h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Cultural Misunderstandings: UK / Australia - A5996181
Author: vividlyviv - U2130625

Be gentle with me, its my first entry...

Hmm, this is not suitable foir the EG in its current form (but it does have potential).

I'll leave it to others more eloquent in such matters to explain this better.

In the meantime, there are numerous glaring holes.

E.g. the Aussie for trousers is 'strides' as in, 'Strewth, there's a guy with no strides on' (As expostulated by my father on one occasion when a guy walked past our front window one evening, apparently wearing no trousers. Boringly it turned out to be a jogger wearing extremely skimpy shorts.

My favourite concerns the fact that the Aussie trade name for sellotape is Durex. Hence, when Mrs RBA and I attended antenatal classes a few years back, the mid-wife related the tale of the Australian girl who walked into W.H.Smith and asked where she would find the Durex.

The rather abashed shop assistant directed her to Boots the Chemist over the road.

The A8ussie girls walks into Boots and asks for some Durex six yards long and 3 inches wide. This shop assistant wanted to know who her boyfriend was.

I thought this would be about Durex too!

We already have an entry about the UK word "pants" and how it means a different thing in the UK from everywhere else in the English speaking world: A129647

Unfortunately, we only have one Edited Entry about each topic, so there isn't room for this one. On the other hand, if you want to write about other cultural differences between the UK and Australia, then that would be great!

Hi, yes I always thought strides was Aussie for trousers, as in the Paul Hogan ad where he's at the ballet: strewth, there's a bloke down there with no strides on! But my Aussie correspondent used the word pants, which I thought was an Americanism.

(My late father used to tell me a joke involving pants, pretending to be a musical act: 'Here's a little song entitlyititled "Don't Go Down The Mine Daddy: There's Plenty of Slack In Your Pants" '
I always wondered where he got that from or if he made it up. It probably explains my (strange?) sense of humour.

His other favourite joke was:
'Have you heard the one about the ten ton budgie?'
'No, how does it go?'
'(booming voice) TWEET TWEET')

Hello vividlyviv

Interesting topic, but as RBA says, it's not suitable for the Edited Guide/PR as it stands.

Can I suggest that you go look at 'Writing for the Edited Guide' on A53209, which gives you not only lots of useful tips, but leads you to Guide Entries which have made the grade?

When you've had a look, if you still want your contribution to stay in PR, I think you'll need to do quite a lot of re-structuring and change the approach somewhat.

As somebody who's moved to Australia from UK in the last 12 months, this subject has great potential



Fb

Thanks! Maybe you should be writing it instead?!

I'm happy to leave this one to others - then to come along and make comments later, along with other Oz researchers

Anyhow I've got two almost-there-but-not-quite entries on the go at the moment

Hello!
Here's the problem - Due to the vast amount of american swill (I've nothing against american TV - it's just that the television stations over here seem to have decided that, excluding the Simpsons, they only really want to put swill on, letting a few good ones slip through the cracks) on TV, along with the high quality (i think it's a set up - the UK must have bad TV, it just doesn't show up a lot over here!) British TV, australia now uses any and all words for pants that they feel like.
Older generations will often use the 'australianisms', such as strides, and those who grew up under them will let it slip through, but we also say pants, dacks, trousers, strides, slacks, etc, etc, and other phrases from whatever part of the world that the TV is coming from.

Also, as large portions of Australias population aren't actually from Australia (Hell, even the 'typical' australian white bloke is decended from non-natives), Various other expressions are used.

What's my point? Damned if I know.

I quite like the entry, but it ain't guide worthy. To put it crassly.
If you decided to write an article about the differences in culture (as suggested above) or perhaps the misconceptions about Australia in britain and visa versa (EG: Only steve Irwin and Paul Hogan talk like aussies. The majority of the nation has never said 'crickey!' or fought off a dingo or even a crocodile. Conversely, Few Englishmen actually say 'pip-pip, tarry ho, jolly good show and all that rot, wot? Shall we indulge in some tea and crumpets?' - or at least few that i ever met when i lived there. Well, one. But he was crazy.)
ahem - now there's a tangent.
Anyway, if you take these new angles, then you have a good guide idea, and I, as im sure many others would, will be happy to help.


I've run out of things to say. Good thing to - I'm running out of space as well.

'Conversely, Few Englishmen actually say 'pip-pip, tarry ho, jolly good show and all that rot, wot? Shall we indulge in some tea and crumpets?'


Same as the urban myth about Russians toasting with 'Na Zdrovia'.

Apparently this would be like the wartime RAF pilot saying, 'Topping good show chaps'.

Well, Bertie Wooster does. Perhaps that's where everyone got the impression.

I do say 'I say' and stuff like that because I read Wodehouse and I picked it up from there. But then I feel like I'm mocking the British and try to tone it down.

So maybe that ridiculous parody is really more an American thing to do. It's the trademark of the American Anglophile.

Just a side observation.

Thanks for the comments guys! I'm amazed at 'Crikey' as in my teenage years, we (ie English schoolgirls at my school) used to say it as a joke for 'upper class' English, like 'jolly hockeysticks'!

My favourite exclamation has to be from Dennis the Menace: he used to say 'Corks!'
Was this a made-up oath, or has anyone heard it elsewhere?

PS Should I have tried this piece in the Underguide?

I'd stick in Writing Workshop and see what other folk have to offer