More Surprizes from the Aussies

I'm always learning new stuff from the Australians!

Karen & Tim were teaching me about ryhming slang.

• 'Hit the Frog' means hit the road
• 'A bag of fruit' means wearing a suit

I had to google all this strangeness:

"Nearly two generations of “settlers” after the First Fleet arrived in Australia 1788, 87 per cent of the population were either Convicts, ex-Convicts or of Convict descent. With such strong convict foundations, it was inevitable that Australia's linguistic traditions would be Convict inspired. By 1869, Marcus Clarke described how locals devised language to `convey a more full and humorous notion of all his thoughts' or to conceal `the idea he wishes to convey from all save his own particular friends'.

One of the most notable methods of concealment was rhyming slang. Originally invented by the cockney English, it was brought to Australia by Convicts. Basically, rhyming slang is the use of two or more words, the last of which rhymes with the intended word. For example, plates of meat are feet. However there are some variations. The most common variation is to drop the rhyming word altogether. So you could simply ava captains (have a look). Sometimes when the rhyming word is dropped, the remaining word takes on a plural form for no logical reason. A third step is to abbreviate (or corrupt) the first word, so that not only is the rhyming word gone but the first word in the phrase is corrupted.

Apples and pears - Stairs.
Bat and ball - Stall (your car).
Billy lid - Kid.
Burke and Wills - Dills.
Don't be a Burke - Don't be a dill
Butchers - Crook or look. (From butcher's hook.)
Charlie - Woman.
Dog's eye - Meat pie.
Ducks and drakes - The shakes.
Farmer Giles - Piles (haemorrhoids).
Gin sling - Ring. (Yeah, gimme a gin on the dog. )
Goose neck. - Cheque.
Horse's hoof - Poof (homosexual).
Jack and Jill - Restaurant bill or, depending on context, contraceptive pill.
Joey Blake - Snake.
Johnny Horner - Corner.
Loaf -Head. (From loaf of bread. )
Morton Bay fig - Wig.
Oxford scholar - Dollar.
Pot of good cheer - Beer.
Reg Grundys - Undies.
Steak and kidney - Sydney.
Seppo - Yank. (From Septic Tank)
Trouble & strife - Wife.
Scarce as rocking-horse manure
About as welcome as a turd in a swimming pool
Rattle your dags (get a move on)
A feed, a frostie and a feature (food, beer and sex)