http://goaustralia.about.com/cs/language/a/rhymingslang.htm

http://goaustralia.about.com/cs/language/a/rhymingslang.htm

Australian Rhyming Slang

At the Rubbity-Dub

By Larry Rivera, About.com Guide

If you’re a visitor to Australia and only talk with the hotel receptionist or the tour guide or some other hospitality people, chances are you won’t ever hear, or experience, Australian rhyming slang.

But at the rubbity-dub where you mix with the local blokes, or wherever such blokes are, as in the army or sporting clubs, you could be the Seppo (if you’re American) who’s bewildered by the Aussie lingo.

They could be pulling your leg, too.

What's rhyming slang?

They say Australian rhyming slang comes from cockney and was brought to Australia by the convicts who first settled the country.

They used rhyming slang if they didn’t want others, particularly the authorities, to understand what they were talking about.

Basically, rhyming slang is the use of usually two or more words, the last of which rhymes with the intended word. But there are variations.

The easiest examples of rhyming slang are straight-out rhymes. Thus plates of meat are feet. And rubbity-dub is pub; depending on context, it could also mean tub as in bath tub.

So ava Captain Cook, for instance, at Captain Cook.

Ava isn’t rhyming slang but simply how some Aussies pronounce Have a as in avagoodweegend (Have a good weekend).

But Captain Cook is definitely rhyming slang and means look.

Making it more complex

And so to variations.

The most common variation is to drop the rhyming word altogether. So you could simply ava captains (have a look) at this example. Sometimes when the rhyming word is dropped, the remaining word takes on a plural form for no logical reason.

A third step is to abbreviate (or corrupt) the first word, so that not only is the rhyming word gone but the first word in the phrase is corrupted. Hence, seppo for American.

The original phrase is septic tank for Yank and septic is corrupted into seppo. (Don’t ask me why Americans are called Yanks even if they come from the American South.) Another term used is tin tank.

When rhyming slang is flying thick and fast, it’s best to know what some of them mean.

Here are some rhyming slang examples:

Adrians. Drunk. This comes from the name of noted tennis player Adrian Quist. Quist rhymes with pissed, which means drunk. You could also use the full name Adrian Quist. With today’s generation, the more apt word could be Olivers, from the musical Oliver about Oliver Twist.

Al Capone. Phone. Also dog and bone (shortened to dog) and eau de Cologne (shortened to eau).

Apples and pears. Stairs.

Bat and ball. Stall (your car).

Billy lid. Kid.

Burke and Wills. Dills. Don't be a Burke.

Butchers. Crook or look. From butcher’s hook.

Charlie. Woman. From Charlie Wheeler. Wheeler (pronounced wheelah) rhymes with sheila.

Dog’s eye. Meat pie.

Ducks and drakes. The shakes.

Farmer Giles. Piles (haemorrhoids).

Frog and toad. Road.

Gay and hearty. Party. Probably not very common nowadays because of the changed meaning of gay.

Gin sling. Ring. Mate, gimme a gin on the dog.

Goose’s neck. Cheque. Another term is Gregory Peck.

Horse’s hoof. Poof (homosexual).

Jack and Jill. Restaurant bill or, depending on context, contraceptive pill.

Joe Blakes. The shakes.

Joey Blake. Snake.

Johnny Horner. Corner.

Loaf. Head. From loaf of bread.

Morton Bay fig. Wig.

Oxford scholar. Dollar.

Pot of good cheer. Beer.

Reg Grundys. Undies.

Steak and kidney. Sydney.

Trouble 'n' strife. Wife.

Wally Grout. Shout, as in It’s your Wally. Depending on context, it could also mean stout or snout.

Warwicks. Arms. From Warwick Farm, a racecourse in southwestern Sydney.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-04