Alright, (sitting on the couch) we'll wait. (pointedly) But it's unheard of.
Jerry shakes his head, incredulous, and wanders away with his comic book.

Subscribe to feed

Writer Resources

Other Writer Blogs

Comments (23)

Rose, I like "albeit" as well - it features a lot in my writing, but "wherewithall"?

4 Jun 2010, Leigh K Cunningham, www.leighkcunningham.com

My quirky words are "albeit" and "wherewithal"... must be used in the same sentence ;)

4 Jun 2010, Rosemary Marotta, https://twitter.com/RosemaryMarotta

Agree, Matthew! Perhaps it is because it was a show about nothing, and 'nothing' will always exist in our daily lives irrespective of the changing times.

3 Jun 2010, Leigh K Cunningham, www.leighkcunningham.com

What can you say about the genius of Seinfeld. It's been 20 years and people still relate to it. I don't know anything else on TV with that sort of relevance.

3 Jun 2010, Matthew Waldren

Apparently Thorpie (Ian Thorpe) once said he wore his intimidating black all-body suit because he thought budgie smugglers were "too revealing" :)

3 Jun 2010, Peter Landry

As you would probably know from my bio, I love Seinfeld. I have the DVDs which I never use because we have re-runs every night at 9pm.

The Cadillac Parts I & II was on just last week, and we wondered about the final scene after Morty is impeached as condo President, and only learned then that it was a parody of Nixon leaving the White House. Love that show!

3 Jun 2010, Leigh K Cunningham, www.leighkcunningham.com

I learn so much from this blog! Thanks, Leigh!

3 Jun 2010, Emily J. James

I've also read that "budgie smuggler" is based on the term "grape smuggler" which refers to men who wear their pants too tight creating a certain effect in the crotch area :)

3 Jun 2010, Leigh K Cunningham, www.leighkcunningham.com

I'll have a go at answering that for you, Becca! Perhaps it's because a man's 'manhood' in a pair of budgie smugglers looks just like someone stuffed a budgerigar (a little bird) down their pants!

3 Jun 2010, Peter Landry

Love the reference to the Seinfeld episode! That was such a good episode(s).

3 Jun 2010, Louisa Carrington

Thanks for the budgie explanation, Leigh! And the photo and the news article. LOL. I'm tempted to ask WHY they are called budgie smugglers, but maybe I won't :)

3 Jun 2010, Becca Rowland

The British have an equivalent of "eh" - it's "yeah?" David Brent in The Office is an example of this in practice!

3 Jun 2010, Tara Bradford

Becca, budgie smugglers are mens swimwear or togs as I'd call them :)

The leader of the Opposition Party in Australia is often pictured in the news in his budgies, which should not be news, but it is :) This probably says a lot about the Australian psyche, especially the men!

See http://bit.ly/6ZhRyN

3 Jun 2010, Leigh K Cunningham, www.leighkcunningham.com

I notice Americans say "Aussie" as "ossee" - the "ss" is soft rather than hard like a "z".

3 Jun 2010, Giles Turner

I don't understand "budgie smugglers" - can I have an Aussie explain these to me?!

Cheers, Becca

3 Jun 2010, Becca Rowland

Funniest thing I remember was an Aussie guy calling someone a "mug." Turns out this meant "fool." Still cracks me up.

2 Jun 2010, Stephen Milner

We had an Aussie girl working for us in NY for a while. Poor girl, we'd constantly ask her to say stuff just so we could hear her accent. She used to say "No worries," all the time which we thought was hilarious.

2 Jun 2010, Alice Maynard

When I first arrived in Singapore, I found it very difficult to understand the local "English" and vice versa - they found it very hard to understand me. I'd resort to email rather than phone calls to avoid miscommunications (which happened a lot). Either their English has improved or I've just developed an ear for it because I don't have the same issues now, 6 years later. When my brother and nephews come to visit - I'm often asked to interpret Singlish into Aussie so I'm guessing the latter.

2 Jun 2010, Leigh K Cunningham, www.leighkcunningham.com

It is fascinating how each nation has managed to come up with its own version of English!

2 Jun 2010, Lucy Browne-Wilson

I think you'll find that in Australia, slang becomes more prevalent the further up the coastline you go. You wouldn't hear a "G'day" in Melbourne, for example, but I heard it heaps when I was in Port Douglas on a holiday.

2 Jun 2010, Kat Walsh

They say "ass" in the USA whereas we say "arse" in the UK, which seems much ruder. Example: "pain in the arse" (a nuisance) or you might hear something was "a half arsed attempt" meaning that it was not done properly.

2 Jun 2010, Allan Grayshore

I lived in London for a while and a few of the really local locals used to say "All right?" instead of "Hello, how are you"? The normal response is an "All right?" back.

Loved it.

2 Jun 2010, Joshua Roebuck

Have never heard of 'togs' before! LOL

1 Jun 2010, Katherine Charles

Colloquialisms

Leave A Comment