# Do we really speak the same language?



## newtoOZ (May 24, 2007)

Sometimes it seems Australians speak a totally different language. I guess I'm used to the differences between British English and American English, because we hear and read them so often. Even the way words are strung together seems odd sometimes.

When I was in grade school we were taught 'Waltzing Matilda' in our twice-weekly music classes. I remember not having a clue what the words meant. Still don't.

Do we really speak the same language?


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## Skillage (May 21, 2007)

Lets be frank newtoOz..
We all speak ENGLISH 
everyone speaks our language, i think its just americans and aussies who speak their own slang, like us english people, we have slang language which we spoke.


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## newtoOZ (May 24, 2007)

Someone asked me about my removal company. Remove what? Spots from my rug? Then I learned that removal companies are what we call moving companies. I'm starting to wonder if I'll ever get it all straight. Oooops. Sorted out.


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## tygwyn (Apr 20, 2007)

newtoOZ said:


> Someone asked me about my removal company. Remove what? Spots from my rug? Then I learned that removal companies are what we call moving companies. I'm starting to wonder if I'll ever get it all straight. Oooops. Sorted out.


So are you from England or America? In the UK we called them removal companies too?


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## newtoOZ (May 24, 2007)

I'm an American, so I think the differences are much greater. I have to pick up the differences between English and American English, then add the Australian changes on top of that. Who was it that described the US and England as 'two countries divided by a common language"?


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## tygwyn (Apr 20, 2007)

newtoOZ said:


> I'm an American, so I think the differences are much greater. I have to pick up the differences between English and American English, then add the Australian changes on top of that. Who was it that described the US and England as 'two countries divided by a common language"?


Not sure who described it as that but I love the expression - I'd actually use that for English/Australian too - we may speak the same language but there are many many differences (some of which can land you in serious trouble.....or at least embarrassment!!)


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## newtoOZ (May 24, 2007)

I had one at work. Someone wanted to 'table' something. At home that means set it aside and don't work on it any more, put it on the table instead of the desk. Here it means that it should be discussed. I had no idea what was going on!


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## tygwyn (Apr 20, 2007)

newtoOZ said:


> I had one at work. Someone wanted to 'table' something. At home that means set it aside and don't work on it any more, put it on the table instead of the desk. Here it means that it should be discussed. I had no idea what was going on!


Well I fell for the 'routing' quote! (in the UK that means searching......in Oz it means something completely different!!!!!!!!!)


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## Guest (May 28, 2007)

> Do we really speak the same language?


NO. It's nearly as bad as the American language. Anyone coming to Australia for the first time will need a translation dictionary before they get off the plane...


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## newtoOZ (May 24, 2007)

Do I need two, one to get to the common British things, then another to move on to the Australianisms? The 'table' thing, it turns out, is a difference between American and British English.


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## Hazel (May 30, 2007)

*I too wonder if we speak the same language*

I'm from South Africa (former British Colony) and 50 % of the Aussies I speak to really battle to understand me. I think most of it is to do with the different inflection we use....like I mean the sing-song way they speak is different to the way I speak. I don't know if this is why for sure....just my guess. I also get a bit confused with the different slang. Sometimes I just have to make a wild guess as to what a certain phrase means...and sometimes I just ask straight out. It gets tricky when I feel like I have to "translate" my perfectly good English into just another type of perfectly good English. Now I'm starting to not make sense even to myself! hehehe.


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## tygwyn (Apr 20, 2007)

Hazel said:


> I'm from South Africa (former British Colony) and 50 % of the Aussies I speak to really battle to understand me. I think most of it is to do with the different inflection we use....like I mean the sing-song way they speak is different to the way I speak. I don't know if this is why for sure....just my guess. I also get a bit confused with the different slang. Sometimes I just have to make a wild guess as to what a certain phrase means...and sometimes I just ask straight out. It gets tricky when I feel like I have to "translate" my perfectly good English into just another type of perfectly good English. Now I'm starting to not make sense even to myself! hehehe.



Translating! Thats a word I've used a lot since I've been here. Me and my Aussie friend very often have conversations where we're trying to explain to the other what the hell we're talking about!! Her 7 year old daughter really confused me once by using on of my words 'Crisps' (they call them Chips here) and straight away my head was trying to translate it!! 

Very confusing!! 

Keep an eye on your daughters accent - my daughter was 6 when we arrived - 7 1/2 now - and shes starting to 'sing' when she talks!!


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## newtoOZ (May 24, 2007)

The whole chips, crisps, french fries thing is enough to drive you mad. We have problems like that within the US, too. In Massachusetts, a milk shake doesn't have ice cream in it. The thing with ice cream is called a 'frappe'. In Maine it is called a 'cabinet'. We also have confusion over bubbly soft drinks, 'pop' and 'soda'.


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## Hazel (May 30, 2007)

Rach, my daughter has **already** started to sing. It's so weird, cute, strange, wonderful - mixed feelings....I'm **sure** you know what I mean!! When she's with her friends she is almost full-on Aussie...but then when she gets home she starts to lose it except for her l's - those heavy l's have stuck . My final feeling on that is that I am happy she is assimilating because we plan to go for citizenship. When in Rome and all that....and I wanna stay in Rome!!


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## tygwyn (Apr 20, 2007)

Hazel said:


> Rach, my daughter has **already** started to sing. It's so weird, cute, strange, wonderful - mixed feelings....I'm **sure** you know what I mean!! When she's with her friends she is almost full-on Aussie...but then when she gets home she starts to lose it except for her l's - those heavy l's have stuck . My final feeling on that is that I am happy she is assimilating because we plan to go for citizenship. When in Rome and all that....and I wanna stay in Rome!!


Yep I agree completely. We're going for citizanship too - only 14 months until we can apply (which will be 2 years from when we received PR!).


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## newtoOZ (May 24, 2007)

I find myself going sort of sing-song once in a while. I tend to mimic people around me, sound a little southern when I'm in the south, stuff like that, so I suppose it was to be expected.


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## attagirl (Apr 25, 2007)

I think that sometimes Americans fail to realize that they are not speaking proper English and that is why they have a hard time when going to other countries that speak English. Americans add a lot of unnecessary words.


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## Hazel (May 30, 2007)

What unnecessary words do Americans use, Attagirl? How interesting! I can't think of any : -)


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## newtoOZ (May 24, 2007)

attagirl - What do you mean we aren't speaking proper English? I've commented on differences here, but I certainly haven't accused anyone of not speaking correctly. 

American English is closer to old English than English English. It has not drifted as far from its roots. Shakespeare would be more likely to understand me than Hugh Grant.

I, too, would love to know what those unnecessary words are? Are you a native speaker? Because usuallly it is people who speak English as a second or third language that complain about unnecessary words like 'a', 'an', and 'the'.


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## kendra (Aug 4, 2007)

Ive got a theory about differences in oz accents. In Southern oz and Tas, words are pronounced with more rounded vowels, a more"English" way. In the Top End, words are slower with stretched vowels "Gdaay maaate owyagoooing". Its bugs! The more flies and bugs around the more you have to keep your lips almost shut and force the word sounds out. try it! Wonder if I can get a grant to study it hehe


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## newtoOZ (May 24, 2007)

Oh, I love that. I wonder if it applies to any American regionalisms. Hmmmm. The heat makes southerners drawl, but we knew that already.


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## kendra (Aug 4, 2007)

Just realised no-one has explained "Waltzing Matilda"
Once a jolly swagman (_wandering tramp_) camped by a billabong (_lake_)
Under the shade of a coolabah (_eucalypt_) tree
& he sang & he watched & waited till his billy(_teapot_) boiled
Who'll come a waltzing matilda (_walking with a "swag" eg bedding bundle_)
with me

Down came a jumbuck (sheep) to drink at the billabong
up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee
And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tucker bag (_food sack_)
Who'll come a waltzing matilda with me
Up came a squatter(_landowner, owner of the sheep. Called squatters_ _because the English and Australian government had offered free land to anyone able to farm it, unfortunately there were strict rules about land occupation. The squatters were not allowed to leave the land to work elsewhere, and due to the poor income at first from the land, many squatters had to sell their land cheaply to rich landowners who could afford to bend the rules.A squatter became a term for Australian rich "nobility")_
mounted on his thoroughbred (_ordinary Aussies could barely afford a basic horse)_
Down came the troopers(_police_)one,two, three (_typical to outnumber __an unarmed hungry man_)
Whose that jolly jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag
You'll come a Waltzing matilda with me (_bring your gear, you're off to jail_)
Up jumped the swagman, jumped into the billabong
You'll never catch me alive said he (_I'd rather die than lose my freedom to wander)_
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong
Who'll come a waltzing matilda with me


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## Hazel (May 30, 2007)

Wow and thanks Kendra!!!!!! What an asset you are to this forum. I really did need that. I sang that song at school as a little girl because we did an Australian concert when we were 10 year olds...we all sang that song but didn't know what we were singing....just enjoyed it anyway. I always wondered what a billy was. I always thought it was a tin can that they cooked in! I'll be printing this out.


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## kendra (Aug 4, 2007)

A billy is tin can shaped, with a handle and lid. Sometimes a dent is made in the top lip for pouring, and food can be cooked in it but its mostly used for tea.
A traditional method to settle the tea leaves (which always had a gum leaf added for flavour) was to swing the billy 3 times at arms length overhead and back down. I have a vivid memory of a friend demonstrating this to some overseas guests. Unfortunately he'd had a beer or two and stopped the procedure with "three" billy above the head position! Don't think he helped the image of Aussies much!


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## newtoOZ (May 24, 2007)

The kookaburra song was a lot easier to comprehend. I think the music teacher had a 'translation' of Waltzing Matilda, but it certainly didn't stick. We soon moved on to Christmas carols, anyway.


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