conversation about Australian’s fun use of language, and accent ‘Strine’. So much fun. By the time we returned to the US three years later, our kids’ accents could not be distinguished from that of Aussie kids. Within months they had completely resumed speaking like Americans.
One particularly fun thing is the use of nicknames they have for each other, depending on where they lived. My favorite is ‘banana benders’ for those from tropical Queensland. Others include ‘sand groper’ for those from Western Australia ‘gum suckers’ from Victoria and reference to the proliferation of Eucalyptus. There’s also ‘Taswegians’ for those from the island of Tasmania.
Others I don’t recall.
The other fun thing they did was rhyming slang, as in ‘trouble and strife’ for wife. The use of opposites was fun too as in calling a redhead ‘bluie”. The words of “Waltzing Mathilda” are a good example of Australian language.
We never warned to vegemite, but enjoyed wonderful food, including the most delicious Chinese food ever. All my memories of Australia are great.
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