We British were deluged with Aussie slang thanks to Mr Reg
Grundie and his soaps, which became required tea time
watching for teenagers whilest I was a lad. Neighbours,
original home of the lovely Kylie Minogue, was the big one
but
Home and Away, original home of the lovely Danni
Minogue, was the better slang primer. Assaults on the pop
charts and pantomime followed for many of the stars of these
soaps.
I loved the sound of it and a lot of has passed into
common usage in Britain
- I'm sure Uni for University originated in this way. Home
and Away featured a characted called Alf Stewart, the most
planly spoken of Summer Bay's residents. You've already had
Hoons explained, hooligan, lout, etc. Look out for galaa
(sic?) an idiot (please correct me Aus natives!) which I
believe comes from a bird that is perceived to be foolish and
one of Alf's favourites, "I wouldn't give a brass razoo
(sic?)", some kind of worthless or fake currency I'd guess.
Home and Away also featured one of my favourite ever lines on
TV:
"Shut up Tug, or I'll tell them how you got your
nickname."
To become slightly on topic, Prisoner Cell Block H, a
woman's prison drama also made the long haul from the south
to British screens. Unfairly characterised as having poorly
made sets, which wobbled - absolute critical bollocks
(hoons the lot of 'em), it was a fine programme (for its time
and limitations); pretty damn gritty and not afraid to tackle
some serious issues at times.
Sorry, that's all very off topic, but I do like Aussies
(cricket and rugby fields apart).
I've never read a single Australian noir or
hardboiled, shamefully, but some Australian films are
cracking, again, it's off HB (although is fairly noir) and
thus topic, so apologies, but I'd recommend Don's Party to
anyone, brilliant!
Is there much in the way of Australian crime fiction? Where
should one start?
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