# In the US, we \*root for\* a team. How do Aussies say that?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-us-we-root-for-a-team-how-do-aussies-say-that/264735>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [September 16, 2004, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-us-we-root-for-a-team-how-do-aussies-say-that/264735 "2004-09-16T20:34:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2004, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-us-we-root-for-a-team-how-do-aussies-say-that/264735/1 "2004-09-16T20:34:56Z")

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A few years ago, when the America’s Cup races were held in Australia, our press carefully pointed out that the yank phrase “root for” (cheer for, hope they’ll win) means something sexual and somewhat rude to the Australians.

If an Aussie goes to a football match and has a favorable inclination for one team winning, what do you call that? I’m guessing “pulling for” is also out.

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**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2004, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-us-we-root-for-a-team-how-do-aussies-say-that/264735/2 "2004-09-16T22:14:33Z")

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**barrack:** verb:- to cheer for your team or player in sport, or to take sides in an argument.

Source: [http://www.aussieslang.com/](http://www.aussieslang.com/)

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**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2004, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-us-we-root-for-a-team-how-do-aussies-say-that/264735/3 "2004-09-16T22:43:39Z")

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Other options often used:

\*To support \* a specific team, or simply \*to go for \* a team.

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**Author:** ![bluecanary](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bluecanary/32/3614_2.png) [@bluecanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bluecanary)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2004, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-us-we-root-for-a-team-how-do-aussies-say-that/264735/4 "2004-09-16T22:48:46Z")

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Hmm. I thought ‘barrack’ meant ‘criticise harshly’. Must be quite a big difference between UK and AUS definitions there!

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**Author:** ![Gest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9d8465/32.png) [@Gest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gest)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 2004, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-us-we-root-for-a-team-how-do-aussies-say-that/264735/5 "2004-09-17T01:19:17Z")

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I had a semantics lecturer from Manchester who used to tell the story of his local football ground having a sign over the player’s race, _Please, No Barracking_.

This is a very funny story for an Australian audience.

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**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\
**Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-us-we-root-for-a-team-how-do-aussies-say-that/264735/6 "2004-09-20T16:10:05Z")

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Thanks, folks. I had wondered about that for a long time.