How to speak like an Aussie on Australia Day

26th January is Australia Day when we celebrate what is great about our country. We have been suffering lately with bushfires and droughts, but the Aussie spirit, mateship, and helping each other, will always come through. 

So I thought for a little light-hearted fun today - How to speak Australian - abbreviate everything. 

 A couple of years ago I shared this brilliant YouTube video on my blog - How Australian Are You? from Josh Hawkins and Rhys Keir. You can see it here How to Speak Australian

 Here is the list, and I've added a couple of my own....

Australia - Straya

Breckie

Hello - gidday
Football - footy
Biscuit - bicky
Chocolate - choccy
Chocolate biscuit - choccy bicky 
McDonalds - maccas
ACDC - Acadaca
Devastated - dvo 
Definitely - defo!
Aggressive - agro
Afternoon - arvo
This afternoon - s'arvo
 Breakfast - breckie
Tomorrow - tomorra 
Garbage man - garbo
Postman - postie
Taxi driver - cabbie
Musician - muso

Sunnies

Service station - servo
Bottle shop - bottle-o
Registration - rego  
Pregnant - preggas 
Swimming costume - cozzie
Mosquito - mozzie
Tracksuit - trackie
Tracksuit pants - trackie dacks
 Underpants - undies
Sweater - jumper  
Running shoes - joggers
Monday - Mundee; Tuesday - Tuesdee; and so on....
Birthday - birthdee

Chook

Vegetarian - veggo
Lipstick - lippy
Sunglasses - sunnies
Eraser - rubber  
Elevator - lift
Present - prezzie
Christmas - Chrissy
Christmas present - Chrissy prezzie
St Vincent de Paul - Vinnies
Salvation Army - Salvos 
Smoke break (or morning tea break) - smoko
Cup of tea - cuppa
Avocado - avo
Have an avocado -  havanavo
Spaghetti bolognaise - spag-bog or spag-bol
Potato - spud
Chewing gum - chewy
Sandwich - sammo

What could be more Australian - making Anzac bickies

Toasted sandwich - toastie
BBQ - barbie
Sausage - snag
Chicken - chook  
Ketchup - tomato sauce 
French fries - chips 
Mentholated spirits - metho 
Turpentine - turps
Fellow - fella or bloke
Husband - hubbie
Give me - gimmie
Trying to - tryna
Going to - gunna  
Thank you - thanks 
Cigarette - ciggie 
Tin can of beer - tinnie
Ambulance - ambo
Fireman - firey
Policeman - cop or coppa

Tasmania, that island at the bottom of Australia

Bricklayer - brickie
Tradesman - tradie
Rubbish man - garbo 
Toilet - dunny
Umbrella - brolly
Sick day from work - sickie
Kangaroo - roo
Champagne - champers
Cabernet Sauvignon - cab-sav 
Bundaberg Rum - Bundie
Relatives - relos
Expensive - exxy
Brisbane - Brizzy
Tasmania - Tassie
Derelict - dero
Kindergarten - kindy
Big city - big smoke 
Cockatoo - cockie
Television - tellie 
 How are you? - how-ya-goin?
See you later - see-ya 
It will be ok - she'll be right  
good job - good-on-ya
 Put another sausage on the BBQ - chuck another snag on the barbie

There's lots more I am sure. Do you Aussies have some more you can add to the list?
Of course we change names too - like - Tom - Thommo, Shane - Shaneo 

And if you are not confused already - there are also differences between America and Australian words - as demonstrated by Christi (an American) and Mark Brown (an Australian) - Australian versus American words - on YouTube

And a few of our unique Aussie animals - clockwise from top left - Thorny Devil, Koala, Numbat, Dingo, Quokka,  Echidna, Bilby, Kangaroo, and in the centre the Emu

Australia Day is the anniversary of raising the British flag in Sydney Cove on the 26 January 1788 after the arrival of the eleven ships of the First Fleet. 

Whatever you are doing today in Australia or overseas, enjoy your day without forgetting those who came before us, the wrongs of the past, the sacrifices, the mateship, the great moments in our history and the ordinary people doing extraordinary things. They are all part of what makes us truly Australian. 

 Just found this about 1950s Australia.....

 Someone suggested yesterday that today should be renamed Rum Rebellion Day.
 So I investigated to learn more.... 

Governor William Bligh

Evidently 26 January is also significant as the date marking the only military overthrow of government authority in Australia....
known as the Rum Rebellion, on 26 January 1808, the soldiers of the New South Wales Corps marched with fixed bayonets through the streets of Sydney under the command of Major George Johnston to Government House where they arrested Governor William Bligh. from : Australian National Maritime Museum 

Captain William Bligh was the fourth and last naval officer to be appointed Governor of the New South Wales penal colony....When Bligh arrived the colony was in a poor state. Floods, the lack of supply ships and a reduction in convict labour had severely diminished the self-sufficiency of the colony .....as part of Bligh's reforms, Bligh ordered the destruction of illicit stills and prohibited the bartering of spirits for grain, labour, food or any other goods, especially rum, these orders aroused immediate and heated revolt. From My Place for Teachers

 Interesting! Rum Rebellion Day!

For those wondering about the latest bushfire news from Australia - here is the latest news - 9 News-bushfire updates. Bushfires are still raging, and more bodies are being recovered from burnt out properties.

My heart goes out to the families who have lost loved ones, and to the families of the American firefighters who lost their lives in an aircraft crash this past week. They were part of a huge outpouring of help that has come to Australia from all over the world. That they lost their lives helping us is tragic. 

Regeneration after the bushfires

  Thank you for visiting today. You might also like - 
Celebrating Australia Day and Waltzing Matilda
How Australian Are You?
Australia Day - Cooee!

Thank you so much for stopping by. If you are Australian, what are you doing today to celebrate Australia Day? Perhaps you would like to tell us in your comments. 
I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 

I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!

   
All Seasons
MosaicMonday at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf

Our World Tuesday

Pictorial Tuesday 

ThroughMy Lens 

Image-in-ing
My corner of the world through my camera 
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global hosted by Randomosity.

The Lovin' Life Team over at: Deep Fried Fruit

 
 Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.

Thongs are like footprints

It is summer, and I am just reconnecting myself to life after a week away at Summer School in Albany on the south coast of our State. (it was fabulous! - more about that later!)

Yes it is summer. I thank everyone most sincerely for their thoughts and prayers over the last couple of weeks while I have been blogging about the Australian bush-fires. Your comments and thoughts, and those of you who have helped in other ways, really means more than I can tell you. I am happy to report that there has been some relief on the fire-fronts with rain over the past week. However there are still bushfires burning. 

Just this afternoon a suspected deliberately lit bush-fire has started up only about 20kms north of where we live in Western Australia.  It continues to baffle me why people deliberately light bushfires. The water bombers have been flying overhead this afternoon. I feel relatively safe here as we are in the middle of suburbia, but I hope they can put the fire out quickly.

More than 10.7 million hectares of land have burnt so far in Australia’s bushfires – larger than the total area of South Korea, or Portugal, and 1.3 times the size of Scotland. The Guardian - Australian bushfires from the air.

However, not to make light of the situation, but I have decided on a change of pace today, with an ode to the typical Aussie summer footwear - thongs. I planned a couple of months ago to write this ode to thongs - so here it is.

I've borrowed from Australian writer and poet Colin Thiele from his poetry book - "Songs for my Thongs" - this is "Thongs are like Footprints" -

 and "A thong is just a Friendly Sole" -

Thank you so much for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week.  

You might also like:
Summer salad days 
In the summer time
 
I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!

   
All Seasons
MosaicMonday at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf

Our World Tuesday

Pictorial Tuesday 

ThroughMy Lens 

Image-in-ing
My corner of the world through my camera 
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global hosted by Randomosity.

The Lovin' Life Team over at: Deep Fried Fruit

Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.

Making animal pouches with love

The images on our nightly news about the devastation and loss of lives caused by Australia's ongoing bush-fires has been heart-wrenching, but the outpouring of help that has come from all around the world to help Australia has been amazing and heart-warming. It really gives us hope for the future when the world comes together at a time like this. Thank you to all those who have helped.

The news of our bush-fires has obviously gone right around the world. Generous help has come in the form of monetary donations which is being directed to aid community recovery. 

The work being done by firefighters, volunteers, armed services, rescue organisations, medical teams, and ordinary citizens in the fire zones has been incredible.  Thank you.

Thousands of our wildlife (they estimate 1 billion) have also been killed, injured or left homeless. People from around the world have been getting together to make much needed items for our wildlife in crisis. I saw a post the other day about a group of 100 in Iceland knitting for our wildlife. Daily I have seen stories such as this.

You can see some of what is happening and how you can help here at Animal Rescue Craft Guild
and also here  Hello Care
And a little video of what carers are doing: Caring for baby joeys

Today I joined a group making joey pouches for baby kangaroos that have lost their mothers. The pouches are designed to mimic their mother's pouch. It felt good to be able to do something practical to help. 

Below are some of what is being made by people all over the world: 
Sewers: Joey and possum pouches, hanging joey pouches, bat wraps, koala mittens, quilts and blankets.
Crocheters: Birds nests, blankets, joey pouch outers, animal jumpers.
Knitters: Blankets, joey pouch outers,  animal jumpers.
Woodwork - possum boxes  

This is one of the joey pouches I made. There are a few different pattern designs. I should have hung it up so you can see it better.  A rod goes through the top part to hang it up.

Here is how they look in action. So cute.

But more help is needed. I have just read:
There is nothing to eat for the surviving animals. Everything is burned.
So we have to keep scaling up. Every month we will be spending $27,450 to get food, medical, and other items to over 140 carers and feeding stations up and down the firezones. Animal Rescue Craft Guild

I'm taking a little blogging break this week, other than to say there is so much heartbreak, devastation and strife around the world today, please take time out to treasure the natural beauty of our world around us before it is too late. And do what you can to safe our fragile earth.

 This week I have borrowed the animal photos from the net. 

Thank you so much for stopping by. Thank you for your thoughts on my blog last week. I really appreciated your kind words of support. 

I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 
I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!
   
All Seasons
MosaicMonday at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf
Our World Tuesday
Pictorial Tuesday 
ThroughMy Lens 
Image-in-ing
My corner of the world through my camera 
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global hosted by Randomosity.
The Lovin' Life Team over at: Deep Fried Fruit

Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.