We live near Darwin, which is in the Northern Territory (pronounced Territry) of Australia, also known as the Top End. Although they speak English there are so many American words that are different here. For example, flip-flops are called thongs. I'm sure you can see where this is going! When we first got here and found a house we had to go sign the rental agreement. When our real estate agent came into the room with the paperwork she said, "Please forgive me, I'm in my thongs today." Although, I knew what she meant, I couldn't even look at my husband for fear I'd burst out laughing.
So, although we didn't have to learn an entire new language, there are some words every now and then that we need clarification on! There are also many words that Americans consider curse words that are not curse words here. We try not to have big eyes when they say them!
Here are a few Australian words and my American interpretation.
Arvo - afternoon
Barbie - barbecue
Biscuit or Bikkie - cookie
Boot - trunk of the car
Brekkie - breakfast
Chips - french fries
Dead horse - tomato sauce (ketchup)
Esky - cooler
Fast - fussy
Lippy - lipstick
Maccas - McDonald's
Mozzie - mosquito
Nappie - diaper
No worries - don't worry about it
Petrol - gas
Postie - mailman
Prawn - shrimp
Prezzy - present
Tellie - tv
Uni - university
Zed - the letter z is pronounced zed
Stop by the Baptist Missionary Women blog to read about other Missionary Wives and their language bloopers!
2 comments:
Ha, having grown up in Papua New Guinea, not far from there, I recognized some of those. We had to be careful not to say a few other things that are totally fine in America, but very offensive to the Australians.
I remember when I was there, we were talking to a sweet Christian girl. She used a word that none of us would have said. She noticed our big eyes. :-)
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