Anyone here speak Australian ?

I was entering a some information on a new customer I am quoting some parts to. Her first name was "Sheila". Now I have often heard that name used by folks from Down Under / Gods Country / Oz use the word "sheila" not as a name but a noun.

ex.: "She's a real sheila"
What does that mean, really?

Other ones I have heard:
joey. does that refer to any of a young or adolescent kangaroo variety?

bruce = a man / your mate / your friend?

bonnet = the hood of an automobile? "I heard a clanking noise from under the bonnet."


Sorry if this sounds stupid, but I am not trying to offend anyone. I really just want to know what's up.

Well, as far as I know, Sheila just means female. Like "Lass" in Scotland.

Try this site: http://www.ancoraimparo.net/australia/talk.htm

My ex spent 11 years in Bumberry, Australia. Her buddies used to come stay with us. Interesting vocabulary. Tons of fun, Aussie girls are full of life! They had one major problem, they weren't used to tax being added on to something they bought. I would remind them before a purchase and get my obligatory "Good on ya!"

Sheila is a term for girl, Bloke is the term for us....well you know, blokes.

Here's one for you (a quote from Steve Irwin): "G'day mate, how's your bum for warts?"
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Hello Poppet...Although it's not Aussie Speak, it is catchy.

I do have an Austrailian teacher and I always have trouble holding back my laughs when he talks about going to a "pawn" shop.

I think you got em all right... As far as I remember... (been almost 5-6 yrs since I left Melb)

Shiela or bird = girl

Joey = young kangaroo

Bruce = ??

Bonnet = Car hood

One that I never quite caught on is 'Fair Dinkum'... does that mean 'Fair enough' or something similar?

http://www.koalanet.com.au/australian-slang.html

is fair dinkum!

Cheers,
Bob

i think most yanks look at us weird when we talk about our thongs...

Geoff

Hey Capnal, don't come the raw prawn with me /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/naughty.gif ! You've never heard of the name Sheila before? Bugger me mate, sounds like you're a couple of snags short of a Barbie (and no I'm not talking about Ken's Sheila /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif ) /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/twakfl.gif


And I suppose you're gonna try and tell me that my car's boot is actually a 'trunk' /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I'm pretty sure Bruce stuck on us after Monty Python's antics...

Here's a bit of fun I had in making a fair dinkum true blue story:

I'm just bludging at the moment, I piked out of my shout at the local watering hole (or boozer) tonight, after my Sheila and I had a blue. I thought I was as flash as a rat with a gold tooth until she cracked a mental. She thought that I was as cunning as sh__ I mean poophouse rat!

When she went off for a slash the bloke next to me said bl##dy oath he wouldn't be dead for quids watching us having our kafuffle. I said fair suck of the Sav! just rack off hairy legs and get back to watching the footy on the idiot box. The Lions were creaming the Crows anyway, even blind freddy could see that the Crows were about as busy as a one legged bloke in an ar$e kicking contest.

But shebe right, I'll just say it happened during a ridgy didge night on the turps, but i've still got buckley's chance (or bradbury's /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif ) of crackin a fat tonight /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif even if I tell her that the other sheila was built like a brick sh#$ I mean poophouse /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif and that I got picked up by the booze bus on my way home in the ol ute. The Blue heelers were everywhere that night...

I'll give it a burl anyway, we've had our fair share of barney's before. I'll just have a chinwag with her but it'll be hard yakka: I'll be in for an ear bashing. I might just pull up stumps and become a cockroach /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif bl$$dy New South Welshmen! Strewth I'd have to be mad as a cut snake to move there...

Maybe i'll just go by the bottlo on the way home and pick up a slab or two. My sheila could fair dinkum talk the leg off an iron pot if she wanted to.


HOWZAT! Back to the Pavillion! The Australian Fast Bowler is Bonza Mate!

Does that clear things up? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I don't know what's more scary, the story, or that I can decode more than half the slang..without looking at the cheat sheet URLs posted /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

It is a bit sad that the only time we really turn on the true blue Strine is when tourists and exchange students are around and asking questions from books of aussie slang /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thinking.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif I remember talking to a cpfer in cpfchat afew months ago who was throwing random Australian quotes at me. I was impressed until he gave me the Aussie slang FAQ website /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif he was definitely taking the p#ss...

I suppose like any country with their particular heritage and culture we integrate some local slang / knowledge and experiences into our broader conception of the english language...

And with the large amount of external (particularly American) influence already in Australia, the slangs are slowly being lost one by one /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Thanks BobVA! Put another shrimp on the barbie, eh? Ok, can't remember where that shrimp one came from...

Lightemup, thanks for the story, I full on pictured myself back in good ol' Melb again, at a pub and some bloke's telling that over a couple of Vics!

I can never speak Australian, I always end up with a British ascent. Perhaps a trip to Australia will help.

Stan, I'm not sure where the ol 'shrimp on the barbie' came from, but the funny thing about it is that what you call shrimps we call prawns...

I just asked my dad and he said that Australia did a tourism campaign with Paul Hogan in it (Crocodile Dundee) who offered to put another Shrimp on the barbie for visitors during the 80's?...

Stan i'll shout for the first round of VB's /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

mmmmmmm longneck VB.

You guys have great wine, VB, nice weather, and wide, wide open spaces for us flashaholics to check on the throw of their lights. Where I am it's so cramped that I'll probably never need more than a flood beam /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

G'day All (standard Australian greeting technique /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif )

'Bruce' : A Philosophy Teacher at the University of Woolloomooloo who is also in charge of the sheep dip /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinser2.gif .

Anyone who disagrees has Kangaroos in their top paddock /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinser2.gif

Ferreter

[ QUOTE ]
ferreter said:

'Bruce' : A Philosophy Teacher at the University of Woolloomooloo who is also in charge of the sheep dip /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinser2.gif .

Ferreter

[/ QUOTE ]

Now that's gonna cause a bit o' kan-fusion. Mind if I call you Bruce to keep things straight? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Ah - you're all making me homesick. Glad I'll be back in Perth for a month of visiting & camping with my mates by the end of Sept.

george.

lightemup:
Thanks for clearing things up for me!
Didn't mean to sound like a stupid American or anything like that. I actually enjoy tid bits of cultural diversity such as those. There is another lady that I have a meeting with about once a month and she is from Jamica. It is fun to talk to her and listen to her stories and her deep accent.

Anyway, thanks for the translations.

Funny thing, I have a friend, a girl who married an Australian guy. She visited his family for a few weeks in Australia and when she came back to the US, she had a very distinctive Australian accent. Even stronger than his. And it never went away even years later. This is someone who grew up in a small rural southern town and suddenly at the age of 30 she turns into a native Australian! Well, now they've moved to Australia, which is probably a good thing because she stuck out like a sore thumb around here. Everyone always thought she was pretending to be something she was not.