Just before Aussie slang expert Dr Bruce Moore came on Sunrise this morning, we stopped him for a chat on how Aussie words differ by state. And just where did ‘Bogan’ come from?

Dr Bruce Moore believes the broad Aussie drawl used by Steve Irwin and Kath and Kim is almost dead. He also says the fancier version known as Queen's English, is also on the way out. His new book is called Speaking Our Language.

Where are the most distinctive accents in Australia from?
Most people will feel Adelaide residents use the ‘dARnce’ pronunciation for dance.

The arrr 'sound' used to be the socially prestigious pronunciation. And they may also use the 'dark L' for milk. So they say ‘muhlk’ not milk.

How did this happen?
It's possible that Adelaide always saw itself as a non-convict colony and, at least, the ‘arr’ sound was an imitation of what had become the prestige British sounds.

What happened to milk? Nobody knows.

What words are different depending on where you live?
A lot of people say they hear Melbourne residents say ‘MelbORN’.

Words are even more distinct, state by state.

In WA they use the word ‘skimpy’ to describe a topless barmaid.

In Tasmania, the older people still like to say ‘nointer’ for a mischievous child.

The word ‘yaffle’ is still used by pollies to describe people as loud obnoxious bores. That’s also from British dialects.

Tasmania keeps its unique words probably because of their geographic isolation.

The word Bogan may come from the Bogan River area in far western New South Wales. They said it was "more west than a westy."

But much upset was once caused by that claim. People living out there didn’t appreciate it!

No kidding! How did we start calling people Bogans?

It started in the eighties, and was first seen printed in early TRACKS magazines (a surfing magazine). It was then taken up by (Channel Ten comedy character) Kylie Mole to describe an awkward teenager.

’Bogan’ has replaced ‘larrikin’ and is used Australia wide.

Larrikin used to be rather rude but as it became more acceptable.

There are still local variances.

‘Bodgies’ and is a good example only some people use.
Sydney has ‘westy’.

Queensland has ‘bevans’.

Western Australia uses ‘chiggas’.

ACT has ‘booners’

But overriding them all is 'bogan'.

What distinguishes country accents from city accents in Australia?
In general, you will still find some evidence of the broader Australian accent in rural areas, in a way you don’t in the city. Especially not in young people.

It’s probably true that country areas will continue to retain the older Australian slang.

Cobber looks on the way out … even words like Bonza.

How can we prevent the loss of such great Aussie words?

It’s not a bad thing! In fact, it’s a sign your language is not dead.

When I was growing up. ‘Cliner’ meant a girlfriend. It was a word from German. That word was used for thirty years then completely disappeared. Same goes for the word ‘Drack’ – to mean a slightly slovenly person. It was probably derived from Dracula in around the forties and fifties but has nearly disappeared.

Is the Aussie sound unique in a way that any another language is not?
The really distinctive thing, apart from our vowels - we think we say mate, but people in other countries say we say ‘miiight’ - our habit of abbreviating words and adding ie or o on the end.

Magpie becomes maggie.

Milkman becomes milko.

Garbage man becomes garbo.
Lipstick becomes lippy.

Lastly, what do you think of SMS txting getting into our language?
As far as I can see, we are writing different ways in different contexts. People still basically shift to other formats.

Just as we talk in different ways to our parents as to friends and workmates, so it is in writing contexts. People are just now learning to do it in writing as they do it in speaking.

More info

Australian National Dictionary Centre http://www.anu.edu.au/andc/

Ozwords: http://www.anu.edu.au/ANDC/pubs/ozwords/index.php

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