My other half Damian, is Australian. His friends call him Damo. This is because Australians love abbreviation. G’day their most famous one! Even Qantas is an abbreviation of Queensland and Northern Territory Airline Service.
A popular way to abbreviate is to add an O or A at the end of a shortened word.
- The bottle shop (off licence) is bottlo
- The petrol station is Servo
- The afternoon is Arvo
- Macdonalds is Macca
- Devastated is Devo
- Definitely is Defo
- Garbage man or truck is Garbo
- Avocado is an Avo
- Even the nation itself Australia is Straya
Ok I could go on… but you get the idea.
So when I met my Aussie when I was 23, I was at times totally lost by the lingo.
I vividly remember sending him a text, that my friend Becka and I, spent ages over, and Damo responded ‘no worries’, and nothing else. Nowadays this is a well known and used phrase in the U.K, but back in 2002 it was unheard of (and texting was new too)! Becka and I must have discussed what this could possibly mean for a good 30 minutes!
As Damo turned 40 last weekend, I have been reminiscing of times gone by. How lucky I was to meet my lovely husband. He drives me mad at times, but more often, makes me giggle, shares my love of travel, food, music and fashion. Loves to Spa with me and drink wine with me. Cuddles me even though ‘it’s not his thing’.
Being with someone from a similar, but at the same time, very different culture, has made me a more open and understanding person. There is not one way of living, talking, barbecuing ( I mean that really is chalk and cheese) etc. There are different ways of seeing and doing things, and different is good!
Aussies are a nation of what you see is what you get. They also love rules (not as laid back as u think). There are rules for everything. I got many parking tickets when I first moved there, until Damo took me out on a ‘parking course’ so I could learn the ‘rules’
As we enjoy the sun shining and the summer season in full swing; regattas, flower shows, racing and tennis. Their brilliantly simple and refreshing sun safe message is on my mind. It is a great example of how their way of talking and doing things is just what you need at times. Sun safe in Oz is SLIP.SLOP.SLAP
A marketing campaign used since 1981 to battle skin cancer, a massive problem in Australia. The sun, with no ozone layer to battle through, beats down on you. You have to avoid its unforgivable rays. However you also have to get on with life, so you make sure you stay safe in the sun
The above was the original campaign, and as with everything it has evolved over time, with seek and slide now added to the campaign.
Everyone in Australia knows this advice and everyone sticks to it. They are proud of how far they have come to understand and respect their sun. It’s keeping them safe and now skin cancer is more common in the UK than it is in Australia.
Respecting and protecting your body does make a difference.
Now we just need a SLIP.SLOP.SLAP for Bowel Cancer. Slightly more tricky for obvious reasons. However if we could figure it out, we could beat this cancer, as early detection = curable disease.
Enjoy the sunshine everyone, and make sure you slip, slop, slap, seek and slide xx
After reading this post a friend of mine, born in Yorkshire, but now a fully fledge Aussie Sheila, sent me this link. Had to add. Australian Gold! 🤣🤣
MySemiColon 