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Australian "Slang" Interpretation

I finally found a word I had seen and didn't know what it meant. I thought it started with an h but it wasn't.

The word is "larrikan"
Never heard that before- is the meaning the same as "bogan"


Ooooooo, you need to take great care with this word and Aussies - well any that have an education.

It's a very deep part of our culture and the Aussie psyche.

It originates from larking, larking about........

1.^ 1875, Florence Davenport Hill, What We Saw in Australia, page 93 — The word " larrikin " is supposed to have originated in the pronunciation of an Irish policeman, who, on being asked what had caused the appearance before the magistrate of certain young offenders, accounted for it by saying “they had been ‘ larrikin ’” (larking).

But it carries great significance through our poetry, literature, culture, history.

Henry Lawson & Banjo Patterson are our 2 most famous colonial poets/writers.

Banjo wrote Waltzing Matilda
Lawson wrote The Drovers Wife........and was a larrikin, ending up in gaol a bit for minor crap

Many commentators have noted the larrikin streak in Australian culture, and have theorised about its origins. Some say that larrikinism arose as a reaction to corrupt, arbitrary authority during Australia's days as a penal colony, or as a reaction to norms of propriety imposed by officials from Britain on the young country.
Larrikinism is a significant element in Australian culture, and has emerged repeatedly, informing Australian contemporary art, popular and youth culture and political debate. Evidence of the larrikin influence includes traditions of free, rule-defying experimentalism in Australian art and underground music (various renowned experimental ensembles that emerged from the post punk movement are examples).
It can be argued that the larrikin tradition of disdain for authority, propriety and the often conservative norms of bourgeois Australia (as evident, for example, in the country's history of censorship and the nation's receptiveness to paternalistic leaders) are two sides of a self-reinforcing dynamic; the social conservatism of the mainstream fuels the undercurrent of larrikinism and rebellion, which, in turn, is seen as demonstrating that a firm hand is needed. This is sometimes referred to as the "larrikin-wowser nexus", "wowser" being an Australian colloquial term for a person of puritanical mores.

http://larrikin.askdefine.com/

Tim is absolutely a larrikin.
 
Thanks for the insight! I even spelled larrakin incorrectly.

Very interesting word.
 
And Ed is being a wowser.
Read about wowser too.
I think Jade seems to be the ultimate wowser in the house.

Or does it mean more than just "being a rulebook"?
----
And what about " Yankee"? What does that mean in Australia?
Someone on the forum said something about "Yankee lawyers"

Wasn't exactly sure what that meant.
 
Read about wowser too.
I think Jade seems to be the ultimate wowser in the house.

Or does it mean more than just "being a rulebook"?
----
And what about " Yankee"? What does that mean in Australia?
Someone on the forum said something about "Yankee lawyers"

Wasn't exactly sure what that meant.

There is a puritanical edge to wowserism. Ed's more moralistic, where Jade is more of a goody-goody.

Yankee is just yank, seppo etc, all meaning someone from the US. I took that Yankee lawyers thing to be literally referring to lawyers in America, who would tear Ed apart by talking circles around him if he went to Jerry Maguire in the States.
 
Ah thanks!

Got another one- what is "crack the sheets?"
I think that was it. Drew said it about Tully, saying he didn't jump every time she did it.
 
Ah thanks!

Got another one- what is "crack the sheets?"
I think that was it. Drew said it about Tully, saying he didn't jump every time she did it.

Pretty sure he would have meant 'crack the shits' can also say 'crack a wobbly' means to have a tantrum.
 
Pretty sure he would have meant 'crack the shits' can also say 'crack a wobbly' means to have a tantrum.
Lol. " Crack the shits" would mean nothing in the US, unless maybe diarrhea. With his accent it sounded like sheets to me.

Thanks for the answer. I'm sure I will have more questions.
 
Lol. " Crack the shits" would mean nothing in the US, unless maybe diarrhea. With his accent it sounded like sheets to me.

Thanks for the answer. I'm sure I will have more questions.

Ha! You might crack the shits if you had diarrhoea though. :p

I don't know how bad mood came about to be crack the shits; us Aussies really are a strange bunch.
 
Also I really want to share the three most annoying things I found when travelling in the US:

1. Adding tax - I'd be so proud of myself for getting the right change ready because your money is hella hard to differentiate only to have bloody tax added on and me end up having to pay with a note. I had so many fucking coins by the end of my trip.
2. Tipping - So hard to try and figure out how much to tip and when. I swear who ever I tipped thought I was either a stingy bastard or a stupid foreigner.
3. Milk/Cream - I would always forget to ask for 'cream'! Do you yanks not like milk or something?? I was bitterly disappointed the day I got an iced coffee from Starbucks only to find out it was literally just cold coffee and water.
 
Also I really want to share the three most annoying things I found when travelling in the US:

1. Adding tax - I'd be so proud of myself for getting the right change ready because your money is hella hard to differentiate only to have bloody tax added on and me end up having to pay with a note. I had so many fucking coins by the end of my trip.
2. Tipping - So hard to try and figure out how much to tip and when. I swear who ever I tipped thought I was either a stingy bastard or a stupid foreigner.
3. Milk/Cream - I would always forget to ask for 'cream'! Do you yanks not like milk or something?? I was bitterly disappointed the day I got an iced coffee from Starbucks only to find out it was literally just cold coffee and water.

Wow Consuela, who knew, our iced coffee is unique! And soooooooo fantastic.
I remember aged about 10 having my first proper café iced coffee in the city with my Mum, and it was a bit freaky, the espresso was different, it was so cool and sophisticated I thought in th elong glass.

Wiki - lists how it works around the world, nobody does like we do!
In Australia, iced coffee is commonly served with ice cream and whipped cream. The drink may also include syrup, cream, cocoa powder and/or coffee beans. The result is something like an un-blended milkshake.
Iced coffee has been sold commercially in Australia since the late 19th century in the form of a syrup, an example of which is Bushells Coffee And Chicory Essence. Iced coffee is commonly available as a prepackaged, ready to consume drink.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iced_coffee

And overseas posters may not be aware of how much of a coffee culture there is here, and how fantastic our coffee is - especially Melbourne.
We have a coffee club, and coffee TV show. And most of us have some kind of espresso machine at home.
We have the Italian migrants to thank for our wonderful coffee, my Dad used to tell us about lining up for the first Italian coffee place in Melbourne for the first espresso
 
On a related note, the quality and ready availability of variously flavoured milks is a delight in Australia. It varies by region, but rest assured that at any hour of the da or night you can probably get your hands on a sizable container of flavoured milk.

England has it in supermarkets, and it is good at first, but is full of vegetable gum, so sickly after a while. Often in European countries it seems to be only UHT milk. In Korea it was in very small 'poppers' - hmm, I always called them poppers, because that was the first brand I saw advertised. Tetra-brick with a silvered straw-hole. Nice enough, but impossible to be satisfied on a dribble coming in from a finy straw from a tiny box.

Oak Spearmint, Dare Jamacian Chocolate, or Espresso. VAnilla Malt Moove with chips at the beach. Chocolate Moove with a pie.. oh, man. I had an egg-nog flavoured one driving in Bordertown Keith and the Talem Benders country once. Pretty yum.
 
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