This is what Australian English looks like

 

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Dibandingkan dengan British atau American English, Australian English tidak cukup populer karena secara populasi mereka memang kalah banyak. Sejak akhir tahun 2016, karena mendapatkan kesempatan bekerja dengan orang Australia, maka mau tidak mau saya juga harus belajar budaya dan bahasa mereka. And I decide to share to you what I learn from them.

Buat teman-teman yang berencana kerja/visit/study ke Oz, this article may give you ideas about the English at the land Down Under!

 

Australians LOVE abbreviating everything!

Mereka suka banget nyingkat kata! They’re well-known as the ‘laziest English speaker’. Using my own words, I’d like to call them ‘the most efficient English speaker’. Why speak all syllables of the words if you can shorten it?

Bahkan cara mereka menyebut negara mereka pun disingkat. Oz/Aussie/Straya adalah versi singkatnya dari Australia. Di tulisan ini, saya menggunakan kata Australia, Oz, Straya, dan Aussie secara bergantian. Semuanya maksudnya sama kok.

Apa sajakah kata yang biasa mereka singkat? Berikut ini beberapa kata yang saya sajikan di tabel di bawah. Sorry I don’t provide bahasa Indonesia translation so help yourself!

No	Aussie words	Normal english words
1	agro	agressive
2	ambo	ambulance/ambulance driver
3	arvo	afternoon
4	Aussie	Australia/Australian
5	avanavo	have an avocado
6	avo	avocado
7	barbie	barbeque
8	bevvy	beverage
9	biccy	bisucit/cookies
10	bowlo	bowling club
11	breaky/brekky	breakfast
12	brickie	bricklayer tradie
13	brolly	umbrella
14	cabbie	taxi driver
15	cardie	cardigan
16	champers	champagne
17	chewy	chewing gum
18	choccy	chocolate
19	choccy biccy	chocolate biscuit
20	chrissie	Christmas
21	chrissie prezzie	Christmas present
22	ciggie	cigarettes
23	coppa	police man
24	cozzie	swimming costume
25	crocs	crocodile
26	cuppa	a cup of tea
27	defo	definitely
28	devo	Devastated
29	din-din	dinner
30	exxy	expensive
31	Facey	Facebook
32	fella	fellow
33	Firey	fireman
34	footy	football
35	Garbo	garbage truck driver
36	G’day	good day
37	hubby	husband
38	kindy	kindergarten
39	lappy	laptop
40	lingo	language
41	lippy	lipstick
42	Maccas	McDonalds
43	morno	morning tea
44	mozzies	mosquito
45	muso	musician
46	Oz	Australia
47	petty	petrol
48	postie	postman
49	preggas	pregnant
50	prezzie	present (gift)
51	rego	Registration
52	relo	relatives
53	roo	kangaroo
54	s’arvo	this afternoon
55	servo	service/gas station
56	sickie	sick day of work
57	smoko	smoke break
58	soapie	soap opera
59	spag bol	spaghetti bolognese
60	Straya	Australia
61	sunnies	sunglasses
62	suss	suspicious
63	tenno	tennis ball
64	tinny	tin can of beer
65	toastie	toasted sandwhich
66	tradie	tradesman
67	uey	U-turn
68	undies	underpants
69	uni	university
70	ute	Utility vehicle, pickup truck
71	veggo	vegetarian
72	Westie	from out West
73	ya	you

Gimana? Cute kan bahasa mereka. Sebenarnya masih banyakkk banget perbedannya, yang tertulis di atas adalah yang sering dan common digunakan.

 

Learning Oz English also means learning how to … … … swear!

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Swear? Apa itu? Swear itu dalam bahasa jawa artinya misuh-misuh, mengumpat jika dalam bahasa Indonesia. Misalnya, kalau ada waiter yang nggak sengaja menumpahkan gelas minuman ke kamu lalu kamu bilang, “AN****”! Nah itu namanya swearing.

This is the part that I like the most! Compared to other English speakers (Brits, American, Canadian, etc), Aussies swear A LOT, like, A LOT!! In formal meeting, in the morning, at night, even in public advertising! Simply said everywhere and every possible occasions!

Ketika saya belajar American English, I didn’t swear. Most of my Americans friend didn’t swear although some of them did. Things were changing when I learned Oz English. I start to accept that swear words are just normal English words (hehe).

 

Not all Aussies say ‘mate’

‘Mate’ adalah kata yang populer di sana. They use it a lot! Tapiii ada etiketnya dalam penggunaan kata ini. Mate hanya boleh digunakan untuk sesama lelaki saja. It’s not unisex, it only refers to male! NEVER EVER call/greet a woman with ‘mate’!

 

Australian culture is BLOODY RELAXED!

Ini sebenarnya lebih ke budaya sih, bukan ke bahasa. Tapi kan budaya dan bahasa itu berhubungan ya.

*PS: According to British English, ‘bloody’ is a swear word. But in Oz, it is not! It’s just a normal word for them! Awesome, aren’t they?

Dibandingkan sama native speaker yang lain, mereka cenderung lebih santai dan nggak formal banget. Saya punya kenalan dari Perth & Sydney, mereka mahasiswa exchange di UGM selama beberapa bulan. Kita sharing tentang perbedaan kampus di sini dan di sana. They left me jawdropped when they said I could go to uni and attend class by wearing pyjamas! FUCKING PYJAMAS!

Pake baju tidur ke kampus di Indonesia? Kaki belom masuk gerbang aja udah diusir satpam!

Oh ya, satu lagi, if you visit Oz and see people go barefoot at supermarket, mall, or wherever, don’t be surprised!

Contoh lainnya lagi, they call their boss with their first name! Actually I’m not sure if it’s only Aussie thingy or also happens at the Western world in general. But this is also the funnest part for me.

Coming from Javanese Indonesian culture that is very hierarchical, I find their culture amazing! It brings people closer and removes all boundaries like age, social status, and position. Di Indo sini, kamu nggak akan manggil bos kamu tanpa Pak/Bu/Mas/Mbak ya kan? Kecuali kalau bos mu memang bener-bener temen sendiri.

 

Sudah dapat gambaran tentang Aussie English? Just a little exercise, what does the sentence below mean?

Let’s pop around s’arvo and bring some choccy biccy, gonna ask ya about footy and chrissie prezzie.

I think that’s pretty much it. Feel free to let me know if you have different opinions about what I write. If you have any suggestions or addition, leave your ideas on the comment below!

Barangkali tertarik membaca artikel saya yang lainnya:

1. An Intro to Aussie English
2. Perbedaan American English dan British English
3. Macam-macam Aksen/Logat/Dialek Bahasa Inggris