Are Aussies REALLY like that?

[Rustyoznail]

I get a few questions about the Aussie attitude to, well, pretty much everything. I'm sure EB, Bramblethorn, SJ, and others get the same.

This quote is from one of the AFL footy coaches and is in one of the major newspapers today.

“We are all big boys. I am sure Jono Brown is OK with it. He will call me a dickhead the next time he sees me and I will probably call him one as well, so we move on pretty quickly.”

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/we-are-all-big-boys-hardwick-takes-a-swipe-at-critics-20210811-p58hpl.html

Pretty much sums us up.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Yep. We call a spade a fucking shovel, and how deep do you want the hole? We cut down tall poppies, don't tolerate fools, but take a laid back attitude to most things that make a Spanish siesta look busy.

We'll take the piss on a regular basis (now that LAdawg knows the meaning) but will slap you on the back, buy you a beer, and call you maaate. Yanks and Brits are fair game because we're neither but have historical allegiances to both - a bit like being best friends with your best mate's wife - and Canadians are okay because they're part of the Commonwealth and their town halls, like ours, probably have old portraits of Her Maj on the wall.

Our actors do the best American accents, which is why they're all in the best movies these days, and even Meryl Streep couldn't get the Oz accent right. Our music rocks, and we still have Kylie Minogue.

Also, drop bears. What's not to like?

 

[SisterJezabel]

At least Hardwick has finally admitted he's a dickhead!

Another thing creeping into the Aussie vernacular is calling each other C*nt as a term of endearment- "Oi, C*nt! How's ya goin ya mongrel!"

 

[Rustyoznail]

At least Hardwick has finally admitted he's a dickhead!

Another thing creeping into the Aussie vernacular is calling each other C*nt as a term of endearment- "Oi, C*nt! How's ya goin ya mongrel!"

I blame the Scots for that.

 

[ElectricBlue]

At least Hardwick has finally admitted he's a dickhead!

Another thing creeping into the Aussie vernacular is calling each other C*nt as a term of endearment- "Oi, C*nt! How's ya goin ya mongrel!"

That's been around for decades, though. Mongrel's the newer term, isn't it?

 

[jaF0]

and we still have Kylie Minogue.

Seems like 80 years ago, I was watching some BritCop show and they mentioned that name as escorting her into an airport or something, showing some pictures off in the distance. Had never heard the name before that and haven't since until now.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Seems like 80 years ago, I was watching some BritCop show and they mentioned that name as escorting her into an airport or something, showing some pictures off in the distance. Had never heard the name before that and haven't since until now.

You've just signed a gay death warrant. Just sayin' .

 

[SimonDoom]

I look forward to visiting someday. I've wanted to go there for a long time.

It amazes me, when I look at a map of the place, how empty and unpopulated Australia still is. The contiguous US and Australia are close in size, and we've got 330 million people and you've got 25 million. From what I've read almost everyone lives in a handful of cities, and they're all within a thin sliver of land near the sea. Do you folks like to get around and explore your country? Have you been to all the different regions of it? There are still regions of the USA I haven't explored much. I've spent almost no time in the South, for example. I've never been to Houston, or New Orleans, or Charleston. Or plenty of other places.

I would think it would be curious to live in a place like Perth, which sounds like an extremely livable city with a great climate but which is about as remote from any other urban center as any major city on Earth. It's like 2000 miles from Melbourne, isn't it?

I imagine one would have to spend a month or so to get a real flavor of the place because it's so big.

 

[Bramblethorn]

It amazes me, when I look at a map of the place, how empty and unpopulated Australia still is. The contiguous US and Australia are close in size, and we've got 330 million people and you've got 25 million. From what I've read almost everyone lives in a handful of cities, and they're all within a thin sliver of land near the sea.

Pretty much, yeah. Kind of like how coal mining is held up as an emblem of blue-collar work in the USA even though you could fit all the country's coal miners into a mid-sized town, rural Australia has a big (IMHO oversized) part in the Australian national psyche even though most of us don't live there. That's how we end up with accountants cosplaying as farmers *cough*.

Do you folks like to get around and explore your country? Have you been to all the different regions of it? There are still regions of the USA I haven't explored much. I've spent almost no time in the South, for example. I've never been to Houston, or New Orleans, or Charleston. Or plenty of other places.

Depends how finely you define "the regions". I've been to all of the eight major states and territories (though didn't see much of WA) and lived in three of them. But there are plenty of places within those that I've never been, and I only ended up touring Central Australia when we had a US guest to show around.

(Been to NOLA three times, though not since Katrina.)

I imagine one would have to spend a month or so to get a real flavor of the place because it's so big.

At least.

 

[holliday1960]

There are still regions of the USA I haven't explored much. I've spent almost no time in the South, for example. I've never been to Houston, or New Orleans, or Charleston. Or plenty of other places.

Well, all I can say is you should come visit sometimes, Simon. Come to my house on Saturday night and you'll see all kinds of wildlife you ain't never encountered before. As for that ol' silver fox (EB) who keeps yapping about how great OZ is... well... he's really a dingo in disguise. You better watch him close... or he'll steal your baby.

 

[SimonDoom]

A question that just occurred to me that I never thought about before:

Does the Australian accent vary much by region? If it does I'm totally unaware of it. If it does, how?

 

[Rustyoznail]

A question that just occurred to me that I never thought about before:

Does the Australian accent vary much by region? If it does I'm totally unaware of it. If it does, how?

Nope, not really. There’s important things like what you call a glass of beer, but none of the regional variations you get in England or the USA.

 

[oggbashan]

My first Australian favourite was June Bronhill:

https://youtu.be/JSL9TV67ihc


Years later, my favourite Australian was Patsy Ann Noble, later Trisha Noble.


https://youtu.be/WXY7z1G8N3Q


Much later it was Judith Durham.

https://youtu.be/KrLTe1_9zso

 

[Bramblethorn]

A question that just occurred to me that I never thought about before:

Does the Australian accent vary much by region? If it does I'm totally unaware of it. If it does, how?

Variations are more class-based and remote vs. urban than between states.

 

[oggbashan]

Variations are more class-based and remote vs. urban than between states.

It is possible to distinguish between the residents of the various state capitals by word usage rather than an accent - so you would know someone from Adelaide as opposed to someone from Brisbane, but the Australian accent can be broad or slight. Place or education seems to have little influence. But Aussies vary how they speak according to who they are with rather than by nature. A broad accent means nothing about education... and almost all Aussies can speak standard English if they want to.

 

[jaF0]

To be absolutely positively 100% honest and open, the only two Aussie voices I'm familiar with are Paul Hogan and Olivia Newton John and I'm not sure either is typical of what a common Aussie would sound like. I can't recall ever meeting an Aussie in person.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I can't recall ever meeting an Aussie in person.

That's because they're all working in bars in London. Can't move in London without tripping over Aussies and a few Kiwis. About 1% of Australians are in the UK at any time.

They're just laid-back slightly more sweaty Brits, so fit in just fine.

As for Kylie, I remember when her first single "I should be so lucky" had just got to no.1 for the 8th week in a row and you couldn't move in England without seeing media coverage of her and Jason and the rest of the Neighbours crew. Then I went to America and there was zero awareness of any of them. Bliss!

Then she made a comeback around 2000 and survived cancer and became a matriarch of pop music.

 

[KeithD]

Our actors do the best American accents,

They certainly do a lot better than a Brit trying an American accent (or an American doing a British accent, I admit, from several years being an American on stage with Brits in British plays).

 

[SimonDoom]

Did any of you ever read In A Sunburned Country, by British-American author Bill Bryson? It's a loving but very funny travelogue about his time in Australia. He has a humorously neurotic bent, so you can just imagine how he reacts to all the deadly fauna and the extremely causal native attitude toward it.

He has a chapter reflecting on the fact that Australia is the only major country whose prime minister just disappeared one day -- in the surf off the beach.

EB's right about accents. Most Ozzie actors nail American accents. I rarely find any fault with them, yet even as an American I can tell when American actors aren't getting British accents, or Australian accents, right. I think it's easy to overdo the Australian accent, because of media, especially Crocodile Dundee, the appeal of which was always lost on me.

To my ear, the Australian accent is like mixing the English accent with the Texas accent. It's British-ish, but with lots of drawl and some swagger and casualness. It's relatively easy to understand, unlike the Scottish accent.

 

[TxRad]

Simon, I've spent time in Australia on several occasions and yes Texans and Australians do get along fairly well. I was told several times that Texans were Australians with slightly better manners.

Oh yeah, and you haven't missed anything by not going to Houston. Stop short of there and I'll show you the real people of east Texas. It ain't the people in Houston.

 

[Payne_Hall]

Also, drop bears. What's not to like?

Damn those drop bears and it’s amazing that everyone bought the platypus lie, though.

Also, it’s Macca’s, damn it.

 

[CyranoJ]

Wait... Bramblethorn is an Aussie?

The FUCK. This seemingly good person is a descendant of a bunch of filthy criminals and thugs? Shrimp on the barbie? Comin' the raw prawn?

I have to process for a moment.

[/processes for a moment]

Oh wait, that's totally meaningless. I just get to work Crocodile Dundee jokes into our further interactions for the specific purpose of trolling. NOTED. Carry on.

(PS to Bramblethorn: I have literally an endless reservoir of terrible Crocodile Dundee jokes, to be clear. You're going to fucking hate me. But hey. That's what Aussies get. It's just the rules.)

 

[LAHomedog]

I have both my iPhone and my car (a Lexus) set to talk to me with an Australian accent. Both are a very nice, soothing, sexy woman's voice. Soft, but sultry.

 

[CyranoJ]

PPS to Bramblethorn: All the above is /jks of course. Most of my relations live in Australia. Fine country when it's not literally on fire.

 

[oggbashan]

Damn those drop bears and it’s amazing that everyone bought the platypus lie, though.

Also, it’s Macca’s, damn it.

What Platypus lie? Some platypuses have poison on the rear claws. Just pick them up from the front...

They aren't as dangerous as some other Australian wildlife but drunk drivers kill more than the animals.