Down Under Walkabout

The adventures of life and travel in Australia & New Zealand. And now Europe.

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

ANZAC day and Aussie Slang


Yesterday was ANZAC Day (Australian & New Zealand Army Corps). ANZAC was the name given to the soliders of World War I. Since the war, the two countries have denoted one day to the memory and gratitude for all soldiers as well as national pride, much like Memorial Day back home. I went to the ANZAC march (parade) for a while. It was full of bagpipes, marching bands, and veterans. It was really long and somewhat somber, so I didn't stay the whole time.

On a different note, there is a lot of slang down under that I thought might be interesting for everyone back home. This is a list that only has a few of the words I have had to incorporate into my vocabulary.

Oz-Australia
Aussie-Australian
Yanks- all Americans, even those in the South
Kiwi- New Zealanders
mobile (pronuced mo-byle)- cell phone
queue- line
breakie- breakfast
mum- mom
mate- friend, also used to address strangers
g'day- typical greeting, good day
how you going?- how's it going?
you alright?- can i help you?
good on ya- good job
chips- fries
crisps- chips
footy- Australian Rules Football
thongs- flip flops
reli- relative
youse- y'all
no worries- it's ok, no problem , you're welcome (i think it is the motto of oz)
she'll be right- it's ok
arvo- afternoon
entre- appetizer
main- entre
tea- evening meal (they also have morning and afternoon tea which includes tea and biscuits)
biscuits- cookies
bloake- man, dude
barbie- barbeque, or anything on the grill
bushwalking- hiking
heaps- lots
picie- picture
Hungry Jacks- Burger King

There are tons more, but I can't remember them all right now.

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