Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Australian

At church we have a spot where visitors have to stand up and introduce themselves. Last week a couple stood up and said that they were from Australia. The pastor then asked which part of Australia and they said New South Wales. From their accents I guessed that it must be somewhere outback. When he asked them which part of New South Wales they said that they were from Sydney. I was shocked, thinking 'that's what I am supposed to sound like!'. I don't think they guessed that the pastor was also from Sydney!

Australian people travelling overseas should know that many people in other countries are more familiar with the names of major cities in Australia than those of the states. If you are from Sydney, Perth, Brisbane or Melbourne then it's much more meaningful to say which city you come from. Speaking of which, I have a friend in Hong Kong from Melbourne who says 'you know' a lot and sounds like Prue and Trude from 'Kath and Kim'. I have to try hard not to laugh every time Kowloon comes out like colon!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

We just finished another media interview, this time with a Chinese language newspaper. Afterwards, our organisation's director laughed and told me that my English is deteriorating.
She asked if I have any western friends! I'd said 'more fast' among other things.

Anonymous said...

Call it a new language - Cantolish. :)

Anonymous said...

yes... i'm just too cantolicious...

Anonymous said...

And if you're Trude and Prude, then even more important than which city you come from is which shopping centre you work at. Fountaingate all the way!