Australian Vocabulary

Ever wonder what in the world Australian's mean when they say certain words or phrases??  I know I do. Well if you're curious, here are some answers to the most common words and phrases used in the Australian culture.

Outback - remote, sparsely populated area
Jackaroo - type of agricultural worker
Paddock - field
Mate - friend
Dinkum - true
Sheila - woman
Bludger - someone who is lazy
Bung - 1) broken, 2) person pretending to be hurt
Bluey - person with red hair
Jumper - sweater
Slinglet - sleeveless t-shirt
Sunnies - sunglasses
Pluggers/Thongs - flip-flops
Biscuit - cookies or crackers
Bikkies - biscuits
Rockmelon - cantaloupe
Sarsaparilla - root beer
Maccas - McDonald's
Goony - Plastic cask
Gin - older Aboriginal lady
Esky - portable cooler
Prawn - shrimp
Shrimp - someone who is short
Barrack - hoot or cheer in support of something
Root - a noun and verb referring to the act of sexual intercourse
"Sticky Wicket" - in a tight situation
"Play a straight bat" - give a non-committal answer
"Shoulder arms" - dodge the question
"Taking it on the front foot" - take a proactive stance
"Taking it on the back foot" - reacting to matters
Footy - football
Ute - utility vehicle
Fourby - 4x4
Panel vans - used by police to transport prisoners
Paddy wagon - panel van
Digger - soldier

Stars and Crosses

September 3, 1901 was the first day the Australian flag was flown and is now celebrated as Australian National Flag Day.  The Australian Flag was actually born out of a competition in the early 1900's.  Anyone was able to participate and send in what they thought would be an appropriate flag for Australia.  The government had a panel of expert judges look at each drawn flag to see which one would represent their country.  The panel looked at:  history, heraldry, distinctiveness, utility, and cost and manufacture.  There were well over 32,000 entries in the contest from men, women, and children alike.
The Australian Flag features the five stars of the constellation of the Southern Cross and the Commonwealth Star, and the combined crosses of St. George, St. Andrew, and St. Patrick.
The union of crosses represents Australia's early settlers.
The Commonwealth star with its seven points represents the unity of the six Australian states and the seventh point stands for all Australian territories.
The stars of the Southern Cross stands for the geographic position in the Southern Hemisphere.
The Commonwealth star stands for the federation of states and territories.
The crosses represent the principles on which on Australia is based, namely, parliamentary democracy, rule of law and freedom of speech.
http://www.flagaustnat.asn.au/history.php

Australian Born Country Star

Keith Urban has become one of the most listened to country artists in the past decade.  He is a lone singer with his several cd's.  He was born in New Zealand and raised in Australia, then moved to the United States where he made it big time in Nashville, TN as a recording artist.

To read more about Keith Urban's biography go to this link:
http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/urban_keith/bio.jhtml

How about some music from down under?

Aboriginal Australians were the continent’s first musicians, passing down their culture through songs accompanied by wind instruments like the didgeridoo. The first non-Indigenous music was rooted strongly in folk, with early bush ballads lamenting the hardship and isolation of a new land. Successive waves of settlers - starting with British, Irish and Scottish convicts – continued to shape this tradition. Country music grew out of this tradition and by the 1930s was a huge part of Australia country life. Jazz emerged during the 1920s and grew strongly in popularity, particularly after the Second World War. Australia is well known for its original rock and popular music, with foundations laid by artists such as Johnny O’Keefe, the Easybeats, AC/DC, INXS, Men at Work, Crowded House, Midnight Oil, John Farnham and Olivia Newton-John. Opera in Australia started in the early 19th century and today Opera Australia is one of the world’s busiest opera companies and has the spectacular Sydney Opera House as its home. Each of Australia’s eight states and territories has a symphony orchestra and the smaller Australian Brandenburg Orchestra and Australian Chamber Orchestra also have world-class status. Australia’s many migrants from around 200 countries continue to enrich Australian music.


http://www.australia.com/about/arts.aspx