# Colloquial Expressions



## Andrew Fergus (Mar 17, 2007)

If I said :

"Gidday mate.  Bring a plate to the barbie at the bach." or  "Sweet as." or "Are you crook?"

have you any idea what I have asked you to do?  And what's with the sweet and (apparent) slight on your character?

While colloquial expressions can be confusing I also think they are amusing.  There is an interesting article from a "Pom's" perspective on "Kiwi" vocabulary here:
http://www.escapeartist.com/efam/89/kiwi.html

The article will help you decipher the phrases at the top of this post.

Given this is an international community, it would be nice to hear about colloquial expressions from your country.  So post a link, or post a phrase or two!

Cheers, Andrew


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## SydneyGeek (Mar 17, 2007)

Yeah, "bring a plate" confused the hell out of us when we first moved to Oz. After turning up with an empty plate, we realised that we should have brought a plate OF FOOD. 

I've always liked "a sandwich short of a picnic" myself...

Denis


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## Richard Schollar (Mar 18, 2007)

After 15-odd years of watching Neighbours every day I feel pretty much fully conversant with Aussie slang.  Of course, I no longer watch it, so maybe I'm now out-of-date?


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## steve case (Mar 18, 2007)

I am told that "bubbler" is a Milwaukee term.


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## Andrew Fergus (Mar 18, 2007)

A search on Google for the terms bubbler and Milwaukee returned about 34k hits so I think your claim is safe.....and I thought a bubbler was a bubbling pool of mud!

Following on from Denis' sandwich / picnic phrase I have also heard the phrase "he's a couple of cans short of a 6-pack" but I'm not sure of its origin.

Andrew

P.S.  Richard - I think you might find a few common colloquialisms between Aussie and NZ but the Aussies have some pretty odd-ball phrases (like doona & esky) and quite a few colourful similes!  Great link here for Aussie slang: http://www.aussieslang.com/slang/australian-slang-a.asp


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## Lewiy (Mar 18, 2007)

This is quite an interesting site:

http://www.geocities.com/informalenglish/dictindex.html

Basically a complete dictionary of slang phases in the English language!


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## Jon von der Heyden (Mar 18, 2007)

I frequently confuse my friends with the phrase "Just now".

In South Africa "Just now" can mean I *did it* just now indicating the past.
...or...
I will do it just now, which could mean I will do it immediately, or it may mean I'm getting round to it - indefinitely!

It's a great response in the office when the boss asks when I'll get round to doing something


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## RichardS (Mar 18, 2007)

In line with the sandwich and cans short, another term is;

"He's got a couple of 'roos loose in the top paddock."

We Aussies have hundreds of ways of commenting that someone isn't quite all there. "Couple of bob short of a quid" is another. Must mean there are a lot of us not all there.   

Richard


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## SydneyGeek (Mar 18, 2007)

And then there's the one who's not too smart --
"Not the sharpest knife in the drawer"



> In South Africa "Just now" can mean I did it just now indicating the past



More South African words -- 
tackies -- running shoes / sandshoes
stoep -- balcony
braai -- barbeque

Managed to get a few Aussies to switch to tackies and stoep when we first arrived in Melbourne...

Denis


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## Joe4 (Mar 18, 2007)

> And then there's the one who's not too smart --
> "Not the sharpest knife in the drawer"


We have that one here to in the states, but my favorite version is
"a few sandwiches short of a picnic."

Here in Western New York, one phrase that catches non-locals off guard is if someone asks you if you would like to go out for a "few pops".  That means to go out and have a few drinks (of the alcoholic persuasion).

When we travelled abroad to New Zealand and Australia, the one that caught us off guard was when we saw "bugs" on the menu.  We were beginning to question or choice of restaurant when the waitress explained to us that they are prawns!


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## Andrew Fergus (Mar 18, 2007)

Thanks for the link.  I'm not sure I'd call the list anywhere near complete given 4 of the first 5 words I checked weren't there (doona, esky, 'bring a plate' & bach) - maybe a complete local version?

Cheers, Andrew



> This is quite an interesting site:
> 
> http://www.geocities.com/informalenglish/dictindex.html
> 
> Basically a complete dictionary of slang phases in the English language!


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## Lewiy (Mar 19, 2007)

> Thanks for the link.  I'm not sure I'd call the list anywhere near complete given 4 of the first 5 words I checked weren't there (doona, esky, 'bring a plate' & bach) - maybe a complete local version?
> 
> Cheers, Andrew
> 
> ...



Well...when I said complete, I didn't mean it had everything, just that it is a "whole" dictionary.


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## Pyromantic (Mar 19, 2007)

> > In South Africa "Just now" can mean I did it just now indicating the past
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Don't forget, Robots! In South Africa we call traffic lights Robots.
Bakkie - Pickup Truck
Cheers - In the UK means thanks but in SA it  means bye!


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## Marbles (Mar 19, 2007)

"He's got a Want in him" is the local version of "A sandwich short of a picnic".


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## Lewiy (Mar 19, 2007)

A dictionary of ****ney Rhyming Slang for all the non-Londoners out there!!!

http://www.****neyrhymingslang.co.uk/


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## Oorang (Mar 19, 2007)

Adding to to "Not The Sharpest Knife In the Drawer":
Not playing with a full deck.
A few cards short of a full deck.
Not the sharpest tool in the shed.
Not the quickest fish in the pond.
His/Her elevator doesn't go to the top floor.
A few cookies short of a dozen.
A slice short of a loaf.


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## Jon von der Heyden (Mar 19, 2007)

More South African ones (Afrikaans):

Dit is 'n lekker dag om boom to klim. (It's a nice day to climb a tree) - means 'you're looking for trouble, you had better back off'

Hy het met sy gat in die botter geval. (He fell bum first into the butter) - means 'he had a stroke of good luck'

Gaan kak in die millies. (Go to the toilet in the corn field) - means 'get lost'

Jy maak droog. (You're making it dry) - means 'you're messing it up / making mistakes'

Of course I have been in the UK for so long now that I forget so many more of these.


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## Pyromantic (Mar 19, 2007)

Don't foget the most descriptive Afrikaans word ever....

Gatvol

meaning fed up in a way!


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## Scott Huish (Mar 19, 2007)

> This is quite an interesting site:
> 
> http://www.geocities.com/informalenglish/dictindex.html
> 
> Basically a complete dictionary of slang phases in the English language!



Well this typo has interesting implications:


> Acid, also LCD :an effective drug that causes an eye problem or one to see things in an unusual way.



No wonder LCD monitors are popular


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## dwyckoff (Mar 29, 2007)

Got to hang out with some Brit fellas while in the sandbox and they said a couple things (actually more than a couple) that had to translated.

Apparently if someone "nicks" something, the meaning can land anywhere in the spectrum from outright stealing it to just borrowing it with a wink.
Also if they are really hungry...they were "marvin"...or something like that. I think I mucked it up.   

Also they kept referring to me and my partner as "yanks" and asking how things were in the "colonies". Which was interesting because here in Alaska we refer to everyone else as the "states".


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## Joe4 (Mar 29, 2007)

> Also they kept referring to me and my partner as "yanks" and asking how things were in the "colonies".


Just kindly remind them that Alaska wasn't one of colonies!


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## dwyckoff (Mar 29, 2007)

*Good point*

I didn't mention that, but we did remind that we stopped being colonies right after we made it too costly to keep fighting us.   

Heck, Alaska is still a baby state...


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