Culture

Hoax NZ dolphin sale worries Aussies

Date: October 26th, 2005 | 1 comment

People can’t say that Australians don’t have a special place in their hearts for animals after a Hoax NZ dolphin sale worries Aussies. The fake sale offered up “Skippy” after the original owner claimed he could no longer provide for it. Skippy the dolphin is in no way related to Skippy the BootsnAll [read more]

Australia’s film-makers still reeling

Date: September 26th, 2005 | No Comments

Australia’s film industry is suffering after promising blips such as Muriel’s Wedding, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and Shine graced the big screen in the past fifteen years. Part of the problem are recent bombs such as the Nicole Kidman/Russell Crowe flick and the high expense of producing in Australia versus buying screening rights [read more]

Altering Aussie Slang

Date: May 18th, 2004 | No Comments

Courtesy of Barrie Barrie Lie-Birchall:
The results are out for the Ozwords competition, where entrants were asked to take an Australian word, alter it by adding or subtracting or changing only one letter, and supply a new and witty definition:
Billabonk: to make passionate love beside a waterhole
Bludgie: a partner who doesn’t work but is kept as [read more]

Australian English and Strine

Date: March 31st, 2004 | No Comments

The official language in Australia is English. Some Aboriginal groups still speak their native languages, however, many of these languages have been lost. Aboriginal languages vary from tribe to tribe.
The Australian accent differs from those in the U.K. and U.S. Most people tend to confuse the Australian accent with the New Zealand [read more]

Aussie Slang by Megan Byrd

Date: October 20th, 2005 | 2 comments

Guest post by BootsnAll intern Megan Byrd:
So you’ve always wanted to speak like an Australian? Or at least, you’ve always wanted to know what they mean when they’re spouting off words like “dunny” or “brekkie”?
Even if you’re a native English speaker, but not a native of Australia, translation won’t be picture perfect and there [read more]

E-mails to the Tourism Office

Date: June 23rd, 2004 | 1 comment

From Dustyshoes 2002
(Editors Note: Who knows if this is true, but it’s a good example of dry Aussie humor)
These questions about Australia from potential visitors were posted on an
Australian Tourism Website and the answers are the (actual!!) responses by
the Aussie website.
Q: Does it ever get windy in Australia? I have never seen it rain on [read more]

Subtle Cultural Differences between Americans and Australians

Date: March 31st, 2004 | No Comments

If you think the only differences between the United States and Australia are accents and animals, think again. There are a lot more subtle cultural differences between the Americans and the Aussies that meet the eye. Take language, for example. Young Australians use some words in everyday speech that haven�t brushed the [read more]