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Sling me some slang - and a comp

Sarah Mayberry's picture
Submitted by Sarah Mayberry on Sun, 2007-05-27 12:51.

One of the things I like best about being an Australian is our colorful slang. Sure, we speak English like much of the Western world, but our local sayings really reflect the down to earth nature, anti-authoritarianism and good sense of humour of most Australians.

So, this week I thought it might be fun to share local sayings and turns of phrases. I'd love to hear your slang or lingo or whatever you call it Up There (as opposed to Down Under!). To get you inspired, here are some of my favourite Australian sayings:

Dryer than a dead dingo's donger - very thirsty
Busier than a one-legged man at an ass-kicking competition - very busy
Flat out like a lizard drinking - very busy
Bangs like a dunny door - likes to have sex a lot
He/She's a sandwich short of a picnic Or He/She has a 'roo loose in the top paddock - a bit crazy.
Like a rat up a drain pipe - taking advantage of something/someone with undue alacrity
Lower than a snake's armpit - deceitful, sneaky
Rare as rocking horse shit - very rare
Spit the dummy - throw a tantrum

Alright, over to you. As usual with my Monday postings, a winner will be randomly selected from amongst the registered members who participate in the fun. The prize will be all three of my recent Blaze Secret Lives of Daytime Divas (Take on Me, All over You, and Hot for Him). If you have these already, I'll dig into my backlist for some of my earlier books.

Looking forward to learning some new phrases to casually drop into my water-cooler conversations...

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I love your slang

Submitted by Samantha Hunter on Sun, 2007-05-27 14:14.

Having gotten to know you, I have to say I love even the little words you drop into conversation, like "gagging" or such -- so much so you've been rubbing off on me through email (I'm so impressionable...).

I don't know what slang I use -- probably all of it dates me -- LOL, I sort of prefer "retro" slang like groovy, cool, nifty, super, neat, and Brit terms like wanker, bolloxed, etc and I fall back on Yiddish now andd then, though I'm not Jewish. ;) You see it pop up in my books now and then.

Regionally, we tend to say someone is "up a crick" (creek, though if you live here, it's said "crick") when they're in trouble, I also tend to use "screw the pooch" a lot for a mess up, though I have no idea where I picked that one up.

Interesting, we use it so naturally, it's hard to think of objectively, though it falls off the tongue when we need it. :)

Fun question. :)

Sam

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Cricks and creeks

Submitted by Sarah Mayberry on Sun, 2007-05-27 21:40.

I actually don't realise how many slang words I drop into my everyday language. When we were living in New Zealand, I cracked a whole table of storyliners up by responding incredulously to someone with "Fair dinkum?" (which means pretty much "are you yanking my chain or is that true?). It's one of the most cliched of Australian sayings,and I couldn't actually believe I said it on a regular basis...but apparently I do. We have up a creek, too, but being Australians we make it as crude as possible by saying "up shit creek without a paddle". I adore screw the pooch. Again, a phrase that needs to be on higher rotation in my vocabulary. Plenty of opportunities given my work situation at present...

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Slang

Submitted by Stacy S on Sun, 2007-05-27 16:06.
Those are great. I've never heard those before. Here's acouple: deader than a doorknob- your battery has no charge, dumb as a box of rocks- stupid, cowboy up- toughen up.
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I love...

Submitted by Sarah Mayberry on Sun, 2007-05-27 21:34.

...Cowboy up. That's so cute and funny - I'm definitely slipping it casually into conversation ASAP. Another cowboy oriented one is "All hat and no cattle" meaning a prentender (or, as we'd say down here,a wanker). It's an American one, though, I think...Better cowboy up and get ready for work now...

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all hat and no cattle

Submitted by euripides on Mon, 2007-05-28 10:50.
oh, cute. Love it. In the outdoors/military its "all the gear and no idea" or the pommy version, "all the clobber, what a knobber" - same deal, got all the gucci kit but no idea what they are doing. Oh yeah.. gucci gear, a gucci bit of kit - that's anything a bit new, flash or high-tech. From my army days it would be "that's not in my grid square" (ie someone else's problem). We also use the phrase "pers admin" short for personal administration, referring to any sort of personal or domestic paperwork or business (such as phoning home, haircuts, etc usually done during the lunch break). Such business needs to be 'squared away' - ie, tidied up. Most of the really good aussieisms I know aren't really printable! (er, I'm and Aussie too btw...!) Euri
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G'day

Submitted by Sarah Mayberry on Wed, 2007-05-30 08:22.

Well, hello fellow Aussie. Love Gucci up and Gucci kit etc. Definitely straight into the verbal grab bag. And yes, a lot of my favourite aussieism are too crude for this site. We're a class bunch, eh?

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Alas, since I live in New

Submitted by OV099 on Sun, 2007-05-27 19:02.
Alas, since I live in New Jersey, I guess all of what people think our local slang is is everything ever said on the Sopranos. LOL :) But while I've been a Yankee my whole life (ugh, hate that phrase since I hate the Yankees and love the Mets. . . the baseball teams. . .), I do tend to type y'all a lot, simply because I'm a lazy bum. ;) Lois
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I love the sopranos...

Submitted by Sarah Mayberry on Sun, 2007-05-27 21:32.

...but the only bits I can remember are the swear words!My sister in law just came back from 7 weeks in the States, and we were looking at video of New Jersey last night. I almost feel like I've been there myself...

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Slang

Submitted by Maureen on Sun, 2007-05-27 20:59.
Here are some from my teenagers that I understand. Most things they say I have no idea. true that - that's true my bad - my fault BFF - best friend forever
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Sooo hot right now...

Submitted by Sarah Mayberry on Sun, 2007-05-27 21:29.

I just saw Reno 911, and "my bad" got a good work out. Very funny! Thanks for playing, Maureen.

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More...

Submitted by Samantha Hunter on Sun, 2007-05-27 21:18.

I also steal a lot from TV -- Buffy especially, since Buffy-isms are the most fun with language I think you can have.

Also, thinking of Friends, which really did have everyone doing the Chandler "could you BE more annoying?" etc.

Not all TV shows can get into the linguistic water this way, but it's cool when they do.

Sam

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Slang words

Submitted by Danette (not verified) on Mon, 2007-05-28 04:03.
the only slang I can think of at the moment is hala- oooh or Oh my goodness choice or mean - something/someone good/cool
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Danette

Submitted by Samantha Hunter on Mon, 2007-05-28 13:14.

Welcome to Cigars! I hope you'll come by regularly, but if you want to qualify for contests, you need to register on the site -- it's easy, just sign in up at the left -- just wanted to say so so that you didn't miss out. :)

Sam

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Thank You

Submitted by Danette on Mon, 2007-05-28 18:48.
Hi Sam, Thank you for the warm welcome and letting me know about the sign up.I'm officially a newbie :) Hugs, Danette
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Hala-ooh

Submitted by Sarah Mayberry on Wed, 2007-05-30 08:19.

Danatte, is this hala-ooh as one word, or just hala, meaning oooh? I like both ways, but I want to get it right!

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Hala

Submitted by Danette on Wed, 2007-05-30 20:13.
Hi Sarah, It's hala( huh-la)I'm pretty sure that's the spelling,I got it from my kids,they're constantly saying it to each other whenever one does something bad. Hugs,Danette http://nenscl.blogspot.com
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Hi Sarah

Submitted by Mads on Mon, 2007-05-28 23:38.
Slang words, Well let me think a bit. Since I'm originally from Philadelphia, the most common used expression is Yoose Guys. It is used to express more than one person. They also say that's really Fly when someone has on a really cool outfit. A car is known as a Whip. A South Philly Strutter is an Italian Male who thinks he's too cool for words. I live in the upstate Pennsylvania mountains now and the slang expressions really make me laugh. An example of this is: Fart in the wind used when somebody really smells bad. Down the road a piece: can be anything from 1 mile to 5 miles. Road kill pizza is when a car hits a deer or other big animal. Flatlander is someone who moves from a big city to the mountains. There are probably a lot more local Philly and Mountain expressions but I can't think of any more right now. Have a great week. Mads:)
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Go Philly

Submitted by Sarah Mayberry on Wed, 2007-05-30 08:18.

I love the cheese, now I love the slang. Flatlander - gorgeous! And I really like whip for a car. And of course, Fart in the wind is solid gold. Thanks Mads

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hey dog what up, i always

Submitted by kim h on Tue, 2007-05-29 01:36.
hey dog what up, i always say
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I could try this one...

Submitted by Sarah Mayberry on Wed, 2007-05-30 08:17.

...but suspect I might look very silly, being white, middle class and Australian. Still, worth a shot...

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my type of talk

Submitted by Debbie on Tue, 2007-05-29 14:32.
Sarah, I am taking this very seriously because I recently read the third Daytime Diva and am jonesing to get the first two. Jonesing--longing, really wanting something Whatitdo--how are you doing werd--okay hotter than a two dolalr bill--sexy a few cards short of a deck--crazy, mental a brick short of a load--ditzy I know a tone more, but the pressure is getting to me. So, I will regroup and check back later. Debbie
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Jonesing

Submitted by Sarah Mayberry on Wed, 2007-05-30 08:16.

Debbie, I love Jonesing. And it's nice to know the whole world as a lot of slang terms for people being crazy. What does that mean, do you think?

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glad

Submitted by Debbie on Wed, 2007-05-30 20:31.
Sarah, I am so glad you like that! I think it's pretty cool, myself. I kept trying to come up with some of the more fun sayings, I will. whatever floats your boat---do as you please like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs---very carefullu grinning wider than a mule eating berries out of a slop bucker--not real sure but my dad who is 81 and from the south says it a lot poorer than a church mmouse--not really sure what this means I have a whole list of older sayings in a drawer somewhere at home, I'll have to look for it. Debbie
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The only slang I know

Submitted by goddessani on Wed, 2007-05-30 22:48.
comes from Hawaii. Howzit: How's it going? Grind: Eat Oh, and skrilla. That's the local term the teenagers use for money. "I need to make some skrilla so I can go out." I'm not sure of the spelling, though.
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kooky

Submitted by Sarah Mayberry on Thu, 2007-05-31 11:48.

Skrilla is definitely out there. I wonder where it comes from? Benjamins, I get. Moula, etc. But skrilla? Hmmmm.... Definitely intrigued.

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Land of 10,000 Lakes

Submitted by Danie88 on Sat, 2007-06-02 05:30.
lol... im from minnesota... people say we have an accent but i don't see how we do being that i live here myself... the only thing i know is that we have some pretty interesting slang words such as... "don't cha know" and i know that are "o" and "a" are pronounced differently then anywhere else... or so they say...
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