OT: City Names

From: Geoff Roberts <geoffrob_at_stmarks.pp.catholic.edu.au>
Date: Fri Apr 16 14:32:17 1999

----- Original Message -----
From: Don Maslin <donm_at_cts.com>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp_at_u.washington.edu>
Sent: Saturday, April 17, 1999 6:34 AM
Subject: Re: OT: City Names


> > 1) Everybody speaks English. ('Cepting a few migrants/boat people....:^)
>
> English? I thought you chaps spoke "Strine". At least that's what a
> former neighbor who came from there acknowledged.

Hmm, only partly right at best. Strine is simply english, Australian
accented, with a bit of rhyming slang and a more pronounced drawl. (Paul
Hogan in Crocodile Dundee is about as bad as it gets)
Generally associated with lower/working class/poorly educated types. Rough
bushies and so forth. Cockney would be a rough British equivalent.
Most moderately well educated Aussies speak fairly classical english, in the
British style and spelling useage, just with a different accent. (For
instance, I write virtually in the same style I speak.)

> He allowed as how folks in the east and west have difficulty in
communicating :)

Gross exaggeration if not downright untrue. Just a few local words and
useages. Some Queenslanders tend to put "ay" at the end of every sentence -
Territorian tend to use "but", Victorians say "castle" with a short "a" as
in "fat" while New South Walers say it as an "ar" as "car". For practical
purposes, there is no significant difference in speech between someone from
Perth and someone from Brisbane assuming similar education levels etc.
Compared to the differences between say, Cornish accents and Yorkshire
accents in England, any differences here don't exist. If you want to know
where someone is from, you usually have to ask.

New Zealanders have an accent, (to us anyway) and the way they say certain
words is a dead giveaway.
(Fish and chips in Kiwi would be Fush and chups with the u as in "up")
This accent becomes more pronounced the further south you go. But it
doesn't render them incomprehensible, it's just a little different.

Cheers

Geoff Roberts
Received on Fri Apr 16 1999 - 14:32:17 BST