Maaaate! It’s hard yakka keeping a grip on the Queen’s English (or the King’s) at the best of time but sport brings out our most eloquent “strine” (“oi oi oi!”), so word experts from The Australian National University are re-writing the dictionary.
As the Olympics draw near, our collective thoughts turn to “doing a Bradbury” or cheering for the “Tillies” as the Australian National Dictionary Centre looks to add new sports-related words and phrases.
Here in the ‘berra (or the ‘bra) we have coined the phrase “the faders” for our inconsistent home “rugba league” team. If the opposite side is kicking for a goal, we yell “chewie on yer boot”. Unlike Parisian dialect, Aussie slang isn’t exactly the language of love.
From skyscraper marks featuring the Sherrin in aerial ping-pong (Aussie Rules), to a cockroach getting sent to the sin bin for a dog shot on a cane toad in State of Origin (up the mighty blues!), the lexicon of Aussie sport has made a significant contribution to Australian English (we use the term “English” loosely).
Mark Gwynn, Australian National Dictionary Centre senior researcher, said sport-related language in Australia ranged from the mundane to poetic.
“As well as many common words, like oval, sundry, mark, offie, minor premier, and barrack, Australian English includes dishlicker, esky lidder, petrolhead, waxhead, up there Cazaly, and Black Caviar odds,” Mark said.
“Many Australian rhyming slang terms come from the world of sport like ‘Dorothy Dix’ for a six in cricket, ‘Wally Grout’ for a shout at the bar, ‘Mal Meninga’ for finger, ‘meat pie’ for try, and ‘sausage roll’ for goal.
“Some people might not realise that common Australian words and expressions such as drongo, home and hosed, sledge, fang it, and no-hoper originate in the sporting world.”
There are also the infamous budgie smugglers for speedos, runners for sneakers, hoons for fast drivers, and gnarly for big surf.
The ANDC is looking for sport-related contributions that have not yet made it into the dictionary.
“These terms could be anything from types of tackles and kicks, like chicken wing tackle or mongrel punt, to words used in backyard sports like tippy-go or six-and-out,” Mark said.
Each year the ANDC runs an appeal for contributions from the public for the Australian National Dictionary to build on the publication’s collection of Australian words and their origins.
C’mon readers, we’d be stoked if you shared ripper sport-related words here: https://slll.cass.anu.edu.au/centres/andc/form/word-box
If you can’t be stuffed, no wuckers, just grab a sanger and chill.
