Re: Comprehending British dialect (Re: British v. American Vocabulary)


17 Sep 1995 07:38:06 GMT

In article <19950910.215301.84@bench.demon.co.uk>,
Ben Chalmers <Ben@bench.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>In article <42tc6h$isd@katiska.clinet.fi>,
> lynoure@clinet.fi (Lynoure Rajam{ki) wrote:
>
>
>>
>> I don't know much about Australian English, but are there same kind of
>> problems between it and American and Brittish English ?

Australian words ... hmm ... it's a hybrid of british and american
jargon/slang, mainly.

>I don't think the Gap between British and Australian English is quite as big
>- mainly because the point at which the two cultures seperated is more recent
>than with America.

no .. most of our words comes from our Anglo-Irish-Cockney heritige.

>The main problems are with slang (eg Dunnies vs Toilets), however most of
>these seem to be relatively easy to 'translate' since it appears the standard
>way for Australians to form slang is to replace the last few syllables of a
>word with a y.

not really .. there are a few words (Aussie in particular - Americans
take note, that's pronounced Ozzy, not Ossy) but I'm fairly sure most of
them were inherited Britishisms.

>This is probably a very stereotypical view, however, since my only real
>experience with Australian culture is through soap operas... 8)

Yah .. 'tis ;)

still as far as names go, quite a few with an "r" go to "z" endings ..
Baz (Barry), Gaz (Garry), Shaz (Sharon), Tez (Teri) and these then can be
further mutated by adding "za" .. Kazza (Katherine/Karen), Wozza (Warren)
etc. This is by no means universal <chuckles>.

The most significant differences between US english and Oz english (and
most Americans don't recognise Oz as Australia, whereas most Poms do)
that I've noticed are:
* "Could Care Less" versus "Couldn't Care Less"
* The usage of the word bonk. In the US that's a hit on the head ... in Oz
it's a hit in one groin with another ;)
* Fanny (as mentioned earlier, I think)
* the spelling arse verses ass.
* Plus of course a US burger is defined as a pressed mess of low grade
hifat beef with pickles and cheese and other assorted things that make
McDonalds such a wonderful restaurant. In Oz, a burger has Beetroot,
generally egg, perhaps bacon and pineapple, along with the usual stuff.
Tomato sauce is ketchup. Thousand Island dressing etc. is a travesity.
* A sausage is a snag. Actually a snag is not a snag unless at least 50
of it is charcoaled.

lessee .. "Mate" is not used nearly as frequently as people seem to
think, tho it depends who you are talking to. Bruce is not an uncommon
name, but there are many names more common, and Sheila is uncommon (The
one Sheila I know is a nun, Irish born, and now known by a different name)
In our office, Julie and Karen would be the two most common female names.

--OH.

-- 
America may be unique in being a country which has leapt from barbarism 
to decadence without touching civilisation.
						-- John O'Hara