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News.com.au reports: STREWTH, the usually stiff-as-a-dead-dingo Oxford Dictionary is finally loosening up with the addition of a bunch of you-beaut Aussie slang words.
In its new online edition, the dictionary has listed words and phrases such as rough as guts, plonko, lolly water and sausage sizzle.
There’s also lamington drive, mugaccino, scratchie and s’arvo (this arvo).
Most of these words and phrases are reasonably easy to grasp, but others may need explaining — such as shornie for a newly shorn sheep, trammie for a tram driver, ochy for an octopus and nasho, used to describe someone undergoing compulsory military training
Luckily, the dictionary has included an explanation for non-Aussies who might find the strine a tad confusing.
“Shortening words, and using endings such as — o and — ie or — y, makes the speaker appear more relaxed and friendly, so by using this informal style people are often signalling their lack of pretentiousness, as well as making themselves seem open and approachable,” it reads.
The additions are part of a collaborative project with the Australian National Dictionary Centre, which advised Oxford on Australian terms.
ANDC spokesman Mark Gwynn said adding the words was as much a way of recording the language as keeping the dictionary up to date.
“Words that seem fairly standard that you wouldn’t think twice about would not be known overseas. Things like primary vote or razor gang, P-plate or P-plater, sealed road, working bee, live sheep trade,” he said.
Other additions on the website include words from Aboriginal languages, including maluka, meaning the boss, and makarrata, a ritual marking peace after a dispute.
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