Australianisms

Is that even a word? I'm not sure, but it is the most appropriate title for this posting. I returned this morning from a road trip through my home state of New Mexico with a van full of Australians. It was a ratio of six to one. My good friend Fiona and I have often made jokes about how we both (supposably) speak English, yet there are time we don't understand what the other is saying. This was obvious in some of the interactions on the trip so I decided it would be good to capture these exchanges and bridge the language and cultural divide for others. Smile!

One evening Fiona's mom Carol mentioned she left something in her wardrobe. I commented that was the first time I'd heard someone use "wardrobe" in a sentence. She asked what we call it. I told her "a closet." Her husband Gordon clarified that to them a closet is a toilet (bathroom) - a water closet. That interaction is what sparked the following dictionary list. Enjoy!

gob: mouth ("Put it in your gob.")...it gives a whole new meaning to gobstoppers.

skiting: gloating ("That was a skiting comment.")

sultanas: otherwise known to Americans as raisins...imagine looking for sultanas in a grocery store. Nope, we don't have any of those, ma'am.

serviettes: napkins

hoonin': driving fast and erratically ("He was hoonin' down the road.")...I assure you this word doesn't make any more sense if it is repeated five times in a different tone of voice. To me, hoonin' just doesn't mean anything. Despite my protests, I am told it is a legitimate word, not a fabrication.

car park: parking lot

foot path: sidewalk...traveling on a foot path is not taking a hike, just so you know.

boot: car trunk ("Put it in the boot.")...not put the boot in the trunk, the trunk is the boot. Got it?

fairdinkum: are you for real? seriously? ("Fairdinkum!")...this one is fun to say, I recommend reading it aloud.

eskie: cooler ("There is water in the eskie.")...where exactly is that?

rompin'-it-in: easy, no problem ("Do we have enough gas?" "We're rompin'-it-in.")...Must be said fast, with all the words running together to get the full effect. Yet, another saying that does not become any more clear the more you hear it. I asked Gordon to repeat it at least five times, then I still required an explanation and spelling before I got it.

port: not a place to park boats, but rather a hard shelled suitcase. Short for portable. ("Look in the port.")

buckleys: used in a conversation about the World Cup - no chance of winning. ("That team is buckleys.")...I thought buckleys was a person. It was hard to follow the conversation until I discovered otherwise.

My personal favorite:
spit the dummy: throwing a tantrum

For further explanation...
dummy: baby pacifier

chips: as in, fish and chips. Americans call them fries. There is a funny story to accompany this one. Gordon, Fi's dad, had ordered a couple of meal deals at Macker's (a.k.a. McDonald's). They didn't give him the fries. He went up and requested his "chips." He came back with a cup of ice. I guess I wasn't the only one confused by the language barrier.

I hope you enjoyed this cultural lesson courtesy of the 2006 road trip through New Mexico with Fiona and her family. Good times had by all!

NOTE: the spell check on my computer didn't recognize these words either. Carol, Fi's mom spelled them for me prior to this posting...I knew I wasn't alone in my confusion.