Mary Bell & Brian Evison: The Aussie Quiz

Sergeant Mary

Sergeant At Arms Mary Bell returned to her beloved Rotary Club, saying that she’d “gone to a hypnotist to erase all those bad things the bikers introduced to her at SAA School. I’m better now,” she said with a grin. She said she would feel much better if everyone would join in on the Aussie Quiz, conducted in concert with President Brian. Each table got a word or phrase that is familiar to Australians, but is certainly not to Yankees. If the table got the correct interpretation, they would escape putting a dollar on the table.

Here’s the list:

• Adam’s Ale = Water
   
• Aerial Ping Pong = Australian Rules Football
   
• Agro = Angry
   
• Barbie = Barbecue
   
• She’ll Be Apples = Everything will be OK
   
• The Ashes = The name of the trophy in the ongoing series of cricket tests between Australia and the UK. Australia won the first test and England burned the stumps in shame. The ashes were placed in a small urn which is now the trophy.
   
• Banana Bender = a derogatory term given to a resident of the state of Queensland as they grow more bananas in that state than any other.
   
• Bathers = A swim suit
   
• An Esky = a portable ice chest to keep your drinks cold (Why not a Pengy, for the inhabitants of Australia’s nearby frozen neighbor?)
   
• Billabong = Adam’s Ale (Water) Hole
   
• Chunder = A Technicolor Yawn (this is a prim and proper publication; you’ll have to ask the next Australian you meet for the answer to this one; OR you can check out Web Fun for a visual explanation)
   
• Dan ‘n’ Dave = A shave.

Seems like only one table in 12 was able to answer – probably the Barbie bunch – so, $72 was deposited in the SAA’s Account. And so ends the exercise in trying to understand our leader. As he said, “Aussie Slang, or Strine as it is sometimes called, is a reflection of the harsh Australian land and the no-nonsense “Let’s Get On With It” attitude of the Aussies. So a lot of corners are cut both with what we say, and how we say it!”