The Purpose of the Aussie Slang for the Australians - Essay Example

Aussie slang Slang is a subset of a language used by a social group, a community or a region of people. It is a set of lexical inventions used only in informal situations. Connie C.Eble (11) defines it "Slang is an ever changing set of colloquial words and phrases that speakers use to establish or reinforce social identity or cohesiveness within a group or with a trend or fashion in society at large." The use of slang suggests that both the user and the hearer are somehow a part of a subculture within a society. Microsoft Encarta states: "slang expressions often embody attitudes and values ofgroup members." Slangs can exist in all languages and cultures. Slang is used by all kinds of groups of people who share situations or interests. It is always a minority group that often uses slang to set themselves apart or make it difficult for outsiders to understand them. British lexicographer, Eric Partridge (1894-1979), lists 15 reasonswhy people use slang "1. In sheer high spirits, by the young in heart as well as by the young in years; 'just for the fun of the thing'; in playfulness or waggishness. 2. As an exercise either in wit and ingenuity or in humour. (The motive behind this is usually self-display or snobbishness, emulation or responsiveness, delight in virtuosity). 3. To be 'different', to be novel. 4. To be picturesque (either positively or - as in the wish to avoid insipidity - negatively). 5. To be unmistakeably arresting, even startling. 6. To escape from clichs, or to be brief and concise. (Actuated by impatience with existing terms.) 7. To enrich the language. (This deliberateness is rare save among the well-educated, Cockneys forming the most notable exception; it is literary rather than spontaneous.) 8. To lend an air of solidity, concreteness, to the abstract; of earthiness to the idealistic; of immediacy and appositeness to the remote. (In the cultured the effort is usually premeditated, while in the uncultured it is almost always unconscious when it is not rather subconscious.) 9a. To lesson the sting of, or on the other hand to give additional point to, a refusal, a rejection, a recantation; 9b. To reduce, perhaps also to disperse, the solemnity, the pomposity, the excessive seriousness of a conversation (or of a piece of writing); 9c. To soften the tragedy, to lighten or to 'prettify' the inevitability of death or madness, or to mask the ugliness or the pity of profound turpitude (e.g. treachery, ingratitude); and/or thus to enable the speaker or his auditor or both to endure, to 'carry on'. 10. To speak or write down to an inferior, or to amuse a superior public; or merely to be on a colloquial level with either one's audience or one's subject matter. 11. For ease of social intercourse. (Not to be confused or merged with the preceding.) 12. To induce either friendliness or intimacy of a deep or a durable kind. (Same remark.) 13. To show that one belongs to a certain school, trade, or profession, artistic or intellectual set, or social class; in brief, to be 'in the swim' or to establish contact. 14. Hence, to show or prove that someone is not 'in the swim'. 15. To be secret - not understood by those around one. (Children, students, lovers, members of political secret societies, and criminals in or out of prison, innocent persons in prison, are the chief exponents.)" (From Slang: Today and Yesterday, 1933, Ch. 2.) Australian slang, also known as Strine, is iconic to Australia and differentiated from the British English. Australian English is so different from the other varieties of English in accent and vocabulary that it almost sounds like a different language altogether. It must be admitted that the Aussie slang can be baffling to people from other parts of the world. Australians take pride in speaking their slang and believe that it reflects their attitude to life. The Aussie slang always brings to mind the harsh Australian land, and the no-nonsense "lets get on with it" attitude of the Australian people. A lot of corners are cut both with what they say and how they say it. Linguists and cultural theorists believe that development of the Australian character down the ages has been mirrored in the way the Aussie slang has evolved. Many Australians believe that the Aussie Slang contains a wealth of their funniest and most irreverent words and sayings. Australia's rich and colourful 'Slanguage' testifies to their verbal inventiveness and their happy go-lucky approach to life. Sydney Baker, author of a number of important 20th century works about slang, believed that the Australian's 'greatest talent is for idiomatic invention. It is a manifestation of our vitality and restless imagination'.The Australian penchant for continually adapting English through shortening, substituting and combining words contributes to an ever-increasing aussie vocabulary. For example G'day is hullo, pronounced Gidday which is a shortened form of Good Day, and used mostly in informal situations. Bloke is an Aussie male who generally is a hard worker and does the right thing. Mate is Friend, mainly for males. Everyone in Australia is mate, so they would often say "G'day mate" or "Thanks mate".Onya means well Done, a shortened form of Good on You. These are examples of the most basic words and phrases, while there are more complex ones like 'boofhead' and 'bluey'. The Culture and Recreation Portal of Australian Government points out that colloquialisms can be incorporated into language mainly by substitution and comparison. In the phrase 'have a Captain Cook' meaning to have a look, one part of the phrase is substituted by another word that rhymes with it.The popular byword 'Woop Woop',which means a remote town is an example of substitution that includes a metaphor,where the word actually used means something very different to the one it stands for. Slang expressions that use comparisons include 'flat out like a lizard drinking' (working very hard on a task) or 'standing like a bandicoot on a burnt ridge' (feeling lonely and vulnerable). 'Barbie'(barbecue), 'cossie'(swimming costume), 'blowie'(blowfly) are examples of Australians' habit of altering and shortening endings . Due to the fact that the English language was first introduced into Australia by convicts and the British colonies, there are cases of words of convict sources that till today add colour to the Australian conversation. The term 'swag', which once referred to the booty stolen by a thief, has become a way of describing a valued bundle of items carried by a traveller. The Aboriginal influence on the Aussie slang cannot be easily discounted. A number of Aboriginal words have been adopted colloquially within Australian English, for example 'boomerang', ' humpy' or 'corroboree'. Other hybrid words have emerged through early adaptation of English words to describe aspects of Aboriginal life. The phrase 'gone walkabout' was originally used in the early 19th century to describe the migratory movement of Aboriginals across Australia. Now it is used in a more general, and sometimes inaccurate, way to describe a journey away from home. Gentle insults and perverse reversals are some other ways by which aussie slangs can be explained.Thus, a clumsy friend or colleague may be called a 'dag', 'galah', 'drongo' or 'boofhead'.Max Harris points out in his book The Australian Way with Words , 'one of the Australian ratbag traditions is to take a word and perversely use it as the opposite of its intended meaning.' The word 'bluey', a nickname for someone with red hair is a good example of a perverse reversal. While the aussie slang can be said to be a reflection of the Australians' happy-go-lucky attitude to life, at the same time the unique slang of the aussies also has an unmistakable influence on their behaviour.The Convict Creations website states, "Linguistic Determinism also explains some of the peculiar cultural traits of Australians. Words like larrikin, wowser and bludger do not exist in any other English dialect. An Australian's ability to use such words allows them to celebrate a style of behaviour and to criticise another style of behaviour in a way other English speakers can not. This in turn shapes the Australian's attitude towards the behaviour." One significant purpose of the Aussie slang for the Australians is that its usage shatters all social pretensions and formality, thereby bridging social distances. Even though the Aussie slang generally makes use of colourful and often confusing phrases to belittle people, it also has the power to bring together the diverse groups of people of different races and nationalities into one society. References Books Baker, S 1983, A Dictionary of Australian Slang, 3rd Edition , Currey O'Neil, Melbourne Eble C, Slang and Sociability: In-group Language Among College Students. UNC Press.1996. Harris M, The Australian way with Words Melbourne. Heinemann. 1989. Partridge E, Slang Today and Yesterday. London.Routledge & Kegan Paul. Electronic "Slang." Microsoft Encarta 97 Encyclopedia. CD-ROM. Microsoft Corporation, 1993-1996. Strine. Convict Creations.24 April 2008 Australian slang. The Culture and Recreation Portal.. 24 April 2008 Read More