Children's Corner: Do You Speak Strine?

Australians call their own kind of English "Strine." If you say the word "Australian" very quickly, you will see where the name comes from.

How do you speak Strine? "G'day" is the well known Australian way of saying hello, but there are some words that you may not recognize. Read the following paragraph about Australia, and see if you can match the Strine words with their English meanings.

Archie and his two mates had a bonzer time on holiday in the Outback. They climbed up Ayers Rock and looked at Aboriginal paintings. They saw kangaroos (the baby 'roos are called "joeys"), koalas, and a crocodile.

The boys spent several days on a thousand-acre cattle station. They were glad they had brought their cozzies so they could swim in the lake.

One day, the boys ate their tucker with the station hands. Archie asked if he could have an ice block, which he ate quickly before it melted in the hot sun. All three boys ate lemon creme biscuits. And Archie took a handful of lollies with him to snack on during the afternoon. After all that junk food, Archie was feeling pretty crook. But he recovered and spent the rest of the time helping find cattle in the scrub.

When he got home late at the end of the week, Archie was knackered and could hardly wait to have his tea and crawl into bed.

Draw a line from the Strine word on the left to its English meaning in the list on the right.

(Used with permission of S & S Learning Materials Limited. For complete listing of educational materials phone 1-800-463-6367 or E-mail snslearn@host.osha.igs.net)

Answers: 1. cookie 2. great 3. popsicle 4. friend 5. bathing suit 6. candies 7. tired 8. sick 9. food 10. supper

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