Australian sounds (including pronunciations) and an orange bug

Loud sounds

Last weekend was the Australian Grand Prix. It takes place in Albert Park, which is just northwest of us. We didn't go see it, but we could heard it... clearly. The afternoon sounded like this:

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Also, for no clear reason, they also had jets doing low fly-bys. The ground shook.

No Melbourne residents seem to like the Grand Prix, which is weird... given how competitive sports are otherwise universally loved here.

The Australian accent/idioms

For a while now, we've been trying to figure out the Australian accent and idioms. They're recognizable enough, but if we could figure out the basic principles, we'd probably be able to blend in better. There are probably real linguists who have done this properly... but we'll look that up later.

Like anywhere, there isn't just one accent or set of idioms (one person told us the differences are more socioeconomic than regional). But below are a few things we've run into frequently.

We'll give (1) an American phrase, (2) the corresponding Australian phrase, and (3) the phrase an American should say if they're trying to pronounce the Australian version:

American: "Thanks, man."

Australian: "Cheers, mate."

Pronounced: "Cheese, might."

American: "No problem."

Australian: "No worries."

Pronounced: "New wearies."

American: "I don't eat cheese."

Australian: "I don't eat cheese." (Very rarely heard.)

Pronounced: "Oi dune ate Che's."

American: "I don't eat meat."

Australian: "I don't eat meat." (Rarely heard, outside of academic circles.)

Pronounced: "Oi don't ate mate."

American: "My father keeps some chickens."

Australian: "My father keeps some chooks."

Pronounced: "Moi fah the gapes some chooks."

American: "tweet, tweet"

Australian: "KHRWAWWW!!! KHRWAAAAAAWWW!!!"

Pronounced: [as written]

American English: "It is 55 degrees outside."

Australian English: "It's 13 degrees outside."

Pronounced: "Eat's *#%!ing frayzing huts oid, might!"

American: "You making fun of how I talk? That's it, let's go outside, #*&$."

Australian: "No worries!"

Pronounced: "New wearies!"

[No harm to actual Australians was intended in the production of this blog post.]

A weird bug

These orange and black beetles have been crawling all over our back yard for the past couple months. This one is hanging out on our sage plant. Weird.