Pages

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Aussie word of the day: rhyming slang edition

This latest edition of the Aussie Word of the Day is inspired by the faux pas I wrote about yesterday, in which I insulted my husband's efforts to be sweet to me.

In terms of the etymology, my understanding is that rhyming slang derives from Australia's English roots, specifically Cockney rhyming slang, in which two or more words rhyme with the intended word. Apparently, it was a way for people to speak in code so that authorities would not understand what they were saying.

So if Jason had been really pissed off at me, an exchange with a buddy of his might have sounded something like this:
"G'day, Steve-o! I'm headin' down the frog-and-toad to the rub-a-dub-dub. Care to join me for a bevvy or two? I'm having a bit of a domestic with the trouble-and-strife and I think it would be good to get out of the house for a bit."
Translation: "Hi, Steve. I'm going down the road to the pub. Would you like to join me for a drink or two? I'm in a fight with the wife and I think it would be good to get out of the house for a bit."

On the other hand, once we made up, he might say something like this:
"When I was traveling, I was lonely for the old cheese-and-kisses. It's so boring to be all on me Pat Malone."
Translation: "When I was traveling, I was lonely for my missus. It's so boring to be all alone."

And yes, my husband really does talk like this.

5 comments:

  1. thank god you translated...i had no idea what the hell was going on

    ReplyDelete
  2. The worst is when he'll say something that I think is rhyming slang, so I'll be racking my brain trying to figure out what rhymes, only to learn that it's just regular slang. As in, "she'll be apples," meaning, "everything will be fine." Except that I didn't know that the first time I heard him say it, and I was killing myself trying to come up with something that rhymed with apples and that made sense in the sentence.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous7:27 PM

    I think I'd annoy the hell out of him asking "translation please!"

    But I think the slang is kind of charming. I'm guessing you do, too.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ohhh, excellent! I can't wait to meet him!

    ReplyDelete
  5. dcup -- I actually don't require translation anymore. At this point I know all of the slangy stuff in his repertoire, and even bust it out myself from time to time. :)

    lisa -- he's alot of fun. we're looking forward to t'giving.

    ReplyDelete

Nu?