Monday, August 25, 2008

english to oz dictionary

we joked that we needed to get a translation dictionary before we headed here so we could understand what on earth the Ozies were saying. here are some of my favorites so far.
  • dodgie = kind of like sketchy or questionable. mostly used in sentences like "the weather is looking a bit dodgie" or "that part of town is a bit dodgie"
  • Kiwi = those from New Zealand.
  • Footy = football, but not American. this refers to Ausie Rules Football (AFL). its like rugby, soccer and football all into one. this is the main pro sport in OZ
  • Rugby league/ rugby union- these are two different leagues with different rules, but i cant remember which is which, but dont confuse them because to people here they are so different.
  • Football= soccer. simple.
  • Mate- yea, they really say this all the time. "thats my mate", "thanks mate", "no worries mate", seriously all the time.
  • brilliant- no translation neccesary, but they say this all the time! its great!
  • Booking= a reservation. they are so common here. we have been turned down a few times because we didnt have a bookings and this was at little cafe type places.
  • Tomato Sauce- justins favorite = Ketchup. and they certainly dont use it like we do back home. justin feels jipped when he has to ask for packets and they give him one.
  • "easy as"= very simple. they say this all the time and i always get stuck waiting for them to finish. im like "easy as WHAT? finish the thought people!" in NZ they say "sweet as" and for the longest time i could not figure out why they were saying sweet ass, what could it possibly mean? now i know.
  • heaps= alot, but i giggle everytime someone says it. it sounds so funny to me.
  • Chips = not Lays, but french fries.

im sure ill have more, but this is a good start

1 comment:

Stephanie said...

Ahhh that makes me homesick for England. Clearly, they share some vocab! We also liked "bin" for trashcan, "toilet" for bathroom (just always seemed a bit blunt for us) and of course "zed" for the letter Z. Love it!