03.06.08

Thanks, Helen!

Posted in Uncategorized at 5:02 pm by Administrator

I was hoping to have a bit more time to continue my travelog of the Philippines, but I’ve only got a short moment. So for now, I thought I’d share something that I got in the mail recently. When Brian handed me the package, it was singing to me, ha! Some of the words I couldn’t make out (seemed to have an accent), but when I opened the package, this is what was inside! I haven’t given him a name, yet. But he’s from my friend, Helen, from Australia. Hmmm. Now that I think of it, I think my favorite Australian actor is Guy Pearce! Well. . . maybe I’ll name him “Guy.” Ooohhh la la.

When you press the little little yellow sticker on his belly, he sings, Waltzing Matilda. Very cute song, but there were a few words that weren’t familiar to me. Apparently, they are Australiain slang. I wish I could put up the actual song on my blog, but alas, I don’t know how.  But, here are the lyrics:

Waltzing Matilda

Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong,

under the shade of a coolibah tree,

and he sang as he watched and waited ’til his billy boiled,

you’ll come a waltzing matilda with me.

Waltzing matilda, waltzing Matilda,

you’ll come a waltzing matilda with me,

and he sang as he watched and waited

’til his billy boiled,

you’ll come a waltzing matilda with me.

Aside from my little koala friend being so cute, I particularly like how he came with a little card that gave an Aussie Slang Dictionary. That amuses me because I find it interesting how English is spoken in many parts of the world, yet English is not spoken the same way in all places. Even here in the U.S. some words are used differently on the east coast from the west coast, as well as other states in the U.S. I remember seeing a survey once regarding what we call a soda.  What it found was that people on the west tend to say, “soda,” to reference soft drinks, while it’s more common for people on the east coast to say, “pop.”  And judging from my UK friends, I can see they also speak differently from us and even from Australians.  Sure we generally speak the same, but there are also lots of differences.  I find it makes languages and translations interesting and not to be taken for granted.  So this little card with a small sample of Aussie slang is just the thing that I find fun to learn about. Here’s the short list:

Aussie Slang

Waltzing – walking along a bush track.

Matilda – de facto wife who accompanied a wanderer, the bedroll became known as the ‘matilda’ or de facto wife

Swagman – a wanderer who carried a swag

Swag – bag to hold his billy, blankets and provisions

Billabong – Aboriginal word for a waterhole

Coolibah – Aboriginal word for a type of Australian eucalyptus tree

Billy – a tin with a wire handle used for boild water and heating food

G’day – hello

‘Owyagoin’ – how are you?

Mate – friend

Well, gotta run for now.

Marlakins

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