Was just watching Steve Irwin on Animal Planet and noticed something. Why does he say ‘disorientated’ instead of the more familiar (in the States) ‘disoriented’.
I’m also interested in other Australianisms that we’re not too familiar with in the U.S.
Ozzy = Aussie? I guess. I expected an Ozzy Osborne question. Oh, well.
Anyway, people in some parts of the USA use that form too. Possible linguistic roots?
Peace,
mangeorge
Or Steve just doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Does he say “supposably” too?
Shaaaaaaaaron!!!
Short answer? Irwin is a git.
Regarding Steve Irwin as a lingustic expert is a worry! Though in this case I have some sympathy for his usage.
Is a bit like flammable/imflammable where the shorter word is usually preferable.
But my justification for (continuing) to use disorientated is:
Orientate v Disorientate are antonyms
Orient v disorient have no relationship (well at least in my archaic lexicon where Orient and Occident exist)
I don’t see this example as being an Australianism.
I thought this was about Ozzy Osborne too and didn’t consider opening it until I saw that woolly had posted.
Well, now.
m-w likes it.
Ya learn something new every day.
You having a lend, ya galah? Strewth mate, next you’ll be skiting that you barrack for Essendon or Manly. Most be a few ‘roos loose in th’ top paddock. ahem That is to say, there are lots of them. It depends how much time you’ve got. I’m also interested in regional (lesser-known) US stuff, by the way.
It’s the same here, TLD. You’d need a book. People from different parts of the US often have some trouble understanding each other.
One phrase you’ve surely heard in a popular song, “losing my religion”, is actually pretty rarely used.
“Backwards and forwards to school” (Back and forh).
“Chimley” (Chimney).
“Come after a cold fire?” (Leaving so soon?)
Where (and how) on earth did Aussie lingo originate?
Peace,
mangeorge
For those who thought this was a thread about our good friend Coke-fer-Brains Osborne, I’m sorry. I don’t watch his show, and the most I’ve ever seen him speak was on The Daily Show and in Goldmember. I wouldn’t consider anything that came out of his mouth nowdays a dialect, let alone a language.
And LoadedDog, I’d love to help, but I’m about as cultured as a sterile handi-wipe. You might be better off starting a thread to get more hits. I’ll be sure to chime in when I get more of an idea what you’re looking for.
Most of us Aussies, don’t relate the term “Ozzy” to our country. Likewise, the term “Oz” (which I always assume is refering either to drug deals or that movie with Judy Garland).
Disorientated is more common in Australia than disoriented. However when it comes to accents, dialects and regionalisms, Steve Irwin is to Australia what Jed, Granny and Elly-Mae Clampett are to America.
Strewth!
I use Oz. But then only about the place: we are definately not Ozzies, we are Aussies. So maybe this is Aus not Oz. But if you spell it like that it looks like you are merely writing an abbreviated form of Australia, instead of using a slang term. Hmmm.
But I’m still left wondering if anyone has insight about Ozzy’s dialect.
In an interview I heard on a radio show, Ozzy (Osbourne) said his dialect is a working-class Birmingham accent.
For TLD:
Pittsburgh expression:
Just jaggin’ your wires = just kidding you. I think it’s from the horrible American mispronunciation of Jaguar as Jag-wire.
Eep
Mangeorge, is “Chimley” a childish thing affected by some adults for its cuteness value? It sounds remarkably similar to the “chimbley” you hear in Australia sometimes. These are the kids who’ll say “somethingk” and “nothingk”. As for “needing a book”, most of the books on Australianisms always seem to somehow miss the mark. Using the words in the way they describe would usually earn you an, “Oi! You havin’ a lend, you Yank drongo?” 
I hope the US equivalents are better.
A lot of the Irwinisms etc are very common in Australia these days. It’s probably a similar story in the USA. I blame a lot of it on the business-speak of the 80s-90s (eg. “Bush set to launch missiles” instead of “Bush to launch missiles”), and some of it on good ol’ laziness, and the fact that people just don’t read as much these days. There’s the classic “could of”, and the worst I’ve seen was a handwritten “isn’t it?” written as “is and it?” I think that sort of misuse is common in every English-speaking country. I’m more interested in the colourful stuff that just spontaneously happens in different places.
Righto. Time to shoot through.
Do you mean, TLD, phrases such as;
[ul]
[li]“Rainin’ like a cow pissin’ on a flat rock”.[/li][li]“Goin’ to fist city”.[/li][li]“Hide behind a shade tree and watch”.[/li][li]“Bring a lunch”. (Going to take a long time).[/li][li]"____ this" (Said while indicating one’s private parts).[/li][/ul]
Stuff like that?
“Beresk” used in stead of “beserk” I have truly heard people say it. Pauline Hansen is the one that springs to mind, but that could be just by association.
How about “flat out like a lizard drinking” ? I think that means not very busy.
I am not an expert on dialects (Aussie nor Ozzy), but to me Steve Erwin’s speech seems very exaggerated…sort of like the Australian equivalent of the Foghorn Leghorn/Boss Hog “southern” accent which no real southerner ever speaks in.
I have NEVER heard an Australian talk quite like that.
As for Ozzie Osbourne - I’d term his speech as “Quaalude-Brumie” dialect, that being the linguistic term of course.