Heard Down Under

Yes, Australians speak English. But we've noticed some words are used more frequently here than in the States.

1. Lovely
Things here aren't nice, or beautiful; they are more likely lovely. That is a lovely shirt. You have a lovely baby. Have a lovely day.

2. Love
Closely related to the word above. While men are called mates, it's not uncommon for women to be called by 'love.' For instance, you might hear "have a great day, Love," from your cashier at the store. Or more likely, "Have a lovely day, Love."

3. Nearly
Used in place of 'almost.' As in, "Are you nearly ready to leave?" or "I have 2 kids; one is 5 and one is nearly 3."

4. A go
Instead of "Can I have a turn on the swing?" it is "Can I have a go on the swing?"

5. Keen
Australians might be keen to go somewhere, or keen to try something. While Americans tend to use this phrase mostly when they're not too keen on something, Australians use it in the positive more than we do.

6. I'm after
Used in place of 'I'm looking for' or 'I'd like to find.' For example, "I'm after a place to hold my child's birthday party" or "I'm after a brown lamp with a white shade."

7. I reckon
And when Australians use this phrase, they don't sound like a cowboy, or rednecky, like Amercans do :)

8. Massive
Things here aren't usually large, huge, or gigantic. They are massive.

9. Gutted
When you're super upset about something, you are gutted. "When my team lost the match in the final seconds, I was GUTTED!"

10. How're you going?
Used as a greeting like "How are you doing?" in the States, where the reply is "Fine, thanks; how are you going?" This one initially drove me a little crazy but it's actually grown on me.

11. Good on you!
Spoken like, "good ON ya," it is the equivalent of "Good for you!" Me: "I just booked a vacation to Bali!" Australian person responding: "Good on ya! That's exciting."

(By the way, no trip to Bali for me :) But Bali is a very popular place for Australians to vacation. Only they call it 'holiday' rather than 'vacation.' And there's your bonus number 12!