Australianisms

We've all watched movies where an American goes to Australia and tries to learn the "Australian Way" of saying things. Well, most of the stereotypical phrases I have NEVER heard despite growing up in Australia. Here are some Australianisms:

SHEILA

I personally HATE the name Sheila. Whoever uses it shall get their heads chopped off! And I have never met anyone in Australia who called girls "Sheila".

G'Day Mate

Ok, so I have heard this phrase quite a lot but I think it's become overused and is a definite stereotype for Australian men. I think the word g'day was made famous by Paul Hogan in his Crocodile Dundee films.

Shrimps on the barbie

If anyone actually says this at a bbq, that would be really embarrassing. And the weird thing is that people actually say this with an English accent!

Fair Dinkum!

Apparently this word means "true, real, genuine". I've only ever heard this said in films...

It is also said that Australians are very lazy people. We tend to shorten words so they end with an "ie" with a few exceptions. For example:

Swimming Costume = cozzie

Mosquito = mozzie

Chocolate = chokkie

Tracksuit = trackie

Kindergarten = kindy

Poker machine = pokies

Documentary = doco

Vegetarian = vego

etc. etc. So is this really what sets Australians apart from the rest of the world?! I sure hope not!!!

Liv

xoxx