I wouldn’t be the first person to have moved from England to Australia and found myself lost in translation.
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However, it amazes me that after six years I’m still discovering new words.
I was at the supermarket when I first wished someone would hand me a book on Aussie words. I was trying to pay for a capsicum (which we call pepper) at the self-service counter and, of course, couldn’t find it listed anywhere under the letter ‘P’.
Eventually, I held the red vegetable up and called out – ‘What do you call this?!’ There were a few questioning looks.
Far less embarrassing, though, than when a fellow journalist’s niece was working as a physiotherapist in the UK and asked a client to remove their pants, which translates to underwear in the UK! Next time, say trousers.
Many reading this will know I’m a Devon lass, but I’ve also crossed the border (it really is a border) into Cornwall a few times, which as well as having its own flag and cuisine (you can’t beat a pasty), also has its own language.
Most of the younger generation don’t know the full language, but there are lots of words we use in English sentences.
My grandmother, who lives in Cornwall (but who I call Nain after living in Wales for three years) will be very proud to read this:
10 common Cornish phrases
- ‘See you dreckly’: The most common of them all, used almost daily to say ‘See you later’.
- ‘Aright, my 'ansum?’: Mostly heard at the pub by an admirer asking ‘How are you?’ Sometimes friends and family members will use it as a term of endearment.
- ‘Proper job’: Acknowledging something good or done well. We use it a lot and would even say it when a meal is put on the table.
- ‘Piddledowndidda?’: ‘Has it been raining?’ The answer is probably ‘yes’ in Cornwall.
- ‘Emmet’: Someone that’s not Cornish.
- ‘Wasson’: A greeting that kind of means hello and what’s happening at the same time, but is rhetorical.
- ‘Right on’: A way of saying goodbye that understands when you’ll see each other again or what the plan is.
- ‘Were you born in a barn?’: We say this to someone who has left the door open.
- ‘Dearovim’ / ‘Dearover’: ‘Dear of him’ or ‘Dear of her’
- ‘Hanging’: Something gross.
