The road sign is accurate, but the captions so daunting.
If tourists believed it, they’d never visit our continent.
Without a doubt, Australia offers unique experiences in a variety of landscapes and climates.
But not all our creatures will kill you.
In urban areas, you might not see any wildlife, at all. A sad reflection on the sprawling metropolis along the eastern coastal fringe.
Australia has the stereotypical coastline of stunning beaches and it has vast sandy deserts and red, rocky soils, but there’s also incredible birds, marvellous and sometimes friendly wildlife along with impressive flora you won’t find anywhere else in the world.
A recent revelation even to Australian wildlife biologists was the discovery that the Platypus, an extraordinary egg laying montreme stuck between the evolutionary categories of reptiles and mammals, has a prehensile tail.
This creature was so unusual, when Europeans first discovered it, they considered it was not real, a practical joke.
Many Australians are proud we have the oldest living culture on this planet.
Today, the Australian nation celebrates the day European settlement on this continent began. The First Nations People refuse to celebrate any longer and call it “invasion day.”
Attitudes are changing. Should we still celebrate the horrors of the past?
Something to ponder about:
Focusing on differences means you’ll miss the better qualities: the beauty, the spirit and the delight.
If something is different, choose fascination, rather than derision.
Australian Language Littered with Litotes
Aussie slang can be confusing for visitors. But little did I realize there was a literary term that desribes the way Australians sometimes speak.
A Litote is:
“A rhetorical device in which understatements are used to present something as being smaller or of less importance to what it actually is ~ en.wikipedia.org
We are renowned for only telling half of a story.
If you want proof, ask an Australian how they are? They won’t tell you how they are – they will tell you how they are not!
Sample of Australian Conversation (Slang)
G’day.
Hey Matey.
How’s this weather?
Yeah, not bad.
Whatya been up to? ( What have you been doing?)
Not much.
How’s work?
Not good.
I heard you moved out. Where’s your new place?
Not far.
Comedian Carl Barron does it best: www.tiktok.com/@thehumorousclip/
Then there is our own lingo, our ‘slanguage.’
More on Australia Day
Which Aussie Workmate Name are you?
