quicko: parcheesi

Australians don't seem to know -- or even know of -- Parcheesi.  When the American photographer (not me!) made a joke about "say Parcheesi" instead of "say cheese" nobody else got it (though they all pretended to.  I saw through them and discovered the truth.).

quicko: slang regarding kids

There's a fair few lexical differences when it comes to things to do with kids -- this list isn't comprehensive, but it's a good start. The site in general is full of general fun facts about Australia, too!

Here's a quote to get you started:

"Want to see a Yank blush? Ask them to "nurse" your baby. It's another of those words that have a completely different meaning in different countries.

To an Aussie, you're asking them to hold your baby, but to an American, they think you want them to breast feed the baby. And yes, this did happen to an American visiting a new mum in the hospital. She was quite flustered and we didn't know why until she finally told us. Could have been worse. We could have asked her husband first."

quicko: not on

Something that is just not done/not right/not cool/frowned upon.  Not updating your blog ... it's just not on.

quicko: pajamas

Evidently the American pronunciation is "also" the Australian one.  (I was congratulated on saying "pajamas" with an Australian accent ... only to discover what the Australian considered to be an American accent for it was ... a non-existent word.)

quicko: bub and mum

If I were to pick the Australian word annoying me most at the moment, I think I’d go with “bub.”  “Bub,” for the Americans reading, is baby talk for “baby” – not the nickname of your psycho neighborhood redneck.

I guess it’s getting my goat these days because it pops up so often in my facebook newsfeed – by adults, who theoretically had long since graduated from baby talk themselves.  One would think.

Correspondingly, I’m also quite un-fond (yes, of course that’s a word) of “mum” and even more un-fond of “mummy.”  “Mummy” is just plainly the wrong word – it’s November, we’re fully past Halloween territory and only an exceedingly limited number of you can claim any real legitimacy to Egyptian archaeology – and “Mum” is too reminiscent thereof.  Besides, it’s weird.

Perhaps you’ve now gathered that the “mum and bub both home and doing well” number is rather topping my hit-list of phrases (along with the perpetually irksome “look like” – “but what does that look like in our lives?”).  It’s not that I mind hearing about new babies (I’d much prefer baby news than preschooler news, if I had to pick), I just don’t like the words.  Looking for an alternative?  Rubber baby bugger bumpers are way better.

quicko: aussie slang

Here's some Aussie slang explained.

quicko: BBQ updates

So I wrote about the BBQ Problem a few years ago, but it has re-arisen.  Several weeks ago, Garry was down for a visit and some friends invited us for a picnic at Balmoral.  Our job was to bring a barbecue chicken.  We dutifully went to Coles and found the chicken, but I was distressed.

"Oh no!  They haven't got any barbeque chickens!" I said.

"What  are you talking about, you're looking at them," Garry said.

"No," I said, "those are just regular chickens."

It was then that it re-dawned on me that, here, regular chickens are barbeque chickens.

quicko: hungry jack's

AKA Burger King.  I don't know how it took me so long to mention that here, but the American chain has been rebranded here as Hungry Jack's.  From what I hear it had to do with a smaller company already having bought the rights to the name here, but that could just be urban legend.

quicko: say what?

This is just too cool not to share: American pronuniciations!

quicko: to come by [something generally slightly undesirable] honestly

Still trying to work out if this is an American thing in general or just a my family thing ... or person we're the only family with need of it.

Basically the idea is that if you do something somewhat unfortunate, like have a propensity to laugh at inopportune times or fall asleep at the wheel or what have you, and your mother or father does too, your relatives all say that you "come by it naturally" or "come by it honestly."

quicko: to shout

Verb.  To buy something (generally a drink or food) for someone else.  As in, "I'll shout a Coke."

Noun.  A person's turn to buy something for someone else (reciprocity is implied).  As in, "My shout."

quicko: leave

Uncountable noun.  Days off work.  (Vacation (AKA annual leave), sick (AKA sick leave), etc.) 

quicko: shower screen

I knew Australians used "windscreen" for a car's windshield, but I just recently learned they also use it for "sliding doors on a shower."

quicko: "traditional owners"

The "traditional owners" of the land in Australia, from what I understand, is the politically correct way to refer to the Aboriginal people who owned the land previously.  I hadn't heard the term in Sydney, but it did crop up a few times on my recent trip to Darwin.  (Okay, I backdated my blog!  So sue me -- no, really, don't, please!)

quicko: the council

i.e., the local government.

Again, a very common, everyday sort of word in Australia.

quicko: body corporate

Another very common Australian term when discussing housing -- this is the company (for lack of a better word) that owns the building with all the units -- some lived in by their owners, and others rented out.  The body corporate is the entity that is responsible for keeping all the common stuff taken care of (locks, new stairs in the hallways, etc.) and often implements strict rules of its own, even for those who actually own their own unit (i.e., no pets).  More or less seen as the bad guy -- or probably more of a necessary evil.

quicko: a unit

An Australian term for "a place that I live that isn't a house."  This could be an apartment or a condo (i.e., rented or lived in by the owner) and is a very common term.

quicko: to do the harold holt

Rhyming slang for "to disappear" -- Holt rhymes with bolt; to bolt is to disappear quickly.  Interestingly of course, Harold Holt is the Australian Prime Minister that did indeed do the Harold Holt -- and vanished into the ocean one day never to be seen again.

These days, it runs more along the lines of "where'd Gina and Jess go?" -- "don't know, haven't seen them anywhere -- they must've done the Harold Holt."

quicko: "in plaster"

At least British (I'm really not sure if it's Australian or not) for "in a cast."

Also, "a plaster" is what Americans would call a "Band-Aid."

quicko: coriander

AKA cilantro.