Mark Webber has not competed in Formula 1 racing for almost ten years, but the memory of his inimitable Aussie accent is still alive among racers and fans. And he is not alone - literally any American or English who has been in close contact with a representative of the Green Continent for some time will sooner or later tell you a story in the style of "do you know how they pronounce this word?"
In fact, Australian English is a unique linguistic phenomenon, one of the most distinctive varieties of the most widely spoken language on our planet. Yes, things are different in Australia. And the words to which we are so accustomed sometimes sound quite unexpectedly different there.
#1
The differences in pronunciation don’t bother me (Australian).The thing that blows my mind is the erosion of the correct use of English in other ways.
On accident - “on accident” is not the opposite of “on purpose”. It is “by accident” or more correctly “accidentally”. Technically purposely is most correct rather than “on purpose” but I’ll quit whilst I’m behind.
Literally - Now has an alternate definition which is basically “Figuratively” because people keep using it as a form of hyperbole when describing a dramatic reaction to an event in their life.
I could care less - By stating this it indicates you care but that level of care could be reduced. The phrase is “I couldn’t care less”. Indicating you do not care at all.
Don’t even get me started on double negatives. I blame the Rolling Stones for this one and they are British.
My daughter, who watches too much YouTube has said “on accident” a couple of times and there has been a threat of severe punishment for any further infractions.
Image credits: Platophaedrus
#2
I am from India. I thought I knew how to speak English when I came to Australia for the first time. Boy was I in for a total shock.I could barely understand half the things my Aussie neighbours said if I listened to them very carefully. I have become totally Aussie now
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#3
Carmel. There's another A there for a reason.
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The first British colony on the Australian continent, New South Wales, was founded in 1788, and after a little over thirty years, English scientists who came to Australia were forced to admit that a new version of the language had formed on the continent. And the more new settlers from different parts of Britain and Europe crossed the two oceans, the more different this option became.
#4
*edit because apparently I need to say ~not all seppos~***F*****g "emoo"**. Also; Meer (mirror), squrl (squirrel), w**re movie (instead of horror), Erin when they mean Aaron, creg (craig), gram (Graham), riz-OE-toe (risotto). Nuculer... also I listen to a podcast where the guy says dragon weird, almost like draygon.
OH and when they say iron like eye-ron. And nitch instead of niche. And twot instead of twat.
How are they managing to f**k up "sentient"?
Edit to add CARRRR-mul, o-REG-a-no, and this f*****g video https://youtu.be/sa3Tl3t88Mc where they say wooder instead of water, or even their usual wahhhhderr.
Image credits: iusedtobefamous1892
#5
Melbourne.Americans pronounce it as it's spelt, we pronounce mel-burn.
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#6
Aluminium, pecan, almond, fillet, herbs, Melbourne, Cairns
Image credits: anon
English writer Anthony Burgess (that very guy who wrote The Clockwork Orange) described mid-twentieth-century Australian English as "a kind of petrified cockney from the Dickensian era." But at the same time, the language was strongly influenced by the languages of Aboriginal Australians, and the influence of American culture in the second half of the century also did its job.
Today, according to linguists, about a third of Australians speak the so-called Broad Australian, nearly half of the population uses General Australian, and about ten percent usually maintain a conversation in Cultivated Australian. Do you want some auditory examples? For the first option just listen to, let's say, Bryan Brown or ex-Premier Minister Julia Gillard. For the second - it's enough to hear how Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe or Hugh Jackman speak. And to get acquainted with Cultivated Australian, simply watch any film with the participation of Geoffrey Rush or listen to a recording of the famous opera singer Joan Sutherland.
#7
They say Graham like "gram".
Image credits: DictionaryStomach
#8
Of course there’s multiple varying accents in the US, and some of these only occur in a subset:erb for herb
boo-ee for buoy
yuman for human
aLOOminum for aluminium
flar for flower
J. S. Back for J. S. Bach
Image credits: billbotbillbot
#9
Innernet
Image credits: sharabi_bandar
Interestingly, the final legitimization of Australian English in the minds of the Aussies themselves appeared relatively recently - in 1981, when the lexicographer Susan Butler published the first edition of the Macquarie Dictionary, which has since gone through seven reprints, and today is generally considered by universities and the legal profession to be the authoritative source on Australian English.
"There are many Englishes in the world: there's English English, or British English, there's American English, South African English, Singaporean English, Philippine English, and so on. Among those Englishes there is Australian English, which didn't really have any proper account, any proper record, of what its characteristics were," Susan Butler said in an interview with Junkee a few years before her retirement in 2017. "In those circumstances, communities can find it a little bit difficult to have a sense of what their English is, and certainly to believe in it - to believe it's a legitimate form of English."
#10
Craig as Creg. As a Craig it kills me
Image credits: Aussiechimp
#11
Enquiry. Australians say en-quiry. Americans say ink-wery.
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#12
Erin for Aaron.
Image credits: anon
Be that as it may, today Australian English sometimes sounds completely unusual to the American ear, and having heard it somewhere on the streets of Melbourne, some modern Dorothy definitely has the right to say: "I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." Well, the more interesting it will be to scroll to the very end of this list and maybe add some more fascinating findings about how this or that word we are used to sounds far south of the equator.
#13
Buoy. Americans say "booey". Dumbest thing ever.
Image credits: UnderstandingRight39
#14
Here in the US on a certain quizzing show, the host pronounced Uluru as oo-LOO-roo. Not only that but she was *correcting* a contestant’s pronunciation.But it’s oo-la-ROO, right?
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#15
"Eeemoo". It's a goddamn EEEM-YOU!!! Drives me bats**t insane every time.
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#16
Solder = Sarder
Image credits: bobba84
#17
Data vs Data as in Day-tah vs Dar-tar
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#18
Antarctica (they don't pronounce the first t)
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#19
Harry as Hairy
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#20
Kirsten being pronounced ‘Keerstin’. Ick.
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#21
Toob instead of tube. My kids all pronounce YouToob instead of YouTube …
Image credits: anon
#22
Duty - we have a tendency to pronounce it "jew-ty"
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#23
Oregano and basil have different stresses to the point that could be something else
Image credits: Mrbusybaconandeggs
#24
For some reason they say Dachshund as “doxund”. That is in no way close to the German it comes from.
Image credits: universe93
#25
Niche... They say "nitch"
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#26
Caramel/car-mel and aluminium/alu-minum was the removal of a syllable really necessary?
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#27
Antarctica - “Anardica”Temperature - “Tempichure”
Van Gogh - “Van Go”
Graham - “Gram”
Craig - “Creg”
Herb - “Erb”
Emu - “Emoo”
Koala - “Koala bear”
Aussies - “Ahssies”
Mirror - “Mir”
Squirrel - “Skwerl”
Image credits: jcthefluteman
#28
Solder (EN) != sodder (US)Soft-Ts (EN) vs hard-Ts (US) - tunes == choons, not toons
The massive over-emphasis on R-sounds and elimination of many L-sounds.
The many, many excuses that pop up if you mention the difference, about "that's how it used to be pronounced/spelled/etc", that are usually folk etymologies or just false.
Image credits: dezignator
#29
The name Megan.Pronounced Meh-gan everywhere else.
Pronounced Mee-gan in Australia.
Image credits: needsmorecunts
#30
‘ Lever’ to sound like ‘leather’, and ‘missile’ to sound like the first syllable in ’mistletoe’.
Image credits: RobynFitcher
#31
Asperger's syndrome- US pronounce it assburgers.It always blows my mind that they think that is an appropriate way to say that terminology.
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#32
Aussy instead of Auzzy. Even after an Australian has just said the damn word.And lol at the Americans trying to convince us that they don’t realllly pronounce words different.
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#33
The way yanks pronounce “water” makes my f*****g blood boil. Wah-trr
Image credits: anon
#34
Azma (asthma). There was a scene in big bang theory where Leonard teases Penny "can you even spell azmuh" while butchering the pronunciation himself.
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#35
How no one is mentioning cement in here is amazing. Americans pronounce it seament as in semen instead of “Ceh-ment”
Image credits: TyphoidMary234
#36
Aluminium & saying the h in vehicle.
Image credits: KelFocker
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