Australian English

Grudgingly, Australians have to admit that ‘g’day’ is not a Hollywood stereotype. We really do greet each other that way. And men really do use the word ‘mate’ – when they can’t remember a name, or they want an alternative to ‘um’, or they’re about to stab someone in the back. The traditional Australian concept of ‘mateship’ (loyalty to fellow drinkers) and the requirement that men do favours for each other ‘under the Old Mates’ Act have become tainted in recent times by being used to rationalise corruption in politics and the police force.

Usages that now seem unique to Australian English most often came from obscure dialects spoken by the convicts – like swag (knapsack), larrikin (an amusingly mischievous person), open slather (complete freedom), shout (buy a round of drinks) and skerrick (tiny particle). The original Australians gave us hundreds of place names, and contributed about 100 words to everyday modern conversation – from kangaroo and dingo to ‘gone bung’ (broken), ‘hard yakka’ (work) and ‘within cooee’ (shouting distance).

But many traditional usages are being replaced by Americanisms. Hardly anybody calls women ‘sheilas’ any more, ‘fair dinkum’ and ‘true blue’ would be confined to older denizens of rural areas, and ’cobber’ and ‘bonzer’ went out with the arrival of television in 1956. Sadly, our congratulatory ‘goodonya’ is giving way to ‘go for it’. But we still mystify Americans by referring to an unfashionable person as ‘a dag’ (literal meaning: a bit of wool from around a sheep’s bottom), a pretentious person as a ‘wanker’ and self-indulgent behaviour as ‘a big wank’ (the American translation is ‘jerk-off’).

We’d never throw a shrimp on the barbie (since we call that crustacean a prawn) but we do still like our diminutives. The garbos are likely to have a smoko in the arvo. Unless they’re taking a sickie. And no-one would be surprised to receive an invitation to a poolside party in these terms: ‘We thought we’d give the kiddies their Chrissie pressies by the barbie this year, so bring some tinnies, your cossie and something to stop the mossies’.

1. Study the vocabulary:

amusingly – удивительно

arvo – денек

Australian English – австралийский английский

barbie – барбекю

bonzer – отличный

cobber – друг, приятель

convict – каторжник

cossie – плавки, купальник

crustacean – ракообразное

denizen – житель

diminutive – уменьшительное слово

dingo – динго

fair dinkum – подлинный

g’day – добрый день

garbo – мусорщик

grudgingly – неохотно

kiddie – ребеночек

knapsack – ранец

mossie – москит

obscure – скрытый

original Australian – австралийский абориген

poolside party – вечеринка у бассейна

pressie – подарочек

pretentious – много о себе возомнивший

requirement – требование

self-indulgent – потакающий своим слабостям

shrimp, prawn – креветка

sickie – больничный

smoko – перекур

term – термин, выражение

tinnie – баночка пива

to admit – признать

to become tainted – портиться

to confine – ограничивать

to go out – исчезнуть

to rationalise – рационализировать

to replace – заменять

to stab someone in the back – толкнуть кого-то в спину

true blue – верный, искренний

usage – словоупотребление

wanker – человек, обманывающий себя, отказывающийся видеть правду или действительность

2. Answer the questions.

1. Is ‘g’day’ a Hollywood stereotype?

2. When do Australian men use the word ‘mate’?

3. What does the traditional Australian concept of ‘mateship’ mean?

4. Whу has the concept of ‘mateship’ become tainted recently?

5. By what many traditional usages are being replaced?

6. What Australian words are not used anymore?

7. What words make Americans mystified?

8. What does ‘a dag’ mean?

9. What’s the Australian English for a ‘shrimp’?

2. Translate the sentences from Russian into English.

1. Австралийцы неохотно признают, что выражение ‘g’day’ это не голливудский стереотип.

2. Мужчины используют слово ‘mate’, например, когда не могут вспомнить имя человека.

3. Словоупотребления, которые сейчас кажутся уникальными, пришли в австралийский английский из скрытого наречия каторжников, например: ‘knapsack’, ‘larrikin’, ‘open slather’ и др.

4. Благодаря австралийским аборигенам в повседневную современную речь вошло множество слов – от ‘kangaroo’ до ‘hard yakka’.

5. Многие привычные словоупотребления заменяются американизмами.

6. Теперь такие лексические единицы, как ‘fair dinkum’ и ’true blue’ используют лишь жители сельской местности.

7. Австралийцам нравится употреблять слова с уменьшительным значением.