Australian Lingo

Sooooo I've been meaning to write a post about this for a while. I was really keen during my final exams.... but I decided that was not the time.... I will try to regain the vigor.

Soo Australian English is full of slang (as in I received a slang dictionary from Uni Adelaide AND St. Marks). And though I read these.... they really weren't much help.

1). Australian entails taking a short word and making it shorter. This includes, but not limited to: Breakfast- Brekkie (and adding ie to everything... bikkie, trackies, cabbie, barbie, footie, sunnies etc), Afternoon - Arvo.  Mozie -= mosquito, vego = vegetarian.

1a) These are used in a official sense as in Burger King (here Hungry Jacks) advertises "brekky at 7)

2). They need more words. It gets very confusing. Tea ,though usually dinner, can be lunch (afternoon tea) or actual tea. The famous Chip v. Chip debate. (ie hot chips or crisps in the attempt for clarification.... though mix ups are not uncommon). Torch instead of flashlight (you can imagine how shocked I was when first day I was told to 'keep a torch next to my bed). The Biscuit v. Biscuit (sweet biscuit = cookie.... though cookie is really catching on and savory biscuit instead of cracker.) A larger variety of words would save a lot of trouble.... but that would be too much mouth movement.

3). Slang can be super platonic or super sexual. Be careful... especially rooted (its supposed to mean exhausted .... but you can see other connotations)

4). It not uncommon for people to comment on how "stralian" or "bogan" based on the amount and what buzzwords they use... some are much more country.... think Crocodile Hunter on one end of the spectrum.

5). Some words are just like us.... except butchered beyond compare. IE. Tomato (toMAto) sauce, any japanese company (hyundi, nisson), Aluminum (al-lu-MIN-i-um) 

6). Their common words are our uncommon words. We use them... but not to the extent. Includes: keen, heaps, reckon, cheers, top-quality (to describe a person) , spew, cooking (as is somebody is very drunk) ,

6a) or use american words differently aka pissed = very drunk.

7) Some favorite phrases... A fair go = a chance, far out = NO WAY or SHIT THAT SUCKS or  VERY BUSY, Rugged up = bundled up, chunder= throw up, chunder train = somebody who due to drinking is going to vomit soon, gone bush = peaced into the wilderness, top bloke, and of course "She'll be right" = no worries, it'll work out, fuck it I'm over it. Good on ya = "general term of approval" as quoted by the dictionary. Rock up = to arrive/show up, walkabout (wandering around ... also  when a drunk person disappears , woop woop = up in the middle of nowhere Australia - american translation boonies or shitsville .

8). Some are impossible to get without a definition. Ie Esky = cooler. Icy pole = popsicle (you'd think I'd get that... but with the accent its tricky) , op shop = thrift store, snag = prawns,

9). They use (or shorten) official names of things as names. Very Classy As in Utility truck (our pickup truck sorta) is a Ute and the gas station is instead a petrol station, napkin = serviette

10) or the british names as in Jumper (sweater) and runners (sneakers) or loo (or more commonly here "toliet"... not restroom.... a bit crude i'd say)

11) Saying Mate is not a sterotype. It's also a beneficial way to cover not knowing somebodies name.


Thats all I can think of atm... :)

Adelaide Adventure: Victor Harbor

PENGUINS PENGUINS I DID IT AND IT WAS AWESOME. LITTLE TINY PENGUINS. 3 hours travel return and 22$ bus ride I made it. It was a beautiful Sunny day. So it turns out they don't run penguin tours at dusk anymore due to lack of interest. So I got to go to the rehabilitation center and see all the decreped penguins (missing eyes, etc) BUT DON"T MATTER. If anything it was better because it was a small enclosure and they just sort of stood there and let us look at them. BEING SO CUTE. I also got to watch feeding time, where they were more active and I got to learn some facts. The penguins aren't on Victor Harbor itself, but right off the coast on Granite Island. You could take a horse pulled tram to get across the bride... I opted out since it was quite cold (at that point) for lethargic transportation. After seeing the penguins.... I realized a huge flaw in my plan. After penguins, I had no plan. In my hasty excitement to get to the penguins I did NO OTHER RESEARCH. So I was like... now what? I explored the island a bit which was actually pretty cool. And then, neglected the scenic route to explore the city, which looking back on wasn't the best move. (Granted I was REALLY hungry). Because there really was no city. I walked along a cuteish strip, looked around (a tattoo parlow next to a lazer tattoo and hair remover), went to a cute lolly shop. had lunch and ended up reading Pride and Prejudice on my kindle in a cafe.... prob should have opted for the earlier bus. OH WELL. HERE ARE PICTURES. (Sidenote, I also remembered my camera could vido tape.... and that it fit in my trusty Adventurer Indiana Jones Leather Backpack... so it should have come on all the adventures.)

Horse Drawn Tram

Devil Penguin

Selfie... Pretty difficult with a DSLR, and this was my only attempt

Out the Bus Window!

(I even saw a wild kangaroo! Very exciting... despite what you would imagine, its very uncommon down here... )

More Bus Pics from the Phone (Creepy Bus Guy commenting on my photo taking... had to switch)

(STRUGGLE BUS WITH THE VIDEOS! Sorry, they don't seem to be working :/. Dad don't fear I got your tututututu.

Thats it for my Adelaide Adventures.... onto packing!

Adelaide Adventure: State Library

Sooo I am officially done with North Terrace and museums. So as you may or may not know, Adelaide is the capital of South Australia. So they have the State Library. My last token to check out. This was after a failed attempt to send Will a care package (sorry bud... 30$ for some food to arrive in 3-5 months....) But after that and being told by some random guy that "those shoes are fucking ugly", I ready to continue my day with a smile (but really.... they were just runners not very offensive). Anyways, caring my decrepit care package I finally made it to the Library.

  They had some exhibits advertised. I wandered around a gallery by Flinders University that was a commentary by Aboriginal artists as well as sold some of their artwork. Pretty Neat. But the best thing was ending up in this wing.

Real Bookshelf porn. Serious. Amazing... so many old books.

Including this charmer:

So that was that. I then walked to Salvos where I was told "You really have a good eye... you always find the treasures in here. Do you do this a alot?" It felt good to be validated about my current business venture. Below are some classic aussie trees from my walk.

Also, I don't know if I let this blog know, but a couple weeks ago I dyed my hair red! More intense than normal. After a couple a weeks of becoming dormant,.... it's back, hooray!

Anyways onto LITTLE PENGUINS AT VICTOR HARBOR on Thurs. See you then :)

Adelaide Adventurer: Port Adelaide

So dad you'd be proud I WENT ON A TRAIN. (Modes of transportation complete). Me and a friend went to the train station and boarded the Outer Harbor line to (20 min) to Port Adelaide... very exciting :).

So we we first got there... it turns out Port Adelaide is on a river, not a harbor. Which is interesting. Sort of reminded me of Monterey Bay with the old brick buildings and smallish streets. The thing to see was the lighthouse, which we inevitably climbed. A bit unimpressive compared to the one I went to see with Mom on the Oregon Coast, but it was still pretty neat. We then went to the Sunday Markets right next door and walked around the vintage jewelry, books and model planes. I was a lot bigger than I expected. And like on Manley we found enormous licorice!

St. Marks Octopus?

We then went to the Maritime Museum. Which was actually pretty cool. It had a big model boat and plenty of other artifacts. It discussed the migrants plight to Australia and the military history of the region.

We then got Ice Cream and hopped back on the train!

Later that night, we went to see a free Choir/Organ concert at St. Peter's Cathedral. It was actually really really amazing.... so many story/poem ideas. Some songs were just meant to be played on the organ. The free wine post show didn't hurt either :) I went back to snap a picture of the inside. (And for clarification, that large phallic thing is indeed Jesus.... but the lighting here nor last night helped the matter hehe)

All in all a successful day after two whole days spent reading.