“I’ll take tomatoes on my sandwich,” I said, pronouncing it American style as toe-may-toes without thinking. To which the woman making my sandwich quickly replied, “You mean te-mah-tahs.”
And then I couldn’t resist saying, you say tomatah, I say tomatoe. But my sandwich maker didn’t laugh. She just looked at me like I was a few sandwiches short of a picnic. (Isn’t that the best Aussie expression ever?)
So much for my ongoing quest to fit in with the locals. Even though my attempt at humor failed, I’ve been learning some great new Aussie slang on this trip. Here are a few favorites:
• They’re charging like a wounded bull: This is said when a store is charging very high prices.
• Chalk and cheese: Things that are very different and have nothing in common. “It’s like chalk and cheese” is interchangeable with the phrase apples and oranges.
• Yakka: Work. Last night, my sister-in-law Kylie referred to an old job she had as tough yakka.
• Bottler or corker: Something that is excellent. You can say “what a bottler” to refer to a cute baby or even a new car.
• Dob in: Turn someone in, get someone in trouble. Used as: don’t dob me in for telling you this.
• Sheepshagger: A New Zealander, also known as a kiwi.
• B&S: Bachelor’s and Spinster’s ball: Big parties that are usually held in small country towns for teenagers. They’re an excuse for them to dress up in formal wear and drink cheap alcohol until early in the morning. Many bring their swags (beds) to sleep in their utes (trucks). Breakfast is also included. I would equate it to an American high school prom.
• Strine: Australian slang and pronunciation. In fact, Strine is what I am writing about right now.
{ 3 comments }
When I was a kid at camp, we sang a song that went “My girl’s a corker, she’s a New Yorker, I give her everything that money can buy…” Thanks, I never knew what a corker was!
Sharon,
Glad I could help with that definition! And thanks for sharing that memory. I had a similar experience. When I was a kid, we sang the “Kookaburra sits on an old gum tree” song. Until I came to Australia, I did not know the bird or the tree.
Now this is funny! I’m referring to the tomato/tamato!
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