Janet CollinsKevin Does Strine
June 14th 2009 20:25
Journalists and opinion writers have had a lot of fun this week with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s new penchant for using Aussie slang and strine. Increasingly Rudd has injected some rather odd Aussie slang into his announces and responses.
What triggered probably some of the most discussion was his response to criticisms of his Ministerial reshuffle that many women in his government had been overlooked for promotion.
“Fair shake of the sauce bottle mate! If you were to compare what this government has done in terms of the promotion of women of talent and ability compared with our predecessors, it’s chalk and cheese. Fair shake of the sauce bottle mate” was his reply.
“Fair shake of the sauce bottle, mate!!” …. and not only once, but twice in the one response. We’ll overlook the fact that the phrase, if quoted correctly, should have been “fair suck of the sauce bottle, mate”.
Federal Opposition MP, Tony Abbott, believes that Prime Minister Rudd is endeavouring to connect with ordinary Australians by injecting “strine” or “slang” into his announcements and responses, although he wasn't as polite when he assessed Rudd's ability to do so.
There have been other older Aussie slang phrases he has used recently. I heard him on more than one occasion saying “the rough end of the pineapple” and “don’t come the raw prawn with me”.
While these attempts at Aussie slang have raised both laughter and condemnation, it is really interesting that Rudd or his office has started introducing them into his language at all. Does anyone use these phrases anymore, let alone understand what he means by them?
Aussie slang like this has been around forever. Our diggers were known for using it in the wars but the trend grew in popularity with Barry Crocker in the 60s and 70s in his Bazza McKenzie movies.
The trend became even more popular in the 70s with Paul Hogan and his very memorable weekly show and I am sure he can be attributed for many of the phrases that became part of our own Aussie language.
In the early 80s I lived in England when Paul Hogan was the face behind the launch of Fosters beer over there. The ads were hysterical and used Hogan’s trademark uncultured working class persona to big effect. I did have somewhere a little promotional book of Fosters that translated strine into English.
Fosters was a great success in England and the English just loved these “ockerisms” they were learning about and even enjoying using them.
Maybe that is what it is all about. Just as Paul Hogan broke the ice with an audience with his larickinism and take on the English language, maybe our Prime Minister is doing just that - without the rough edges. Many younger Australians wouldn’t remember the Paul Hogan some of us grew up with.
I knew some men when I was much younger who could not have a conversation without some of this language. They would ask for the “Jack and Jill” (the bill) or be going to the “rub a dub, dub” (the pub) and always let us know when they were going to “point percy at the porcelain” (going to the bathroom) and many others that I couldn’t repeat here.
Perhaps it’s not a bad strategy after all, even if our Prime Minister is not all that familiar with using it. Times are pretty tough and there’s probably a real need for everyone to bond together to get over the hurdles ahead. The old strine or working class language may just break the ice. Strine may even become popular again.
Here’s a few we just may hear from him once he gets the hang of it:
Don’t get your knickers in a knot
Better than a poke in the eye with a blunt stick
Fair crack of the whip
What a load of codswollup
If his brain was made of electricity, he’s be a walking blackout
He’s all shine, no shoes
Maybe Kevin Rudd could even call Paul Hogan in as a consultant!
Image credit www.news.com.au
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Comment by samaritan
Fringe Faith
Samaritan's Stories
I think when people are trying to speak slang, it just comes out really fake and silly. It's only when people naturally speak like that, that it actually sounds okay. I used to have to write a weekly filler that had a lot of slang in it and that was fine. But if I ever spoke like that, I'm sure everybody would laugh at me because it would just sound stupid. However, I have a friend who uses heaps of Aussie slang and it just sounds natural.
Samaritan
Comment by Janet Collins
Acceptable Etiquette
The Social Critic
Janet Collins Blog
Thank you for your comment.
Comment by Morgan Bell
Science News
Deep Pencil
Business News
Movie Train
Comment by Janet Collins
Acceptable Etiquette
The Social Critic
Janet Collins Blog
Thanks Morgan.