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G4EBT > SLANG 27.09.04 17:25l 124 Lines 4594 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 8E3154G4EBT
Read: GUEST
Subj: Aussie and UK Slang sites!
Path: DB0FHN<DB0MRW<DB0ERF<DB0FBB<DB0BI<DB0NOS<DB0EA<DB0RES<ON0AR<GB7FCR
Sent: 040927/1521Z @:GB7FCR.#16.GBR.EU #:13700 [Blackpool] FBB-7.03a $:8E3154G4
From: G4EBT@GB7FCR.#16.GBR.EU
To : SLANG@WW
There was a thread on packet a few weeks ago about the use of slang. There
are a couple of excellent websites with very good links, covering slang,
and more erudite stuff about the English Language. Here's a short intro
to each one:
www.londonslang.com
This site has a directory of up-to-the-minute ("state of the art"!?) slang
words. It's easy to navigate, includes such topics as film slang, and you
can look up slang words by alphabetical order. EG: Suppose you didn't know
what the term "malarkey" meant ("stuff and nonsense", thought to come into
English use from Irish Origins "mullachan" - ruffian, strongly built boy).
You'd just click on the M button, and there it would be, along with all
the other slang words beginning with M.
The website has links to the following associated linguistic sites:
*"TAD" - The Alternative Dictionaries. Learn how to swear in Latin and 70
other languages if that's the bag you're into!
*"Estuary English" page. Website of Prof John Wells from University
College, London. Highly recommended if you want to find out more about
the linguistic impact of E.E.
*"Ye Olde English Sayings". A collection of popular English sayings and
their origins. Also linked to "Amerispeak - words used by US ancestors.
*Vietnam Veteran's terminology and slang.
*The "Totally Unofficial Rap Page"
*Collection of "Britishisms".
*Dictionary of Slang. "Shed-Loads" of slang words!
*Cockney internet page.
*Riley's "See You Next Tuesday" page.
Sacre Bleu! One which suits me to a tee, having a French daughter-in-law,
a son fluent in French, and three perfectly bilingual Anglo-French
granddaughters:
"Dictionaire Argot Francais". Claimed to be the best French slang
dictionary with 18,000 expressions and their explanations!
I'll be able to say to my granddkids: "Que tu es emmerdant" when they get
on my nerves now. It sounds more polite in French than what I say in
English, and presently, my stock French exclamation "mechant" when
they're naughty has lost its impact :-)
So what about "Strine" - Aussie slang?
There's an excellent website by the Patrick Duffy Resource Centre, Trinity
College, Perth, WA. Too much stuff to mention on here, but it includes
Aussie "Strine" slang; Aboriginal language; the vowels of the Australian,
English and other dialects; Oz poetry; the famed Macquarie Dictionary and
so much more.
There's a link to an excellent paper by Prof Pam Peters on "How English is
English"? at the Australian Govt's Dept of Immigration, Multicultural and
Indigenous Affairs site.
One aspect she covers is that of shared Australian American and English
terms known as "heteronyms" - words which are interchangeable alternatives
such as "biscuit", "bikkie" and "cookie". Vacation/holiday,
pressups/pushups etc.
Of almost 3,000 such terms used in Australia, 26% were Aus-US, 60% are
Aus-Brit, and 6% were US-Brit.
Go to:
http://library.trinity.wa.edu.au/subjects/english/aust/austslang.htm
And:
http://www.immi.gov.au/amep/reports/pubs/papers/peters.htm
The Oz term that's my all-time favourite is "cobber-dobber" - someone who
informs on his mates.
In the UK, the nearest thing we have to that is a "grass" as in to "grass
someone up", believed to come from "snake in the grass". In criminal
circles a "grass" is the bottom of the heap - just one small step up
the hierarchy from a "nonce" (sometimes know as a "kiddie fiddler").
A recent article in a UK newspaper mentioned that many "strine" words are
becoming archaic, taken over by "Americanisms" - words such as "shielas"
(girls) giving way to "chicks", and "G'day" being shunned by the young as
a term their parents would use.
I still like "she'll be right" and "no worries", and I lkike the way they
say "chooks" for chickens.
The most irritation affectation to sweep England is that which has become
known as the "Australian Questioning Intonation", in which the inflection
is raised at the end of a statement to make it seem like a question. Said
to stem from a deferential, approval-seeking outlook which allegedly came
here via the Aussie "soaps".
Whatever caused the phenomenon, my sons and their wives do it all the time
and it drives me potty. Ask them what they've done today and they'll say
"Been to town?" "Went to the Theatre?" "Did some Shopping?"
Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!
I blame the parents:-)
73 - David, G4EBT @ GB7FCR
Eddystone User Group Member
G-QRP Club Member No: 1339
QTH: Cottingham, East Yorkshire.
Message timed: 16:21 on 2004-Sep-27
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