Australian English
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- Category: English
- Date Submitted: 05/01/2011 03:46 AM
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Strine:
‘Stralyan Slang from Singlet and Stubby
The question “What makes us Australian?” has underscored Australian politics and culture since the Second World War.
Is it the colour of our skin?
No; immigration means that 10% of all Australians are now of non-European extraction.
Is it our culture?
Perhaps, but there are hundreds of different cultures co-existing in Australia, again, due to immigration, and if we were to take White Australian Culture as national, then - how unique is it really in comparison to New Zealand, Canada, the U.K. and the like?
“Ah!” I hear you say, “But what about our language? Now that’s something we almost all have in common.”
All right then, does our language make us Australian?
Not at all, it couldn’t be more uniform. We, as Australians, use the same English as one-and-a-half billion others worldwide.
Or do we?
There are three important distinctions. The first, vocabulary, is our extension of the Language. The second, colloquialisms, is our modification of the Language. The third, pronunciation, is the accent with which we speak the language.
According to its editor Dr. Bruce Moore, the newest edition of the Oxford Australian National Dictionary is anticipated to include more than 14,000 distinctly Australian words and meanings. Words from the Convict Era such as Swag, from the First World War such as Aussie and Furphy, from the Contemporary Era such as Removalist and Benchtop, negative words such as Bludger, positive words such as Battler and Larrikin, and the more recent: Bogan and Ranga.
Bogan, meaning ‘Fool’ or ‘Hooligan’, first appeared in the 1980s. Bogan has since screamed onto the scene, replacing the former regional equivalents: Westie, from Sydney and Melbourne, Bevan, from Queensland, Chigga, from Tasmania, and Booner, from Canberra.
Ranga, a derogatory term for someone with red or orange hair, derives from the word ‘O-rang-utan’. It rose to fame with the Australian Television satire Summer Heights...
‘Stralyan Slang from Singlet and Stubby
The question “What makes us Australian?” has underscored Australian politics and culture since the Second World War.
Is it the colour of our skin?
No; immigration means that 10% of all Australians are now of non-European extraction.
Is it our culture?
Perhaps, but there are hundreds of different cultures co-existing in Australia, again, due to immigration, and if we were to take White Australian Culture as national, then - how unique is it really in comparison to New Zealand, Canada, the U.K. and the like?
“Ah!” I hear you say, “But what about our language? Now that’s something we almost all have in common.”
All right then, does our language make us Australian?
Not at all, it couldn’t be more uniform. We, as Australians, use the same English as one-and-a-half billion others worldwide.
Or do we?
There are three important distinctions. The first, vocabulary, is our extension of the Language. The second, colloquialisms, is our modification of the Language. The third, pronunciation, is the accent with which we speak the language.
According to its editor Dr. Bruce Moore, the newest edition of the Oxford Australian National Dictionary is anticipated to include more than 14,000 distinctly Australian words and meanings. Words from the Convict Era such as Swag, from the First World War such as Aussie and Furphy, from the Contemporary Era such as Removalist and Benchtop, negative words such as Bludger, positive words such as Battler and Larrikin, and the more recent: Bogan and Ranga.
Bogan, meaning ‘Fool’ or ‘Hooligan’, first appeared in the 1980s. Bogan has since screamed onto the scene, replacing the former regional equivalents: Westie, from Sydney and Melbourne, Bevan, from Queensland, Chigga, from Tasmania, and Booner, from Canberra.
Ranga, a derogatory term for someone with red or orange hair, derives from the word ‘O-rang-utan’. It rose to fame with the Australian Television satire Summer Heights...