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Colloquialisms


Guest Nelson

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Guest Nelson

Thought a thread on Oz Speak would be good.. I came across 'sticky beaks' yesterday and thought it was a great way of describing nosey house viewers! Also, an 'eski' being a cool box!

 

A friend of mine told me that she hardly understood a word on the school uniform list and had to ask a local to translate! Perhaps we could all benefit from each other here! :wink:

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Guest ABCDiamond

bring a plate -

when you are invited to a party and asked to "bring a plate", this means to bring a dish of food to share with your host and other guests.

The food can be brought to the party in any type of dish, not just a plate.

This is common for communal gatherings such as for school, work or a club. If you are unsure what to bring, you can ask the host.

 

It does NOT mean "bring a plate, as I don't have enough crockery".

This has happened to some unwary Brits :D

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Guest Gollywobbler
bring a plate -

when you are invited to a party and asked to "bring a plate", this means to bring a dish of food to share with your host and other guests.

The food can be brought to the party in any type of dish, not just a plate.

This is common for communal gatherings such as for school, work or a club. If you are unsure what to bring, you can ask the host.

 

It does NOT mean "bring a plate, as I don't have enough crockery".

This has happened to some unwary Brits :D

 

I've also read that if you attend a funeral in Australia then even if you are certain that you are the sole beneficiary of the deceased's estate, it is considered Bad Form to turn up in your Ute, the better to take their belongings with you later that day. :)

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Just a few more -

 

Light bulbs - Globes.

Dooners - Quilts

Bludgers - Lazy Bas***d

Bindies - Prickles in the grass

Thongs - Flip flops

Sand shoes - Trainers

Pot - Pint of beer

Dacks - Trousers

Tubes - Can/bottle of beer

 

 

I lived there for 15 yrs so I have forgotten more than I can remember!!!!

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Guest Mark'n'Ju
Ok, what's a Ute?????????

 

:oops:

 

Krissa,

A 'ute' is a genral utility vehical.Most 'tradies' (builders) use them

.

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Guest Gollywobbler
i'VE always known ute to be a pick-up style vehicle ,me thinks it basically means something to shift all ya crap

Cal x

 

 

SO NEAR AND YET SO FAR !!!

 

A ute is an ugly contraption. There is a cab-thing at the front (immediately abaft of roo-bars made of scaffolding poles bolted together - none of the itsy-bitsy nonsense seen on townies' 4x4s. ) The back is a box on wheels, minus a lid. With enough rope to hold everything down, it can be stacked high. Useful for transporting sheep, I believe.

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Guest ABCDiamond

If you go to a department store and ask for bed sheets, quilts etc., they will point you in the direction of the "Manchester" section.

 

Most of the the cotton mills in the UK, were in the Manchester area, and for some reason, in Australia, the name "manchester" has stuck to describe bedding and such like.

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Seeing the ads on TV here and also when walking around the supermarkets seeing signs for manchester. Was very confused at first and took a few days to realise that what they call Manchester here is bed linen to everyone else!! :D

 

O and you can't buy alchohol from supermarkets here - spent hours walking around coles trying to locate the VINO before asking a confused looking assistant! :shock:

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Guest ABCDiamond
O and you can't buy alchohol from supermarkets here - spent hours walking around coles trying to locate the VINO before asking a confused looking assistant! :shock:
With some of the older supermarkets, yoiu may find that they have a bottle shop right next door, and that a large doorway has been closed off.

They used to sell it in the main supermarkets, but for some reason the laws must have been changed sometime during the last 20 years.

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The old Ute holden-ute.jpg

 

The New Ute vyiiss.jpg

 

You can get 4 door models aswell see this one: http://www.holden.com.au//images/uploads/gallery_images/crewman/img_crewmanSS_01.jpg

 

PHWAAAA!!!!!!!! These are my absolute bestest vehicles in the world!!!!! I've always wanted a pick up truck, I mean Ute! There's something really sexy about them, can't say exactly what but I luuuuuuuuuurve them! Are they popular in Oz?

 

My next challenge; PLEEEEEAAASE Rich can I have a Ute when we get to OZ?

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Just another quick peek 8)

 

Rich thinks I'm bonkers, dunno why, but he says I can have a Ute when we get to Oz! YESSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!! :D:D:D:D:D:D:D

 

He says we've got connections, I hope they're the kind of connections that pay enough for that silver four door Ute! :wink:

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Guest Gollywobbler
Just another quick peek 8)

 

Rich thinks I'm bonkers, dunno why, but he says I can have a Ute when we get to Oz! YESSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!! :D:D:D:D:D:D:D

 

He says we've got connections, I hope they're the kind of connections that pay enough for that silver four door Ute! :wink:

 

Dear Beki

 

It sounds to me as if Rich might have other sorts of connections in mind this evening.....

 

Speaking of which, Germaine Greer once informed the world that foreplay is accomplished very simply and with minimum of fuss in Australia. I gather that the man merely musters enough of a vocabulary to enquire, "Jer wonny der nod?"

 

Four words in a row would be stretching it for my Australian brother-in-law (of whom I have zero impression, despite having been related to him for 25 years) because the man drives a real ute with real roo-bars and knows a lot about sheep but is monosyllabic to the point where he would have no difficulty at an interview for a place in a Trappist monastery.

 

I have never quite dared to ask my sister whether La Greer was merely being sarcastic about her fellow countrymen.

 

:?:

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Germaine Greer, has a habit of dising Oz, I heard her say once, that the suburbs of Australia were the most boring places in the world. She said, "nothing ever happens in them". That sound lovely to me, I live in a street where there is always something happening, but nothing of any interest to me!

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