Australian vs. American English vol.2

Originally inspired by Kristen's post on Olya's blog about Expat Word Confusion, I wrote a blog post a while ago about those funny ways that both Australians and Americans speak English...but at times, we speak different versions of the same language.

I was inspired to write a second installment when I saw a Texas friend on facebook complain about June bugs.......

..............you know, those annoying insects that fly and scare the bejeezus out of you that show up the first month of summer, and they are called "June bugs"...well, the first month of summer in Australia is December, so they are called "Christmas beetles".

A "cell phone" is used in America; in Australia, they are called "mobile phones", and they are pronounced (mo-BILE) as in "rhymes with mile".

"Gasoline", as in the fuel for your car, Aussies call this "petrol"; so, you stop at a "petrol station" (instead of "gas station")...

...or "servo" (instead of "service center").


Oh, and the Australians love that use of "o" to shorten/abbreviate words....

Avo is an avocado

Muso is a musician; Journo is a journalist; Doco is a documentary; Ambo is ambulance

The Salvos is the Salvation Army

Arvo is afternoon

(A bottle shop is a liquor store)

At the "bottle-o", you could pick up some "grog" (because grog is an all-encompassing term for alcoholic beverages, and bottle-o is short for bottle shop)

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They may serve "grog" at a "hotel" because sometimes a "hotel" is a "pub"; and sometimes a "pub" offers accommodation, so it's called a "hotel", but sometimes it doesn't have rooms, yet it may still be called a "hotel", or just a "pub".

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If that one didn't confuse you enough, this one is still somewhat confusing to me at times.......

A ute is short for "utility vehicle"; sometimes, it is a truck, but often looks more like an El Camino

Enough for this volume? 

Well, if it wasn't, you can read volume 1 here...

...until next time.

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Australian vs. American English

I saw Kristen's post on Olya's page about Expat Word Confusion.  You know that I can relate (but opposite).  So, I thought I'd share my contribution to word confusion.

Yank - Australians refer to all Americans as Yanks.  Believe me, when I am directly referred to as a Yank, they are corrected.  Politely.  Because I'm from the South, and we have manners and such.

"The shits" - in Aussie speak, this means to be annoyed, aggravated, or angry at someone.  The first time I heard it this guy was telling me about an argument he was getting into with a co-worker and how he got "the shits".  I was trying to figure out how a person could give you diarrhea just by being annoying.

Rubber = eraser - I can never get used to my 7 year old step-son sitting at the table, doing his homework, and asking me for a rubber.

Coriander - The first time I went to buy cilantro, I walked up to the herbs and didn't see it.  I thought to myself "this stuff labeled coriander sure looks like cilantro, it smells like cilantro, let me taste...yep, tastes like cilantro too."  I figured this out all by my little lonesome.

Root - To root for something in America means to support, to cheer for, to want something good to happen (like for your favorite team to win); In Australia, to root means to f*ck.

Biscuit - in Australia, this is sorta kinda a general term for cookie or cracker; a good ol' fashioned American buttermilk biscuit is one of the most difficult food items to explain to Australians when they have no point of reference. 

Pudding - in Australia, it means cake (again, sorta kinda); American pudding is sorta kinda like a custard - but neither is truly exactly like the other.  Confused, yet?

Dummy = pacifier; in America, it's a nicer way to say idiot.  A parent of a baby asking me to hand her the dummy and pointing at her child in the stroller (pram, in Australian)...because child had dummy/pacifier in mouth...well, I didn't know if she was calling her child an idiot, or what.  But, I'm sure the look on my face showed confusion.

Rubbish bin = Trash Can; After living here six plus years, I get these words jumbled.  Sometimes, I've been known to say trash bin and rubbish can.  People listening to me just need to go with it.

Thongs* = flip flops; you can imagine how this could cause some confusion.
 *No gif attached because silly me googled "thongs gif", and I saw way too many ass pictures to focus on trying again. 

This list could continue on and on and on and on... I still have some word or phrase that I encounter, and I'm like...huh???

Thanks again to Kristen and Olya for this great idea of a post!