FYI,
Galaa.... Is actually "Galah" - Aussie native bird that is
loud and obnoxious.
"Brass Razoo" is, yes, worthless currency.
And Prisoner, Cell Block H is actually undergoing a revival
since the whole series (all 694 episodes) were released on
DVD in the worlds largest ever boxed set!
As for Aussie writers in the field of our subject, check out
Garry Disher's Wyatt series... which is a damn fine PARKER
homage on Aussie soil. (Or, a little more left field, my own
crime novel RAGE, which is based on a true Aussie crime
event.)
Onyas*! ;)
Steve
* "Onyas" - Aussie equivalent to "Good on you all..."
_____
From:
scatalogic@aol.com [mailto:
scatalogic@aol.com] Sent: Wednesday, 16 January 2008
01:53 To:
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: RARA-AVIS:
Aussie slang? OT
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?
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 15 Jan 2008 EST