You know you're Australian when...

Caitlin Black

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Damn, that'd make writing pages and pages for the exams rather more difficult that it already is...

My hands cramp up when I write with a pen too much, and my handwriting is messy unless I go slower than I'm used to, so exams are tough for me.

I'm hoping I don't get too many more exams in my degree.
 

teacherwelden

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I confess, in spite of having many dear Australian friends over the years I haven't managed yet to attempt eating an Aussie burger. I think it's either the beets or the fried egg that does it for me.

Just curious - is there any Australian who hasn't done two years in London where they work a professional job during the day and by night sleep on the living room of a dosshouse with at least ten other people per room?

I lived in Liverpool England for 15 months. Originally planned on London but then my boyfriend (now husband) got work in the North West so we departed from the cliche there. Worked as a teacher but never lived in a doss house, although we did share with some grubby South Africans for a couple of months (no offence to my South African friends as I am sure the vast majority do dishes and clean the bath regularly...this lot seemed to have an aversion to this though), then we lived in the attic of a romantic old Victorian mansion right on the Mersey, complete with resident ghost. Happy days!!!
 

French Maiden

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I lived in Liverpool England for 15 months. Originally planned on London but then my boyfriend (now husband) got work in the North West so we departed from the cliche there. Worked as a teacher but never lived in a doss house, although we did share with some grubby South Africans for a couple of months (no offence to my South African friends as I am sure the vast majority do dishes and clean the bath regularly...this lot seemed to have an aversion to this though), then we lived in the attic of a romantic old Victorian mansion right on the Mersey, complete with resident ghost. Happy days!!!


Sounds like quite an adventure.
 

Hawkmoon

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Top post.

Would like to add Pie Floaters and that we don't say "throw a shrimp on tha barbie."

I love winter, bring on winter I say, even if it is an Adelaide winter....
 

French Maiden

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Eeek, who else is looking foward to Footy season starting back up again?

Which team do you go for?

Me, I'm a West Coast Eagles fan, I've also been known to go for The Dockers. I have a slight loyalty to Collingwood, but only if they're not playing either WCE or The Dockers, and only because my step-dad and my Aunty and Uncle go for them and I have to keep peace with in the family.
 

PorterStarrByrd

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As a non Aussie who almost went there while in the Navy (ran into some problems about telling them whether we carried nukes on board or not. we didn't ) during Viet Nam. This thread interests me.

My dad spent some time there at the very beginning of WWII and has some nice stories.

One question .. Is there quite a bit of difference between the slang in different parts of Australia (accents too) or is it more homogenous than the US?
 

Hawkmoon

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As a non Aussie who almost went there while in the Navy (ran into some problems about telling them whether we carried nukes on board or not. we didn't ) during Viet Nam. This thread interests me.

My dad spent some time there at the very beginning of WWII and has some nice stories.

One question .. Is there quite a bit of difference between the slang in different parts of Australia (accents too) or is it more homogenous than the US?

There is definitely a difference in slang and accents between states...

Fruitbox vs popper
Texta vs marker
Thong vs Flip Flop

are just three that come to mind

As we are a recently colonised country (last 200 years or so) and still subject to a steady injection of multicultural influences in our bloodlines, accents vary dependent on where you are and what the previously mentioned foreign influences are. Accents can vary enough to cause difficulty in basic comprehension of speech in some regions, although this is less common then the variations in slang.
 

Hawkmoon

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Eeek, who else is looking foward to Footy season starting back up again?

Which team do you go for?

Me, I'm a West Coast Eagles fan, I've also been known to go for The Dockers. I have a slight loyalty to Collingwood, but only if they're not playing either WCE or The Dockers, and only because my step-dad and my Aunty and Uncle go for them and I have to keep peace with in the family.

This may sound unaustralian but I can't stand AFL but if I was to pick a team it would be the Crows. Collingwood would be a close last.....
 

Caitlin Black

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I used to play footy in primary school, but not since. Used to watch every match I could.

At that time, there was only one SA team - the Crows - so they were pretty much automatically "my" team. I watched them win back-to-back premierships (on TV). :)

Back then, I also liked Essendon and North Melbourne, mostly for their colour schemes. :tongue I actually had a hierarchy of favourite teams, from #1 to #16, for a while there.

Collingwood and Geelong were bottom of the list. ;)
 

French Maiden

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One question .. Is there quite a bit of difference between the slang in different parts of Australia (accents too) or is it more homogenous than the US?

There was a study done on this just a few years ago actually. There doesnt seem to be much if any difference in accents from state to state.

Hawkmoon has pretty much hit the nail on the head with that one. It's the slang that varies more so than the accent.
 

SkyeOhWhy

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I think that some states (South Australia?) pronounce the A in 'castle' like 'ah', whereas others pronounce it like 'as'. Same thing with 'dancer', 'rascal' etc.

(A minor difference, I know, but it's all I can think of!) :)
 

Caitlin Black

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Personally, I pronounce the "cas" or "ras" in castle and rascal as "arse". :tongue

The "an" in dancer, I pronounce as "Anne". Dance itself I pronounce either way, never can make up my mind...

I suspect this may be partially the influences of being part of the British kingdom, but having a lot of American TV/movies over here.
 

DarkSongofErrin

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Eeek, who else is looking foward to Footy season starting back up again?

Which team do you go for?

Me, I'm a West Coast Eagles fan, I've also been known to go for The Dockers. I have a slight loyalty to Collingwood, but only if they're not playing either WCE or The Dockers, and only because my step-dad and my Aunty and Uncle go for them and I have to keep peace with in the family.


Can't wait for the footy to start, then they can finally focus on the sport and not all the other stuff that is happening. Though I hope that is solved before it starts. The only downside is with the coming of football it means summer is over. And tigers all the way!
 

French Maiden

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Cant wait for summer to be over.
The only thing I dont like about the footy season is when I have to stay at Ronald McDonald House with my son, the footy staduim is just down the road and the crowds keep my son awake lol. But the atmosphere is incredible and all hte Blue and Yellow from my boys the Eagles is wonderful to see.
 

clee984

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I'm a brit, but one of my bezzies is an aussie, he's a fireman, and he was telling me that his job often requires him to attend car crashes, use jaws of life etc. I thought that sounded quite traumatic, so I asked him if they received any psychological training in preparation for the things they were going to see.

He said yes, they do. And he's already had the training. It's three words: "man up, princess."

Which made me laugh quite a lot. I thought that was very australian type humour.
 

French Maiden

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Yep deffinatelly an aussie frame of mind.

'Suck it up Princess.' Is quoted daily in my house.

The only thing that I find negative about this is that mental illness ie. depression, is sometimes considered a weakness among both men and women because of the 'build a bridge and get over it' attitude.
 

Caitlin Black

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LOL.

Also, I didn't realise that logo was actually our new state logo... (I'm in SA.) I've noticed it around quite a bit today, and just thought... well, nothing. It looked like just some sort of sticker. *shrug*

Poor Tasmania!