aussie slang bonzer but bamboozling
the latest issue of national geoographic traveller warns international tourists who think plain english is spoken down under to prepare for what amounts to an entirely different dialect.the article reads: «if australians' tendency to turn one vowel into three doesn't throw you, their quirky expressions might» and suggest one should be on the lookout for terms like «it's my shout», «gone bush», «mozzie», «tinnie», «onya» and «fair dinkum».
the tongue-in-cheek article also defines the word root as «an activity that takes place between consenting adults; in other words, not something to tell a pub full of aussies you'll do that evening for their favourite cricket team».
it's not just a few quaint or eccentric expressions, mates. the macquarie book of slang's latest edition on aussie slang includes 6,000 entries. some of these, say the book editors, have been picked up in other nations: agro, cop shop, demo (as in public demonstration), dinkum, dumper and no-hoper.
but where does all this come from? the australian idiom has evolved over the years from the english spoken by britain's 18th century working class, mixed with the slang of convicts, soldiers and settlers.
source: news.com.au.
