Australians love it, most foreign tourists hate it, but there’s no denying that Vegemite is one of Australia’s most popular and iconic brands.
It’s an ingredient in many Australian lunch boxes but what is Vegemite?
Differences
Although the two countries are separated only by the 1,300-mile-wide Tasman Sea (which people in both refer to with typical joking humor as «the ditch») , Australians and New Zealanders can’t seem to agree on a number of terms. Here are the most popular language divergences.
Thank you: To thank someone in Oz, give them a «cheers». To give thanks in New Zealand, use the abbreviated cousin «cheers», «chur».
Meat Pies
For most Americans, this upcoming popular Aussie meal is very quirky (it was even a challenge to eat on one season of Amazing Race and the competitors gagged because they thought that was so gross!) So what is this food that Americans think is so horrible? It’s the classic Australian meatloaf! (I know… for many of us it’s not such a foreign concept, however, Americans are used to having fruit on their pies and eating them for dessert, so I guess it’s a bit weird to eat a meaty dessert!)
Pies are a popular snack to eat on the go and almost every corner store, bakery and supermarket will have a display case with plenty of hot meat pies to choose from. There are even specialized pastry shops! Australians have many different savory pies you can buy, however they are usually filled with minced meat, gravy, mushrooms, onions and cheese. It’s also a good snack after a long night out (better than a kebab!). After drinking and dancing you end the night with a meatloaf in hand, sitting on the sidewalk waiting for your taxi to go home.
Streuth
There is another Australian word that is synonymous with crikey.
If you forgot, a synonym is a word or phrase that means the same or almost the same as another word or phrase. For example, «close» is a synonym for «close.»
The Aussie Habit of Nicknaming
«Strine» slang has always been an important part of Australian life, prized for its informality and irreverence, sometimes vulgar, sometimes poetic, employing metaphors («don’t come with me raw shrimp»), similes («as crazy as a cut snake»), as well as slang («dog’s eye with dead horse», obviously a meatloaf with tomato sauce). But slang Aussie and Aussie nicknames have left behind the colorful rock idioms of yesteryear.
Enter nicknames of the hypocoristic persuasion, beginning with childish or childish language as shorteners (and in some cases lengtheners) for names of real people. Thus, a Robert could be «Robby», Mark could end up being «Marko», Sharon is classically «Shaz/Shazza» and, for this Australian linguist, it was sadly impossible to avoid being called «Cheese» at school.This shows Even though nicknames can usually end up as a shorter, simpler version of something, length is probably not the most crucial aspect of a nickname. Rather, nicknames have other pragmatic meanings, such as the rejection of formality and the nurturing of familiarity (and therefore, sometimes, contempt, as we shall see).