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Barracking for Obama and wearing thongs

by Jamie Snashall on April 12, 2008 in Befuddled Foreigner

I haven’t yet taken a look at ‘the lingo of the gringo’ and today is as good a day as any to compare Australianisms with Americanisms.  Before I get started, thongs are worn on the feet and not on/around the derriere!

When you meet someone here, they will often say ‘What’s up?’  At first, I was totally perplexed and answered ‘Nothing’s up.’  Then I realized it’s much the same as Aussies asking ‘How are you going?’, which is not a question about the mode of transport proposed for getting somewhere, but more an all-purpose way of saying ‘Hello’ or ‘Gday’.   Of course, usually it’s abbreviated to ‘Owyagoin?’.

Speaking of abbreviations, what’s up (!) with people signing off their emails with ‘Best’?  Best what?  Simply the best?  Personal best?  George Best?  Email etiquette in Australia says that if you’re familiar with the person with whom you’re corresponding, you can end the message with ‘Cheers’, otherwise go with ‘Regards’ or ‘Best wishes’.

Other people at KSG urge you to ‘Reach out to me’ if you have further questions that the email exchange might not have resolved.  I don’t know about you, but I think of two things here:

1.      We’re talking about Levi Stubbs and the Four Tops OR

2.      It could be vaguely suggestive

Obviously I need to get out more, right?  That reminds me of a sign at the bank when I opened my account last August – ‘Free personal checking’ it said.  Did this mean someone would grab you at random and subject you to poking and prodding?  And, if so, could I request a beautiful single woman to do my personal checking??  Before I got too carried away, I realized it was about a checkbook and check account, which back home we’d spell ‘cheque’.

Then there’s a ‘restroom’ instead of a toilet – who goes there for a rest? – and those devices floating in the water are ‘boo-ees’ not ‘boys’ apparently.  The mind boggles.  What would Senator Larry Craig say about boo-ees in the restroom?

And when we cheer on our favorite sporting team, we barrack for them.  You guys would call it ‘rooting for the team’ … but such an expression could invite wildly divergent reactions in Australia!

I should end this posting … momentarily.  And I mean that in the American sense (very soon, in a moment) rather than the Australian sense (for a moment or instant)!

 

Written by Jamie Snashall · Filed Under Befuddled Foreigner 

Jamie Snashall grew up in Tasmania – that little island to the south of Australia – which made him something of a befuddled foreigner in his own country. The English novelist LP Hartley once said "The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there," and many Aussies would think that that perfectly describes Tasmania, a former British penal colony for the nineteenth century convicts who were too bad for Sydney. Banished at the age of 13, he ended up in the nation’s capital, Canberra, where he became a political junkie, worked as a very civil servant for some years before jumping into the political arena as media and policy adviser to Julia Gillard, who has recently become Australia’s first female deputy Prime Minister. His weaknesses are U2, Star Wars, Thai food and red wine, preferably all mixed up together. In his spare time, he is trying to finish a TV sitcom about a college student and civil servant who are roommates. When not writing this blog and working on his sitcom, he is allegedly enrolled in the Mid Career MPA program.

Comments

One Response to “Barracking for Obama and wearing thongs”

  1. John B Sheffield on April 13th, 2008 5:55 am

    It’s good that whenever you think of “Reach Out” that Levi Stubs and The Four Tops comes to mind, my first single I ever bought was The Four Tops, Motown music was always being played at home, my brother was 12 years older and then my first live concert was the Four Tops, I told Mom we had an away rugby game and then told my school I had to go to the dentist. Just 14 and I had never been to the City on my own before, I changed out of my school uniform at the railway station and travelled 28 miles on the train, what an adventure. Never did I think I would get to interview and play the For Tops records on the radio.

    Now the words for me in 2008, are Change and Hope, that is on all my websites and yes that makes me think of Barack Obama, he may not be as old as Hillary and McCain, but when did age guarantee the Right Experience, I do Believe he can Unite and he will work hard for the Chnage he brought to Chicago and Illinois.

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