In another article article we analyzed the difference between Bristish and American English; but English is the official language or widely spoken in other countries, today we talk about Aussie English, English spoken and written in Australia.

The Australian English has fewer substantial differences with the British one than the American one, although some features are really interesting!

There are those who bring affinities back to a geo-political matter, on the one hand we have America, which – originally an English colony – has gained its complete independence from England, and Mr. Noah Webster drew a further line of demarcation between the two worlds, giving precise indications on what the American language should have been, on the other we have Australia, still part of the British Commonwealth.

Lexically speaking, the Australian English is perhaps reminiscent of the British one; many Australian common expressions derive directly from English and several extinct expressions in England have survived in Australia.

Per esempio, in Inghilterra l’espressione “Good day” per “Buongiorno” è ad oggi praticamente scomparsa a favore di “Good morning/afternoon/evening/night” a seconda del momento della giornata in cui ci si trova, mentre sopravvive ampiamente in Australia, specie nel linguaggio informale, anche se la troverete scritta “G’day”!

For example, in England the expression “Good day” has practically disappeared in favor of “Good morning/afternoon/evening/night” depending on the time of the day you are, while surviving widely in Australia, especially in informal language, and you find it in writing as “G’day”!

And here we anticipate another characteristic of the Australian, which is to shorten the words or create diminutive forms for the original English terms, while maintaining its full meaning, for example:

• Aussie = let’s start from the most significant of the terms, Aussie, that stands for Australian!
• Arvo = afternoon
• Barbie = barbecue… Yes, I know, we find it a bit funny here, just think of the phrase “Let’s have a barbie this arvo!” keeping in mind that for many Italian girls “Barbie” is a toy that has accompanied their childhood!
• Brekkie = breakfast
• Chardy = chardonnay wine and here we leave winemakers from all over the world any commentse 😊.
• Chockie = chocolate
• Doco = documentary
• Exy = expensive (relatad to a price)
• Flatty = flat tyre
• Journo = journalist
• Lappy = laptop computer
• Mozzie = mosquito
• Pollie = politician (person)
• Reso = reservation
• Sanga = sandwich
• Servo = petrol station or service station
• Techo = technical (adg.)
• Truckie = truck driver
• Veggo = a vegetarian person

There are also other typical words of the Australian speech, such as:

• Mate = informal term for “friend”, an Englishman would say “buddy”.
• Pash = it is a passionate kiss, a term now obsolete and very little used in England, where it means “crush” or “infatuation”.
• Ta = it means “thank you”, more informal and direct!
• Big smoke = it means big city, like Sydney.

Other locutions even derive from contaminations of the London “Cockney” set of linguistic expressions in rhyming and a particular accent. Essentially, Cokney replaces the word with terms that rhyme with that particular word, for example “phone” (phone), in Cockney becomes “dog and bone”. Let’s see some Australian examples:

• Billy lids = kids, the equivalent of London’s “cockney” “dustbin lids” or “tin lids”.
• Dead horse = tomato sauce
• Frog and toad = road, exactly as in the original Cockney!
• Loaf of bread = head
• Rubbity dub = also used in England
• Tin tank = bank
• Uncle Gus = bus

Basically, when we talk about English, we are talking about a language that has different characteristics, usages and nuances of meaning depending on the country where it is spoken, on which the history and culture of that specific country have had great influence! Language & culture, always together!

In any case, British English is the “passport language” to move around the world and our TAILOR MADE COURSES, they are waiting for you to give your English that extra boost ;)!