Short and sweet (and very late)!

Strewth!

It seems a normal habit for me to only post a new blog once a year. Soz!

Well, I'm thinking you all might enjoy just a little snapshot of life as we Aussies know it. The thing is, me, the Mrs and our tin lids are actually living in the bowels of Siberia at the moment! That's a bit of a crazy adventure right there!

I reckon if I keep these posts short and sweet, they'll be easy for you mob to read and crapload easier for me to write!

Let me teach you a new phrase. This Chrissy we gave our little daughter a new toothbrush. Here she is. When I was a kid, my dad would always tell us to "Go polish your fangs" - this was his Aussie way of telling us to brush our teeth.

So, do you polish your fangs after every meal?

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Strewth! - An exclamation of surprise
Soz - short for Sorry
A snapshot - a preview of something
Tin lids - kids (see Rhyming Slang post)
The Mrs - wife
In the bowels of... - in the middle/deep in...
Chrissy - Christmas
Short and sweet - short and not complicated; condensed

Classic Australian songs: Along the Road to Gundagai

Now this is a track I can picture in my mind! Growing up in rural Australia means that songs like this classic really speak to my heart.

Sometimes music these days is just a bunch of utter rubbish where people sing nonsense lyrics that some other bugger wrote for them to make them another million bucks.

Let's wind that clock back a bit and check out some lyrics from an Australian classic.

Typical country "track" with a homestead visible amongst
the gum trees ahead (to the right). Moggill Road, Indooroopilly, Brisbane 1921.
Photo credit: Bonzle.com

Along the Road to Gundagai was written way back in 1922 by a true blue Aussie bloke tickling the ivories in a Melbourne music store.

Jack O'Hagan worked for Allans Music store (which is still around today!). He was a talented musician who played the sheetmusic that customers were interested in buying. In the meantime, this young'n was crafting a little masterpiece of his own that would eventually become an Aussie favourite.

Check out the lyrics and we'll discuss what some of the more obscure phrases mean.

There's a track winding back
To an old-fashioned shack
Along the road to Gundagai 

Where the blue gums are growing
And the Murrumbidgee's flowing
Beneath that sunny sky 

Where my daddy and mother
Are waiting for me
And the pals of my childhood
Once more I will see. 

Then no more will I roam,
When I'm heading right for home
Along the road to Gundagai.

And it's that simple!

I dunno about you, but I reckon that's gold. Jack obviously had a love for the countryside and the simple things in life, like his old family shack, the big Aussie gum trees and his schoolmates. Those are the things memories are made of, ay?

Jack's mate, Peter Dawson, recorded this song a couple of years later. The song sold around 50,000 copies in 3 months and both blokes probably made a motza!

Have a listen to Peter Dawson's recording. Sing along if you want to!

I hope you enjoyed this Aussie classic. I'll end with an explanation of some of the lyrics used. Feel free to comment below and ask me any questions about other words you don't understand.

Til next time, see ya!

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Track: a narrow country road, usually dirt
Shack: Old rugged house (not a fancy, expensive one)

Gundagai: a country town in rural New South Wales (wikipedia)

Blue gums: a type of eucalyptus tree native to Australia

Murrumbidgee: a major river in New South Wales

Other words...
Bugger: idiot, jerk
Bucks: dollars
True blue: genuine, real
Bloke: a man, guy
Tickling the ivories: playing the piano
Young'n: young guy, young lad
That's gold: that's great, awesome, amazing
Ay: often used at the end of a sentence, meaning "don't you agree?"

What's your story?

It's time to hear from YOU!

So I've been doing a bit of thinkin. You know, just lying there on my back watching the clouds float by. The question is a pretty big one:

Does anybody really give a brass razoo about Aussie English?

I think that's something you could answer, because I need to know.

Here's some more questions for you, and I encourage you to post a comment and answer them:

• Are you ever going to Australia, or have you been there?
• Do you watch any Aussie TV shows? Which ones?
• When you hear Aussies, can you understand them?
• Have you done or wish to do any formal study in the English language?
• Would you be interested in a short video course in understanding and speaking Aussie English?

Once again, these are pretty big questions. As a dad of five tin lids (see previous blog), I have bugger all spare time, but I'm willing to invest it into one or two important things if I know it's helping someone like you!

So... please comment below, or at least share this post on FB, G+ etc. Good on ya mate!