Is it fritz or devon? Potato cake or scallop? Australia’s states and territories each have unique ways of saying things — what side are you on?
IS IT fritz or devon? Potato cake or scallop? Our country’s weird ways with words will probably leave you in a state of confusion.
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TRAVEL around this wide brown land of ours and you’ll probably find yourself in a state of confusion pretty quickly.
Maybe you’ve had a blank look in a bakery when you ordered a Kitchener bun, or a confused stare when you’ve asked for fritz (or devon) at the supermarket service deli.
Maybe you’re staring at the screen right now wondering what the heck a Kitchener bun is.
Our states and territories all have unique ways of naming and pronouncing things, which can quickly lead to confusion, especially if you live away from your home state and still use terminology you’ve known all your life.
Not only do our interstate cousins use different words for the same items, there are also things which are unique to specific states — like SA’s famous frog cakes.
And, of course, there are subtle state and territory accents, from the broad Queensland twang to the somewhat posh English lilt of a South Australian, and the different pronunciation which comes with them — do you say pl-ANT or pl-ARNT?
Last week the debate burnt fiercely as you argued over the right way to pronounce Melbourne suburbs.
This week, join us as we look at the quirky words that are cause for state debate, and let us know if we’ve missed any by leaving a comment below or heading to our Facebook page.
Pot or schooner?
IT’S enough to make you feel like a strong drink — trying to work out what’s what when it comes to drink sizes across the borders.
In NSW, the ACT, Queensland, Victoria, WA, the NT and Tasmania, order a schooner and you’ll get a big, 425ml glass. But order the same thing in SA and you’ll be disappointed when you receive a small, 285ml glass. You might want to ask for a pint, which in SA is actually the same size as a schooner.
If it IS a small drink you’re after, in NSW, the ACT and WA, ask for a middy. But in Queensland and Victoria, you want a pot.
Confused? Us too.
Fritz or devon? Or luncheon? Polony? Or something else?
NO matter what you call it, this sausage-type meat is typically served sliced between fresh white bread, smothered in butter and tomato sauce. It’s pretty good fried, too. In the US they call it bologna, or baloney.
Do you call that tasty nutty spread peanut butter, or peanut paste?
MANY Queenslanders swear by paste. Butter does comes from cows, after all, and as far as we know cows can’t produce peanuts.
The swimwear debate
WHAT do you wear when you head to the beach or pool? Scungies (NSW) or budgie smugglers? Or swimmers, cossies, togs or bathers?
And do you call those universal rubber summer shoes flip-flops or thongs … or is a thong something you wear for an all over “cheeky” tan … or is that a G-string?
Bogans
This very Australian term, widely accepted to mean an uncouth person and going hand-in-hand with flannos, fags and a foul mouth, has some regional variations. In Hobart, such types are sometimes called “chiggers”, apparently a reference to the suburb of Chigwell. Queenslanders like “bevan” or “bev”. “Scozzer” or “scozza” has its roots in Geelong. Sydney has “westies”, and the ACT favours “booners” or “boonies”, coming from the boondocks. Know of any others?
Stobie pole v power pole v telegraph pole v hydro pole
DRIVE around South Australia and you’re sure to spot the distinctive Stobie pole. They’re power line poles made of two steel beams filled with concrete, and they were invented by Adelaide Electricity Supply Company design engineer James Cyril Stobie 90 years ago.
Elsewhere they’re known as power poles, telegraph poles, or hydro poles (Tassie) and they’re generally still made of timber — but Stobie’s creation was designed to address limited timber supplies and termite infestation.
LAY-go or LEG-o?
OUR friends in SA call the popular kids’ blocks LAY-go, prompting strange looks. According to the Lego website, the name is made from the first two letters of the Danish words LEG GODT, meaning “play well”. So it looks like the LEG-go version might be the way to go ...
Deli v milk bar v corner shop/store
IN South Australia, you head to the deli, which is known in Victoria as a milk bar, to get milk, lollies, drinks, newspapers and various other grab-and-go items. It’s not the place you go for continental meats and cheeses, also called a deli or delicatessen. In the eastern states, corner store or shop is favoured. And across the Tasman, our NZ mates call a milk bar, deli or corner store a dairy. What is it where you live?
Scallop v potato cake
IN Tassie, Victoria and SA you order scallops at the takeaway, you get scallops — the seafood. In NSW, you order scallops and you get a potato cake.
Speaking of fried food...
Do you prefer a Dagwood dog, a dippy dog or a Pluto pup?
Salvation Jane v Paterson’s curse
THE purple introduced weed, which grows rampant across Australia’s pastoral country, is known as Salvation Jane in South Australia, but Paterson’s curse everywhere else. The Paterson’s curse name is thought to derive from Jane Paterson, an early settler near Albury who brought seeds to beautify her garden and was then horrified to watch it infest and destroy once-fertile pastures. Meanwhile, Salvation Jane apparently refers to the plant’s hardiness in times of drought, when everything else died and it became a valuable food source.
What’s a footy jumper called?
IS it a jersey, or a guernsey?
How do you keep your food cold?
OUR Kiwi neighbours use a chilly-bin — in Australia we call ’em Eskies, or coolers.
Speaking of which ...
WHAT do you enjoy on a hot day? An ice block (Queensland, NSW and SA), or an icy pole? In the UK they’re ice lollies, in the States and Canada a popsicle, while Ireland favours a freeze pop.
School bag or port?
IN some parts of Australia, apparently a school bag or any sort of suitcase is referred to as a “port”, believed to be an abbreviation of portmanteau, which is a piece of luggage with two compartments. Have you come across this?
Fancy a game of aerial ping-pong?
THAT’S what some New South Welshmen mockingly call our beloved AFL, apparently because the ball is high in the air most the time due to frequent high kicking.
Feeling thirsty?
IN Victoria, you should grab a Prima — that’s a Fruit Box, if you’re not in the know. Both little cardboard boxes with straws attached in plastic, full of juicy (and sugary) goodness. Don’t have too many (yes Mum).
Got cold feet?
SLIP on a pair of slippers — or ugg boots — or uggies — or the good old moccasins. Which do you favour?
Funny food names
OK, we know this one is bound to make waves. Which side of the fence are you on when it comes to the yiros v kebab v doner kebab v souvlaki fight? In SA, a yiros is the name for shaved spit meat, typically lamb, served in a pita bread with salad, often tabouli, and tzatziki or garlic sauce. A kebab is meat on a skewer. Head interstate and it’s a different story depending on where you are. In some states, a yiros is called a kebab or doner kebab. What is this delicious food called where you live? How do you define each thing?
And, another one for the foodies ...
IS a parmigiana shortened to a parmy, or a parma?
Special southern items
THEY’RE a special lot, those South Aussies. And of course we mean that in the nicest possible way. Along with their Stobie poles and Salvation Jane, they have a few other specialities which cause blank looks in other states. You haven’t lived until you’ve tried a famous frog cake — a tradition of the Balfours bakery, created in 1922. This delicious creation is a sponge cake topped with sweet cream, encased in fondant and decorated with eyes and a mouth to resemble a frog. It was originally available only in green, but later pink and brown varieties were created.
SA also sells the delicious Kitchener bun, a sweet doughnut-type bun, sometimes baked, sometimes fried, covered in sugar, split in the middle and filled with jam and cream. It resembles the Berliner, a German jam bun, and was in fact known as such until anti-enemy sentiment in World War I led to its renaming in honour of the British field marshal Horatio Lord Kitchener.
It’s also pretty hard to go past that great SA icon, the Farmers Union Iced Coffee — so tasty you can get it just about everywhere now.
That’s just gross ...
THEY’RE yummy, but in some parts of the country vanilla slices are affectionately referred to as snot-blocks or phlegm sandwiches. Has that turned you off?
Funny pronunciations
OF course, we couldn’t talk about state differences without finishing up with a look at the obvious pronunciation shifts. Do you say danse or daance? Chanse or chaance? Pl-ants or plarnts? Skewl or s-cool? Pewl or p-uhl? Gr-aff or gr-ah-ff?
Over to you ... what have we forgotten? Convinced we’ve got something wrong? Let the debate begin!
*The author confesses to being a South Australian, hence the possible overabundance of SA references — but don’t hold that against her.
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