I like Americans. Some of very best friends are Americans. (I know that
sounds like that old 'some of my best friends are Jewish' line, but both
matters happen to be true - ask anyone who knows me). However, in recent years,
the way Australians speak has been so tinged with Americanisms, one can only
reflect upon what seems to be UShegemony of
Australia.
For example, we never had 'apartments', we always had 'flats'. But things are
changing. Language changes quite rapidly. I'm fine about it, I simply want to
note it. Below are some examples of US/Australian differences in speech. An
Australian, not a young one, I prefer the Australian convention, but sometimes
younger ones don't know what I mean. (And I still prefer 'status' to 'stattus',
the accepted British and Australian pronunciations, though I hear 'stattus' a
bit now, 2011). Far from being a pedant, I'm the opposite. I'm with George Bernard Shaw, for example, who believed in abolishing the apostrophe. In fact, following my prank, the Sydney Morning Herald called me 'Apostrophe Man',
a name of my own invention, something that at first amused me, but after a
while dragged, because I think my point was missed by most who read the results
of activism
I'd initiated by sticking small stickers around - when I can find one, I intend
to post one here. I was finding the grocer's apostrophe everywhere. (Still do.) I
think the newspaper misunderstood my point somewhat. I'm something of a Shavian,
but at wouldn't go for total abolition as I believe he did. Whole battalions
have been killed because of misplaced apostrophes in telegrams, and I'm something
of a peacenik.
However, I admit the differences between the two dialects amaze me, and some of
them appal me, particularly as I see younger people (because of TV), lose our
great culture and
speak
Yank. Putting commas outside rather than
inside quotation marks is an example. Much of the English language is changing
quickly even in Britain,
where much of it began. 'Having said that', I'll keep adding to this
page and hyperlinking word and terms to Google to help us all work out the
changing English language between these two close countries. Email any ideas,
if you will. And please excuse any misalignments of lines, and mismatching of
colours. It's not me, it's the computer, and text editor problems. But I’m very
happily working on this, and other pages, at the Almanac most of the day.
I created some lines here on 9/11/2011, which I consider to be one of my birthdays.
Why? Several reasons. Because I saw one of the TwinTowers
collapse, live on TV. Yesterday, on Saturday, September 10, two more kids said,
“Hello, Grandpa Pip”, and I didn’t even recognise them, nor their mother, who
seemed very nice indeed. That tally of kids in Bellingen calling me Grandpa Pip is now about
20. And I add that anyone who uses Wilson’s
Almanac Search, is able to find as much about 9/11, in fact I believe more,
than just about any website in the world. Other very, very remarkable things in my life are integrally linked to 9/11.
Things which I don’t intend to announce on the Almy, probably not for quite some
time, at any rate.
It's said that America and Britain
are two nations divided by a common language. At
the risk of being tendentious, there is a third. Australia. I give some examples below:
take a class at school
in school
grade at school
pay phone
phone booth
tr-sources
pay phone
tombstone
looking to
railroad
train station
set to
firefighter
inside of/outside of
gotten
kind of a book
what kind of a dog is that?
spork
toward
kind of a thing
I was there two years
midway
do the dishes
run for office
major, major, major
swimsuit
elevator
one-year anniversary
Mr Watts' house
take a nap
veterans
store
Christmas cracker
he talked another five minutes
race car
rowboats
goose bumps
on vacation
in some time
two thousand nine
one time
Paris, France
being as
I wrote
on last Friday week
a few years back
crosswalk
the phone is busy
loan
midway
take a look or a walk
try and
inside of
different than, different to
the variety of dogs are
prod-ject
trunk of auto(mobile)
utility vehicle
period
go take a look; go write something
like I said
shot (small amount of liquor)
set to be
math
advertise-ment
sidewalk
take a break
about to
frankfurter
the both of
get fired
neighbourhood
like in Singapore
ongoing
the dump
datta ('datta'), dayta
a while back
biker
living room
line
cookie
test-emoany
ceremoany
two weeks
period
every other day
than what it was
Tuesday
meantime
backward
forward
aluminum
firm
company
the reason is because
that low of a risk
Monday through Friday
going steady with
pissed (means 'drunk' in Australia)
mail
where I'm at
pre-sage
could care less
food to go
trailer park
utility vehicle
school
different to, different than
candy
2000 one
gas
cain’t (old style)
trash
trash can
pal, buddy
meths
try and and work out
titled
inquiry
pled
sick to the stomach
braid
drug store
flashlight
appendectomy
suspenders
go to the bathroom
sick to the stomach
cute (pretty; handsome; attractive)
veehicle
guy
tombstone
student
sunup
sundown
practice/licence/advice
It hasn't been around in a while.
ranch
Mom
gravestone
Find an error or dead
link?
Like to make a suggestion, or just say "G'day"?
Meet me at
Corrigenda
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