Top Ten Series: Words We Have Added to our Lexicon

 

R took this photo on his last visit to Pittsburgh. If you don't know why he found it amusing, you can read the reason at the bottom of this post.

The other day our I heard both of our boys say within a thirty minute period, "I'm stuffed!"  Neither one was referring to his stomach.  Rather, both had run into difficulties, on with his homework and the other while playing a computer game.  It got me thinking, "How exactly has our vocabulary changed as a result of living in Melbourne?"  We don't go around saying "Good day, mate," nor do we talk about throwing shrimp on the barbie, but we have inevitably picked up a few new phrases and made some adjustments in the way we speak.  Sometimes this is because an Australian phrase is just superior or more fun.  I find it much easier to say "Wednesday week," for example, than "a week from this coming Wednesday."  Other changes we have implemented in order to decrease our chances of being misunderstood.  In the case of our kids, most of their new words have been adopted subconsciously.  

I couldn't restrict this list to ten items.  Instead, here are .... 

 Twenty words that have become a regular part of our family's vocabulary:

 

1.  Icy pole.  Popsicle: I put this first, because even after four years, I can't think of it when I need it.  My kids have no problem remembering it however.

2.  Lollies.  Candy

3.  Cheers.  You're welcome, thank you, all the best, good-bye

4.  Chiller.  Refrigerator

5.  Bin.  garbage can

6.  Toilet. restroom or bathroom.  Unlike the U.S., in Australia toilet is a culturally acceptable word to use in regular conversation.

7.   Queue. line:   Australians don't tolerate queue jumpers.

8.  Bathers. swimsuit:  "We might go swimming, so don't forget your bathers."

9.  Reckon.  think, as in "I reckon we should leave soon."  Most Americans think of reckon as a word straight out of the Waltons or the Beverly Hillbillies, but it's pretty common across all levels of society in Australia.

10.  Regards.  This is often used to at the end of emails, texts and letters:  Kind regards, Christie.

 11.  Sticky tape. scotch tape

12.  Same.   So am I.  This is very useful:  "I'm starving!"  "Same!"

13.  Venue.  Australians love this word.  Even children use it, as in That park is a great venue for a birthday party.   

14.  Esky.  A cooler, often on wheels.

15.  Maths.  This is much harder to say than the American abbreviation for mathematics, but it's become standard for my kids:  I love doing my maths homework.  Actually I have never heard that sentence in our house, but they do refer to maths all the time, while the word sports has become sport.

16.  Doona.  We love our Australian wool doonas (duvets or comforters).

17.  Runners.  Tennis shoes.

18.  Heaps.  Heaps is another word that gets quite a work out in Australia. I don't use it, but our kids do.   I hope I make heaps of friends.  My teacher assigned us heaps of homework.

19.  Rubber.  An eraser.  Since standard school pencils don't have erasers on their tips, we get frequent requests for new rubbers.

20.  Newsagent.  I could devote an entire post to the many ways that shopping is a different experience in Australia compared to North America.  Newsagents are special stores for newspapers and magazines, as the name suggests, but we visit them more for school stationary items and popular trading cards.

No doubt there are many more words that I haven't covered in this post.  Do you have any examples of words you have started using based on a new geographical location?  Please share if you do.

** Nappies are the standar word for diapers in Australia (as well as many other English-speaking countries).  

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Comments

[Cosette]

One of my favorites is fairy floss for cotton candy. I didn't think "cotton candy" could get any better, but there you go. Back in January, I wrote an entry called How to Speak Australian. You can check it out here: http://stumbledownunder.com/2014/01/29/how-to-speak-australian/

[Christie]

Fairy floss is such a great term. I think I need to write another entire post on descriptive words and phrases used in Australia. It is one of my favorite things about living here.

[Cristin]

So funny - I've just been making notes a somewhat similar post. I think al my words are different, though! I love all of these, especially cheers and same, but just can't get myself to say "nappie." I can't explain it, but it sounds a bit gross to me.

[Christie]

I have to agree about nappy. I don't like it either, but fortunately for me, we are past that stage of raising children. I will be interested to read your list!

[Suzanne]

Looks like you will be having some fun seeing the language changes when you come back to the US. Especially with the youngest. You may want to inform the kids that #19 may get a few laughs and jokes if they use it in conversation with their classmates. Quite a different meaning in the US. :)

[Christie]

Suzanne, I think I should have put #19 on my upcoming list of "words that have different meanings in our two countries and that therefore can cause misunderstandings!" I will have to coach them not to use that word, but my guess is that it will be hard for the younger two to remember to say eraser instead, at least initially.

[Jo-Anne]

Loved this post! With an American recently who found the word 'jumper' amusing, instead of sweater. Moving states in Australia also finds differences in terminology and the way words are pronounced. In NSW you don't say 'bathers', it is 'swimmers'. In Vic you say 'port' but in NSW it is 'suitcase', and so it goes. There are quite a few others. The most telltale sign of which state you are from is how the word 'castle' is pronounced. In Vic it is said with a short 'a' as in cat (almost American really) but in NSW it is a long 'a' as in bath (supposedly much more English!). Castlemaine is a cute town in Victoria and it always annoys me to hear Victorians say it. I almost wish to correct them. LOL Maybe they should be correcting me!

[Christie]

Joanne, I can resonate with your desire to "correct" the Victorian pronunciation of castle. I wanted to name one of our daughters Callie, but my Canadian husband couldn't bear the midwestern American pronunciation of the short "a" vowel sound in that particular word. The way I pronounce Callie has nasal overtones to it, so we had to strike it off the list of potential names. It is the only thing about American pronunciation differences that has bothered him.

[Suzanne]

It is interesting that so many words have different pronunciations on the same continent. I wonder if any other language is the same. Does Spanish sound different all around South America? I'd be curious to find out.