Speaker: Dancing with Dingoes, Part I
97 Responses
First ←Older Page 1 2 3 4 Newer→ Last
-
Ross" Fair suck...?I haven't heard that for years. I like it.
Yes I most definitely know how fascinating my parents are and fully intend to write a book about them one day. Seriously, you don't know the half of it. My father fought in WWII having conned his way in by memorising the eye chart during the rest of his physical.
One more blind soldier (he was fighting for Australia).My mother lived through the Blitz. Her house was bombed while she was cowering under the stairs. She was 16. At 35 she decided to move to Australia from dreary England and climb Ayres Rock. It's a complete miracle she ever met my father who had had such a crazy upbringing (riches to rags - and divorce) with a war on top of it that he rarely went out. She was out, he was in.
He did, however, write a book about saving the Third World, though he didn't use that term, which is fairly out.So yes, a great story some day.
Tell your middle child, I'm on her side. I was outdoorsy too, plenty bush walking with the snakes and under the house with the spiders - not quite outdoors.
My in-laws used to live in Turramurra. Had their own tennis court. We were the poor rellies - but that's another story.
School lunches call! -
TV3 has just finished the first series of The Secret Lives of Dancers about the Royal New Zealand Ballet on tour. Now available in the TV on demand section TV3.co.nz.
Thanks for the memory jog. Lived in NSW for a couple of years. Been to French's Forest once - all can remember was the forest of houses - bit of change from Hornsby where we were one house from a National Park.
Station announcements on the trains were also interesting especially when trying to equate place-names with sounds - eg. Turramurra
-
Station announcements on the trains were also interesting especially when trying to equate place-names with sounds - eg. Turramurra
"nixstop Wayvtin"
"Nixstop Salenids"
"Nixstop Adimin"
"Nixstop Shitswid"
"Nixstop Rosvill"
"Nixstop Lifild"
"Nixstop Klarrrrrra"
"Nixstop Good"
"Nixstop Peeembil"
"Nixstop Taamaara" -
Heather: so you've gone from Sydney's north shore to Auckland's? Me too.
I watched some of the RNZB documentary and was pretty impressed with the dancing. Actually surprised me, having seen a number of the company's productions. But great documentary.
Ross: ah, memories! Your Australian is very good. But you don't have my stop; Chatswood.
Did you live in Good?
Stunning morning here in Auckland, BTW.
-
Ross: ah, memories! Your Australian is very good. But you don't have my stop; Chatswood.
Yes he did, Shitswid.
There was a nice piece on State Rail Strine in the SMH a few years back. The bit I recall was "Stank lear. Disclosin." (Stand clear, doors closing).
-
Heather: so you've gone from Sydney's north shore to Auckland's? Me too.
Yes. Though only had two years in Sydney. Was in West Auckland before that (Yes, I know could have just gone across the bridge rather than via the puddle).
Originally from Mataura (Southland, NZ).
-
Joe: Of course! Shitswid is Chatswood. Silly me. We used to call it Chatty or Chatwood, very creative not. Shitswid is much more Australian.
Yes, the Aussie vernacular is hilarious. If not horribly contracted, everything must end in 'o'. Next it'll be 'Me dad's in the cemo' (cemetery). All class. I guess we were pointed in the wrong direction when the country was named. Once we abbreviated the multi-syllabic Australia - to one syllable - there was no stopping us (them).
Heather, you're much more Kiwi than I am. I sleep with a Kiwi and have Kioz kids but am otherwise all Oz...
-
Next it'll be 'Me dad's in the cemo' (cemetery). All class.
Heh. I've actually heard that, tho in jest. 'He was a garbo and a commo, now he's in the cemo.'
BTW, there's no truth in the rumour that Bryan Brown was given to improvising his own dialogue, à la Nick Cave. In the scene where they nailed his hands to the shed in A Town Like Alice he did not say "Ah fair suck of the sauce bottle".
-
May I just tell you a story, Sally, about my first encounters with the Australian vernacular? I was 16. It was my first time overseas. We had been in Sydney for Xmas, had taken a 2 day bus journey to Melbourne, and were going to Tasmania to meet my father off the Sydney-Hobart yacht race, and to have a family holiday. We got on the plane to get to Hobart and the very friendly air hostess (as they were in those days, hostessy not necesarily friendly) said to my mother "Are you off to Tassie? Where did you spend Chrissy? In Sydney? Did you get any nice pressies? And you're going to Tassie? Did you bring your cossies?" My mother, being somewhat of a linguistically oriented snob, was absolutely mortified. Us kids thought it was fantastic. And I haven't been back since. I have to make do with my lovely, lovely Greek Australian stepson.
-
I think it only fair to point out that chicken pox has nothing whatsoever to do with chickens. If your neighbours were at fault, then it was them, not their fowl, which infected you.
-
Originally from Mataura
Goddamn, I hear that a lot. Is it just me?
-
Late in on this, but yesterday was so lovely; a day to be out looking at the sea, and people, and basking in the sun.
The Aussie words that had me convulsed was when several of my family went to a furniture shop in Sydney to buy a wedding present (pressie) for my brother. We asked the assistant where we'd find certain items, and he began pointing around the store "hee" and "hee" and "thee" and "thee".
Priceless.
And I don't know about one-syllable for Australia: the pronunciation I notice is - Ostriya.
-
Straya
-
Straya is still two syllables I believe.
-
Oz maybe, though no-one actually says that. Not even on Straya Day.
-
Ross: ah, memories! Your Australian is very good. But you don't have my stop; Chatswood.
Did you live in Good?
Streuth. Yeah Nahhhh. Not Good. Noo Zild. U Hutt. Dinkum. Dinky Dye (spelling?) spot too.
I did learn you have to be careful who you call an Ocker. But for the life of me.....I never found out why.
Any ideas???
-
Sheet. I forgot to add Maaate every second word. Mate.
-
Bit of light Digger Deviant humour for a monday.
Dylan Moran on OZ. Ljke the "Kill a Wiggle"
And for those who have had too much of Advance Austrialia Fair
Jeex, it is a blokes world..... Beer?
-
Sheet. I forgot to add Maaate every second word. Mate.
Unless you're sliming your through the byzantine labyrinth of the ALP right, or attempting to grease your way onside with Singo, that sort of thing's no longer all the go. Now that Big Kerry's karked it, and poor old Richo probably couldn't get a pork if he paid for it, the mating seasons pretty much over.
-
-
Straya
Oh come on! I'm talking about more edicated Aussies!
-
New Zild = Niewzillun :))
-
Or should I say - Niewzullun!
-
Actually I was thinking of Strain - for Australian.
Thank you Lucy for that clarification re chickens. I kind of knew that but thought, in view of the bird that flu, I'd put in that particular memory of when I was five and didn't know any better about what causes diseases and where eggs come from.
Jackie, yes lots of lovely Greek boys in Aussie. They're much more European than we Kiwis, altogether - I hope I'm allowed to say that? Great gateaux - in oz.
My father was eighth generation Aussie on his mother's side and he was quite a snob about speaking properly. One was 'well' never 'good', when asked. But my brother is classic Ocker. He went to the local public school.
Ross: Thanks for your contributions, even if not always fully sober (:).
I'm afraid I don't know what the big deal about Ocker is, could well be a bloke thing. Aussies have a lot of those. It means rough, that's about all I know. Perhaps particularly pertaining to speech. -
Strain - for Australian.
Isn't it funny how that can have fewer syllables than Australia, similarly translated.
Post your response…
This topic is closed.