Lost in Translation

We've been in Australia for one week now, and we are still not done sorting out our registrations and finances.  I thought banking hours were the most limited of hours... that is, until I went to the hospital employee health clinic. The nurse is there only Monday and Thursday 1-3pm - yes, a total of 4 hours per week.  Most shops here close by 5pm.  After that, it feels like a ghost-town.  I will stop complaining about the business hours at home

View of the sunset over the Fremantle harbour, seen from our apartment balcony as I blog...

Anyhow, during our week of scavenger hunting, I've been trying to learn the local Australian lingo.  It takes me a little while to understand what they are saying under those accents, but I think I'm starting to understand.  In this blog, I will keep a rolling tally of Australian terms that differ from Canadian English.  There are some of the usual British suspects, and some terms I only heard of since arriving in Australia.   Australians also have this seemingly compulsive tendency to shorten words whenever they can.
 I'll update this list periodically....

Australian term = Canadian term

 

General terms

Aussie = Australian.  But people rarely ever say "Australian".  (Then Canadians should be "Cannie's"?)
Bogan = Australian version of "redneck" or "hick"
booking = reservation
Brissie (pronounced "Brizzie") = Brisbane

central business district (CBD) = downtown
Footy = football, aka soccer
Freo = what the locals call the city of Fremantle
Freo doctor = the afternoon seabreeze in Fremantle, not literally a doctor in Fremantle.  I still don't know why they call the wind a doctor.  Do doctors break a lot of wind here?
hash = pound, ie #
hire = rent
How you goin'  = A general greeting.  Sounds like a lazy merger of "How are you doing?" and "How is it going?".
hoon = bad driver.  There is an actual "anti-hoon legislation" .
lodge = to submit. Eg, to lodge an application
mobile = cell phone
mozzies = mosquitos
news agent = convenience store
nice = used as an adjective for the taste of food, in the same manner in which we use the word "good".  I was asked by a cashier, "Is this bread nice?".  It took me a few seconds of processing before I could answer her. 
singlet = tank top
to ring = to call on the phone 
thong = flip flops... One restaurant nearby has a dress code sign on the wall: "NO THONGS".  Tee hee!
trading hours = business hours
uni = university
visa = sometimes this means passport, sometimes this means an additional travel permit.
100 points of ID = I still don't know what this means.  It refers to some combination of identification documents.  However, every institution seems to weigh identification documents differently.  For my registration at the hospital, there was a complex rating on paper, but the administrative assistant said my passport would count for 100 points since I'm new to the country anyway.
....

Food

barbie = barbeque
capsicum = bell peppers
chips = French fries
flat white = a latte with a higher proportion of coffee to milk.  I have yet to try one.  Which reminds me, the cheapest coffee in Fremantle is about $3 AUD.  It makes Starbucks seem like a steal - but I have yet to find a Starbucks in the area (shocking!).
Hungry Jack's = Burger King's official name in Australia
pasta sauce = tomato sauce for pasta. 
macca's = McDonald's
tomato sauce = ketchup
....

Academic/medical

induction = orientation
operating theatre = operating room... just wait until I get there and turn it into a REAL theatre!
Anaesthetics = Anesthesia.  As in "anaesthetic department" or "anaesthetic fellow" instead of "department of anesthesia" or "anesthesia fellow".
...

Keep checking for updates with new additions!

In the meantime, I'm still waiting for someone to identify this bird on my most-wanted list:

My "brain fever bird", aka "the notorious annoying black bird"

This is a close-up shot of the annoying bird that sounds like an aggressive drunk Australian baby whining.  Refer to the video in my previous post "Fresh of the boat" to hear it.  My friend Shef tells me there is a bird in India whose name translates literally into "brain fever bird" because it drives people mad.  So until I complete my quest to identify this bird, I have nicknamed it "brain fever".  I'll bring back a kangaroo for the lucky winner who can tell me what this bird is.   I'll add a koala if you can tell me the hunting regulations for it too!


Upcoming posts:  The Australian Bushwalk and First day of work.
Stay tuned!