Do you speak Australian?

If you learned English in school in Sweden around the same time as I did – some 30 years ago – we learned that New York is pronounced Njååå Yåååk (å is pronounced like the French ”eau”) and that a newborn baby is pushed around in a wheeled device called perambulator. Perhaps English is your native tongue? Congratulations then, you will find it a lot easier to get the hang of the Aussie English than many of us foreigners. After one month Down Under, I have noticed some of the following linguistic curiosities:

First of all, women seem to add the word ”luv” at the end of all short sentences. Like: ”how are you today luv’?” or ”have a good day luv’!”. When I say ”thank you”, nobody ever replies with the ”you’re welcome”. Australians replies with ”no worries” or ”it’s not a problem”. ”No worries” is frequently used by the way. When greeting someone, Australians often say ”G’day” or ”G’day mate” just like Crocodile Dundee did in that 80’s movie. Anyone who hasn’t gotten an Australian accent should refrain from using this expression. It sounds pathetic in any other accent, trust me. When people talk about ”Barbie”, they don’t refer to the plastic doll with the tiny waist and the voluptious chest, they talk about barbeque – and Aussies love their barbeques! ”Good on ya” means ”well done” and the friendly-natured Australians say this often. This is probably the same as the Americans ”good for you”, but a ”good for you” from a Swede could very well be sarcastic – depending on the tone of voice – as we Swedes have a tendency to be somewhat grudgy. 

I could probably write some more about this topic but since it’s nice weather and I have some cinnamon rolls in the owen, I say like the Aussies; ”hooroo”.