What if you lived in Australia?

[Hikarufan]

I'm in the North East of Victoria and it rained pretty good here. Horse racing was cancelled here today.

At least the drive got you out of the house for the day.

[SanteeFats]

Saw where an Aussie golfer inPort Douglas got bitten twice by a croc. The golfer is resting in the hospital and the croc was cited for not replacing it's divots.

[forfucksake]

Originally Posted by deepsepia

Is that a lot, in a nation of 23 million?

Australia's homicide rate is very, very low -- and falling steadily. Aussies aren't immune to stupidity, get drunk, get violent, do some bloody business: but they do it much less often than other folks.

That was one of the things that surprised me about Australia-- for a place that prides itself on a rough image, people are more consistently civilized and decent to their fellow mate & sheila than they imagine.

I looked up some stats, and it turns out that, curiously, Australians express more fear of crime than Americans-- but actually have much violent crime than we do. The one exception is rape, where Oz has slightly more than the US (all number as rate per 100,000)

See a comparison of the data here:
http://www.nationmaster.com/country-...d-States/Crime

I've always believed it is because we are not living on top of each other.
A low population density means less opportunity to piss each other off.

[SanteeFats]

Stating the obvious :


Then there is knowing your market !

[Estreeter]

Originally Posted by Motorboater

Drove 280kms from Melbourne to Deniliquin today to participate in car club driving competitions.

Ever been to the Ute Muster in Deniliquin
I went, Once It'll remain just once

[SanteeFats]

Do ya'll really talk like this???

[SanteeFats]

Heard Australia is already preparing for the next winter Olympics.

[Sir Honkers]

Originally Posted by SanteeFats

Do ya'll really talk like this???

People of my generation know the meanings and some phrases are still in vogue, but generally 'strine' as that is known, is non existent.

[jerquer]

Originally Posted by SanteeFats

Do ya'll really talk like this???

As loosegoose pointed out much Australian slang has fallen into disuse among the young at least. When Barry Humphries' and Nicholas Garland's "Barry McKenzie" comic strip from Private Eye was published in book form, Humphries produced a glossary of McKenzieisms, "Barry's choice words and phrases explained for the benefit of: Poms, magistrates, fourth form schoolboys, nuns, Harry M Miller, customs officers and consenting male and female adults in private".

When Bruce Beresford asked Humphries how many of these were genuine and how many were simply made up, Humphries claimed he'd picked them all up in conversation over the years.

[effCup]

Originally Posted by SanteeFats

Do ya'll really talk like this???

Only two of those phrases seem unfamiliar expressions this side of the ditch: mad as a cut snake & flat out like a lizard drinkin'. The latter is common, however, just abbrev. to flat out.

Note that some/many seemingly "Australian" expressions have roots offshore, e.g. cockney slang, Ireland, etc. I don't say there's been no adaptation just that it's generally far less than is often/widely assumed.

There was an excellent tv doco. series called The Story of English in the mid-1980s, a joint Canadian & (?) PBS/WGBH production, I think presented by Robert McCrum. It might even be available online?

Among other topics it explored the historical roots (Scotland, Ireland, etc.) of what are sometimes thought to be "American" (English) expressions, the cyclical mobility of pronunciation (vowels) over as little as 50 years, and various other such fascinating stuff.