"Tis the everyday Australian
Has a language of his own,
Has a language, or a slanguage,
Which can simply stand alone.
And a "dickon pitch to kid us"
Is a synonym for "lie",
And to "nark it" means to stop it,
And to "nit it" means to fly.
And a bosom friend's a "cobber,"
And a horse a "prad" or "moke,"
While a casual acquaintance
Is a "joker" or a "bloke."
And his lady-love's his "donah"
or his "clinah" or his "tart"
Or his "little bit o' muslin,"
As it used to be his "bart."
And his naming of the coinage
Is a mystery to some,
With his "quid" and "half-a-caser"
And his "deener" and his "scrum".
And a "tin-back" is a party
Who's remarkable for luck,
And his food is called his "tucker"
Or his "panem" or his "chuck".
A policeman is a "johnny"
Or a "copman" or a "trap",
And a thing obtained on credit
Is invariably "strap".
A conviction"s known as "trouble",
And a gaol is called a "jug",
And a sharper is a "spieler"
And a simpleton's a "tug".
If he hits a man in fighting
That is what he calls a "plug",
If he borrows money from you
He will say he "bit your lug."
And to "shake it" is to steal it,
And to "strike it" is to beg;
And a jest is "poking borac",
And a jester "pulls your leg".
Things are "cronk" when they go wrongly
In the language of the "push",
But when things go as he wants 'em
He declares it is "all cush".
When he's bright he's got a "napper",
And he's "ratty" when he's daft,
And when looking for employment
He is "out o' blooming graft".
And his clothes he calls his "clobber"
Or his "togs", but what of that
When a "castor" or a "kady"
Is the name he gives his hat!
And our undiluted English
Is a fad to which we cling,
But the great Australian slanguage
Is a truly awful thing!
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There is nothing more colourful than the spoken word, whether it is the Queen's English a regional dialect or a touch of slang.
And this amusing and educational piece proves it.
Andrew -
being an aussie,some of the slang words i know,but some "never heard of them cobber".i think you mean crook, not cronk,never heard of castor or kady.a girl is called shiela,and our cry is "she'll be right mate"meaning everything will be ok.
LMAO though loved it though,we always get razzed for our slang,but we can handle it,have a captain cook is have a look,goodonya mate -
hee hee, this was cute... i liked the part about his lady-love, my daddy calls me his tart, so i found that quite amusing...
-=MJ=- -
haha...this flowed so greatly, and i was surprised to see so much slang mixed in here....a true learning experience for me....
i should visit australia some time...
anyway...peace
chris -
Tickles The Funny Bone
This was really a joy to read! It was quite informative and had me laughing...partially because it reminded me of something....
Awhile back someone commented on one of Gecko's sexy poems and made a comment that included "wearing pasties"...which is funny because pasties in Australia are little veggie filled pastries, right? So, naturally, Gecko didn't quite understand the wearing of pasties. So, I left a comment to let Gecko know that, as with a lot of things, here in America "pasties" means something else entirely....
Here in America a "shag" is a hairstyle...a "bum" is not your posterior, it's a homeless person...if you "smoked a fag" you'd be on your way to prison (smoked=killed, fag= a crude term for a homosexual) and pasties...well...they are decorative nipple coverings, and are usually not edible!
Anyway, I thank ya for sharing these little bits of "slanguage"...I've actually heard some of these terms used my my Australian friends.
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This is funny, I moved to Australia five years ago and about the only slang I hear are fair dinkum and Doona!! But thats Sydney, go out bush and you'll hear a lot more slang, this was a fun and interesting poem Thanks for sharing
Lakota xx -
I actually learned something myself here. Some of these words, alas, are no longer in use - shame really
Anyways I promoting it hoping you who may read may learn something of value
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