Slang in the Oz

We have to Save BANGERS N MASH!!!!

So wanker is a male homosexual in Australian?

In England, a wanker is an abusive term for someone who 'masturbates'.


Tea, why do Australians say tea sometimes instead of dinners? That's definetely a british thing. British say tea instead of dinner.

also...

wanksta = a wannabe gangsta

I always thought wanker was someone acting like an idiot.

Well, it's that too.

I have no idea why we say tea for dinner. I find that the older generation of australians call it dinner. like my mum calls it dinner but then i call it tea..maybe its just personal preference...i really dunno...cheers:)

You see "tea" for dinner because it came all the way from England in some ship. You even say "afternoon tea" and "high tea". At least, I've heard quite a lot of the much older Australian ladies invite us, in such a genteel manner, to their home.

In Aussie English "wanker" doesn't mean a male homosexual. A wanker is someone who wanks. To wank is to masterbate. The term "wanker" is also applied to people who think too much of themselves.

Maybe I'm just being a wanker but something has been bothering me - pumpkins, squash, etc. aren't tubers!

Definition: A starchy storage organ (such as a potato) formed by swelling of an underground stem or the distal end of a root.

Tip: If you want to learn about aussie slang you would do well to read the postings by all the actual australians and not just random speculation by silly people.

Anyway that's all unimportant, I think we should focus on drinking for a moment. Now, what I really can't get my head around are the differences in beer ordering terminology between states. Can anybody help me with this?

I'm afraid I can't give you any kind of explanation of why the various different terms are use nor why the differences exist but I can tell you what terms we use in NSW.

pint = 570 ml
schooner = 425 ml
middie = 285 ml

In other words they are a pint, three quarters of a pint and half a pint respectively rounded off to the nearest five millilitres; a pint according to the UK imperial system that is.

It's the same in the ACT. "Middie" is also spelt "middy". Here's something I've swiped from "Randy's Aussie Beer Page".

http://www.users.bigpond.com/RandyMiller/BeerHome.htm

"How to Order Beer in Australia

"Ordering beer at a pub can be quite intimidating for a non-Aussie. For some reason, Aussies like to give strange and confusing names to their drinking receptables [sic]. To order beer at a pub, you must tell the publican what kind of drinking receptable to put the beer in. These receptables are given code names which can be deciphered using the following chart. Feel free to print it for reference."

And here's their "Aussie Beer Receptable [sic] Naming Chart". It might not be so easy to figure out as I've arranged it: it's better to go to the webpage and see the chart in its full glory for yourself.

State
425 ml 285 ml 200 ml

New South Wales
Schooner Middie Beer

Northern Territory
Schooner Handle n/a

Queensland
n/a Pot Glass

South Australia
Pint Schooner Butcher

Tasmania
n/a 10-ounce 6-ounce

Victoria
n/a Pot Glass

Western Australia
n/a Middie Beer

Something that might be of interest is that there is no 570 ml receptacle but there is a 200 ml one instead. Keep in mind that he's from Victoria. No self-respecting New South Welshman would be caught dead ordering a puny 200 ml glass of beer: it's shame enough to ask for a middie.

I've never seen a 200 ml beer glass in any NSW pub but 570 ml ones are definitely not uncommon. If you went to the pub in NSW and just asked for a "beer" what you'd usually expect would be a 425 ml schooner not a 200 ml "beer".

Maybe those Victorians just can't handle their piss. I've even heard the Victorian expression "two pot screamer", i.e. someone who gets drunk on two pots of beer. Now if a pot is 285 ml, then a two pot screamer gets drunk on one pint of beer: unthinkable, surely, even in Victoria but in NSW it's beyond unthinkable.

Anyway, "Aussie Pub Dictionary - Pub Talk" is another site with a slightly different take on the matter.

http://www.aussiepubs.com.au/talk/

Victoria - Beer

Pony 140ml
A Beer 200ml
Pot 285ml
Schooner 485ml
Jug 1140ml
South Australia - Beer

South Australia - Beer

Pony 140ml
Butcher 200ml
Schooner 285ml
Jug 1140ml

New South Wales - Beer

A Five 140ml
A Seven 200ml
Middie 285ml
Schooner 425ml
Jug 1140ml
Queensland - Beer

Queensland - Beer

N/A 140ml
A beer 200ml
Pot 285ml
Schooner 425ml
Jug 1140ml

Northern Territory - Beer

N/A 140ml
Seven 200ml
Pot 285ml
Handle 285ml
Beer 285ml
Can 375ml
Stubbie 375ml/345ml Varies
Schooner 425ml
Jug 1140ml

Tasmania - Beer

6 oz Beer 170ml If your an old guy and asked for a beer you would get a 6oz
8oz Beer 225ml
10oz Beer 285ml If you are a young guy you would get a 10oz for a beer
N/A 425ml Only for visitors
Jug 1140ml

Western Australia - Beer

Pony 140ml
A Beer 200ml
Pot 285ml
Middie 285ml
Pint 425ml ( thanks Justin Jones)
Jug 1140ml

A "seven" a.k.a. "butcher" and, even worse, a "five" a.k.a. "pony", all news to me I must admit, get up from your chair go to the bar get yourself a 200 ml (or 140 ml) glass of beer, it all seems hardly worth the bother, by the time you're about to sit back down it'll be time to get another.

And here's a humorous explanation by a Pommy cricket fan which I'm cutting and pasting without even considering asking for his permission.

http://uk.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/ARCHIVE

What's Oz?

When I was in Oz a couple of years ago i remember all the young people saying things like "MAD" and "SICK" as in 'cool'. It used to crack me up!

Also I've read about a disturbing development: the introduction of the "schmiddie". It's supposed to be some trendy "botique" size between a middie and a schooner. Twelve ounces (rounded to the nearest 5 ml presumably).

This glass size, it seems, is undermining the whole Aussie beer glass size system. It's an incidious capitalist plot to have honest drinkers pay more money for less beer. As yet I've had the good fortune not to have been dished up one of these.

Here's a new definition of the word "wanker". A wanker is a bloke who goes to the bar and orders a schmiddie of beer.