While your explaination is rational, you have to bear in mind that this is a G-rated movie geared towards kids preschool and up. The last thing disney wants is a lawsuit from parents whose kids wanted to know what “mate” meant.
Have you been to australia? We really dont say mate like that, not even those kooky queenslanders. We tend to really accentuate the a. And yeah, Finding Nemo…love that movie.
Hmmm, maybe not in your part of Australia, but I hear a lot of Australians say “mate” sounding almost exactly like those seagulls, particularly if they are Greek Australians or are imitating Greek Australians.
Mate means “friend” in this context. Only animal documentaries use the word “mate” in the way you are thinking :).
http://www.dailywav.com/1103/mine1.wav
At first it does sound like “mate” - it’s a common expression, so it just sticks in the brain. Though it’s clear it’s “mine” for the most part.
Yeah, I’d actually been told by someone else that they say “mate” before I saw the movie so I was always going to hear it that way.
I heard it that way myself at first.