National Museum of Australia - Values and Attitudes

Values and Attitudes

Many Australian words and idioms give a sense of the qualities and values that Australians like or dislike, and of distinctively Australian customs

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Cartoon of men at a pub talking, knitting and drinking tea. When a woman enters they sit drearily at the bar drinking beer.

Cartoon: David Pope

Ducks on the pond

Look out — female approaching!

A warning cry from a male as a signal to other men that a woman is approaching a traditionally all-male environment. It is a reminder that the men should modify their language and behaviour to avoid giving offence.

It was first used in shearing sheds but is now heard in other places, especially in a pub.

audio Hear the phrase ducks on the pond in use (MP3 67kb)

Cartoon of a child orderly giving chips to seagulls who are in a queue, having taken a ticket from a ticket machine.

Cartoon: David Pope

Fair go

A reasonable chance, a fair deal — 'small business didn't get a fair go in the last budget'. Australia often sees itself as an egalitarian society, the land of the fair go, where all citizens have a right to fair treatment.

It is often used as an exclamation — 'fair go Kev, give the kids a turn!'

Sometimes it expresses disbelief — 'fair go, the tooth fairy?'

audio Hear the phrase fair go in use (MP3 45kb)

Cartoon of three men leaning on a bar in a nightclub, wearing sashes with their 'attributes' on them.

Cartoon: David Pope

Have tickets on yourself

Be conceited, have a high opinion of yourself —
'He's got tickets on himself if he thinks I'll go out with him'.

The original meaning of 'ticket' is uncertain, but it may refer to betting tickets (a person is so conceited that he backs himself), to raffle tickets, to a high price tag (especially one on the outfit of a mannequin in a shop window), or to prize ribbons awarded at an agricultural show.

audio Hear the phrase have tickets on yourself in use (MP3 49kb)

Cartoon of a mother kangaroo battling with the shopping, three joeys and organising change for the bus.

Cartoon: David Pope

Little Aussie battler

In Australia a battler is a person who works hard to make ends meet, someone who is doing it tough and doesn't whinge — 'there are three kinds of people in this country: the rich, the middle class and the battlers'. This sense first appeared in 1896 in a Henry Lawson story.

It is often used in the phrase little Aussie battler which was first recorded 1979.

audio Hear the phrase litlle Aussie battler in use (MP3 57kb)

Cartoon of a blind man and his guide dog fishing off a jetty together.

Cartoon: David Pope

Mate

Mate has special significance in Australian English, capturing the Australian values of comradeship and equality. A mate is a close friend, and mateship is the bond between close friends.

Mate is a form of address — 'g'day mate' — implying equality and goodwill, although it can also be used to bring someone into line — 'just watch it, mate!'

audio Hear the word mate in use (MP3 34kb)

Cartoon: David Pope

Ocker

A rough and uncultivated Australian.

Ocker was recorded from 1916 as a nickname for anyone called 'Oscar', but the ocker as an Australian stereotype did not appear until much later.

It was influenced by a television character named Ocker in the satirical 1960s comedy 'The Mavis Bramston Show'. This Ocker was first recorded in 1971.

audio Hear the word ocker in use (MP3 43kb)