This evilmonstrusity was begun by Edel Feeney and Ricky Buchanan so we could actually understand each other. Now Edel's back in Ireland it's been continuedly developed my the next in my sucession of Irish carers - including Curley Shirley, Rose, Tim, and others.
Here's the main bit, the actual dictionarything bit. Other fun things if you scroll down past it ...
| Irish | Australian |
| Bold ("That's Bold!") | Naughty ("That's Naughty!") |
| Press | Cupboard |
| Press | Linen Press |
| Hot Press | Drying Cupboard |
| Food Press (How on earth don't you get confused by all these 'presses'? -- Ricky) |
Pantry |
| Plaster | Bandaid |
| Bull ("full of bull") | Crap ("full of crap") |
| Pantry | Walk-in Pantry |
| Douvet | Doona |
| Brush | Broom |
| Film | Movie |
| Getting Messages | Going Shopping |
| Rooting | Searching |
| Hoover | Vacuum (Hoover is occasionally used, it's a trade-name for a particular brand of Vacuum cleaner) |
| Having Sex | Rooting |
| Peppers | Capsicums |
| Ketchup | Tomato Sauce |
| Weetabix | Weetbix (A trade-name but most people it even for the knock-off brands) |
| Aubergine | Eggplant ("Aubergine" might be used in a fancy restaurant) |
| Clingfilm | Gladwrap (A trade-name but most people it even for the knock-off brands) |
| Homemade Burgers | Rissoles (would only be called 'Burgers' if they had bread/buns around them) |
| Feck ("Feck off!") | Fuck (We don't bother much with euphemisms around here ...) -- Ricky |
| St Stephen's Day | Boxing Day |
Cultural Notes
In Ireland, having a black cat cross your path is good luck whereas in Australia it's considered to be bad luck!
The Irish would chalk it down to experience, where the Aussies would chalk it up to experience.
Important Web Links About Australian Culture
Here's some websites to give you an extra dose of education about Australia:
- The Toxic Custard Guide To Australia is pretty much what it says, if you know that "Toxic Custard" is just the site's name. It's also pretty funny, really, and mostly consists of a lot of answers to emails people apparently sent in. Just don't believe all of it. And yes, of course a McDonalds on top of Uluru (that's Ayres Rock for you uncultured types).
- A Guide To Australian English lists an awful lot of Australian slang that I do know ... and a lot that I've never heard of and suspect that JoyZine pulled out of their nether reigions. On the other hand, it's a big country, so maybe I just haven't been to enough places yet?
Important Web Links About Irish Culture
Here were going to be some websites to give you an extra dose of education about Ireland, but I couldn't find any! Oops.
