The Australian people have a favorite song that the entire population sings when they get merry. It is called Waltzin' Matilda and begins like this:
Once a jolly swagman came down a billabong
Under the shade of a Coolabah tree.
And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled,
"You'll come a Waltzin' Matilda with me".
If you are not Australian, you will immediately have a bunch of questions. What is a swagman? What do you eat with a coolabah tree? "Billy" seems like a name, but why is it boiling? And most importantly: who is this Matilda and why is she waltzing?
There are plenty of such funny words in the Australian dialect. Some colorful expressions migrated south from British slang - "Cockney" and other local dialects. Others retained their original - British or American - form but mean something completely different. Some words have changed beyond recognition - as a rule, they have been shortened. There are also inclusions from Aboriginal languages, like "boomerang" and "kangaroo". At the same time, the vocabulary is constantly being replenished. Because the inhabitants of the Southern continent love all sorts of word games and wow jokes. Some of their words and expressions everyone will understand, while the meaning of others is not so easy to guess. Pronunciation sometimes contributes to this. The phrase "I went there to die" can baffle anyone. But the Australian meant simply: "I went there today."
A Hodgepodge
Australia, as is known, is a young country. The first British settlement - New South Wales - was founded in 1788. And it was used for practically one purpose: as a place of exile for criminals. Crime flourished among the lower strata of big city residents, and each newcomer brought with them an accent characteristic of London, Birmingham, Manchester. Of course, there were also civilian employees on this overseas "penal colony": military, administration, guards. Later, various losers began to emigrate to Australia, wanting to start life with a clean slate, sometimes escaping from debts, like Dickens' Mr. Micawber, or even from the law - in general, also not the most reliable individuals. From their dialects, far from the speech of Oxford and Cambridge graduates, the Australian version of the English language began to take shape. And already in 1827, a certain Peter Cunningham, who wrote the book "Two Years in Australia", testified that the generation of "antipodeans" born on the Southern continent spoke English with a pronounced accent, however, strongly reminiscent of "Cockney".
They stopped exiling thieves and murderers to Australia in 1868, but voluntary emigration overseas continued in full swing. Moreover, in the 1850s, a "gold rush" began on the continent, and adventurers literally poured in for easy pickings. England and Ireland were experiencing an economic downturn, and in the 50s and 60s of the last century, 2% of the population of these countries ended up in Australia. At the same time, Americans began to arrive in large numbers, along with residents of other countries, both Europe and Asia, sometimes not knowing a word of English. This created such a linguistic explosive mixture. How could a unique dialect not arise? It is even surprising that there are so few differences from "proper" British English, considering that there were practically no guardians of traditions and zealots of learned speech in Australia at that time.
"Aussie", "cozzie", "mozzie"
But today there are plenty of them. It may seem strange that despite everything, Australians believe that their version of English is closest to British. But to some extent, that is the case. Australian English is divided into three varieties: Broad ("broad"), General ("general") and Cultivated ("cultivated"). The first is the most vernacular, it serves as a target for mockery by non-Australians and is characterized by peculiar pronunciation and a high percentage of slang words and expressions. The second is the language of most Australians, having the status of a norm thanks to television, radio and cinema. And the third is really very similar to "Queen's English". True, only about 10% of the population speaks it - the intelligentsia, university crowd, and just snobs. The turn towards "cultivated" speech took place in the 1970s, when educated Australians began to be ashamed of their "provincialism" and look towards the former metropolis.
In any case, it is the "cultivated" speech that you will be taught in Australian language schools. But in street communication, you will have to get used to local peculiarities. For example, if you are offered to turn on the "egg nishner", it is not about some mysterious egg, but about the air conditioner. That the mysterious phrase "Wyne chevva cold share" simply means "Why don't you have a cold shower?" (Why don't you have a cold shower?). That G'day (= good day) is not only "good day" but also "good night". That the words Aussie and Strine mean the same thing - namely, Australian. You will also have to get used to the word myte (= mate), which will likely be addressed to you many times. Moreover, this is not "spouse" and not "ship captain's mate", as experts in British and American English think, but "pal".
Australians also love diminutive forms. In their mouths, afternoon is shortened to arvo, servo is all that remains of service station, bottle-o from bottle-shop, barbie from barbecue (the world-famous doll has nothing to do with it), cozzie is short for swimming costume, and mozzie for mosquito. They also treat proper names with the same ease, and it is hard to predict what your difficult name will be turned into by Australian mates (Aussie mytes). And if you yourself want to speak like an Australian, you need to follow a few simple rules: slightly nasalize, shorten words of more than two syllables, mercilessly throwing out sounds and even whole syllables, and use diminutive forms left and right.
Never at a Loss for Words
Despite all the attraction to the "mainland", the inhabitants of the Southern continent are proud of their national character. Or what they consider to be such. For example, a specific humor, which, however, in our opinion differs little from British. An Australian jokes, ironizes and says ambiguities with a straight face and inexpressive intonation, not showing in any way that a joke was made. Those who understand laugh. Those who don't think: "What a fool..."
The peculiar humor is also expressed in the manner of giving friends nicknames "by contradiction": a lanky person will be nicknamed Shorty, and a redhead - Bluey. But these are "mere trifles" compared to another national trait - "directness and spontaneity". The latter leads to widespread use of unflattering and even abusive words in any circumstances - from a pub to parliament. The expressions mangy maggot, stupid foul-mouthed grub, arse licker, a conga line of suckholes, snivelling grub were indeed uttered publicly by prominent political figures of the country from a high platform. I won't translate - after all, I'm not Australian. I'll only advise: if you hear something like that from our "antipodes", don't immediately punch them in the eye. Better to respond in the same spirit. And - no hard feelings. That will be Australian-style.