Friday, August 1, 2008

Vocabillary

Australia is a strange land. This is not news. But it is really fun finding out exactly how strange a land it is on a day to day basis.

One of my first days here, my cousin Imogen and I sat down and made a list of things that we have different words for, and I have been adding to it since.

Here's what we've come up with:

flip flops = thongs
sweater/hoodie = jumper
candy = lollies
ketchup = tomato sauce
grill = barbeque (both the noun and the verb)
tank top = singlet
toilet = dunny
ping pong = table tennis (does this one count?)
cell phone = mobile
trash can = rubbish bin
airplane = aeroplane (you already heard this one)
underwear = knickers
bathrobe = dressing gown (doesn't that make you think of Scrooge in Christmas Carol?)
hat = cap

But my most favorite one that I've discovered so far is, without question:
pepper = capsicum

Isn't that beautiful? Doesn't it have a musical sound to it? "Would you like some capsicum on your salad?" "Care for some roasted red capsicum tomato sauce?"

Love it.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I did that with my English and Welsh friends when I lived in Germany for the summer :-)

Try these out and see what they call them in Australia:
-windbreaker
-pacifier
-pants
-(baby) carriage
-shopping cart
-sneakers

:-) Kristen
I forget my blogger username, so I'm anonymous today...

Unknown said...

Don't they also have a bunch of different drinking terms? Not that Imogen will be much help with that...

freddie said...

well,
I think Foster's is Australian for beer...