Use of Language

There are always small differences in English-speaking countries in the way the language is used. Some words are used in a context in which they are not used in England, grammatical structures are slightly different, unfamiliar words are used. One example which has always amused me in the States (and it’s employed in the same way in Australia) is the use of the word “muffler” for a car silencer. I still think of it as another name for a scarf.

A word that is used all the time in the press and on TV and radio in Australia is the word “bash”. In England I tend to think of it as part of the vocabulary of children but here it is used instead of the word “assaulted” or “attacked”; so you see headlines in the newspaper like “Youth bashed in central Brisbane” or “Bashing in Perth last night”.

Another thing that I’ve noticed is the way in which sports teams are reported. In England they are always plural: you might read “If Wednesday beat United tomorrow they will be top of the table” but in Australia they are singular so it would appear as “If Wednesday beat United tomorrow it will be top of the ladder” (This example was constructed so that I could get Wednesday beating United and being top of the table twice!). The league table is always referred to as “the ladder”.

It’s also interesting to note that everyone uses the East Anglian form of goodbye: “See you later”, even when there is not the slightest chance that you will ever see them again!