Australian slang question

Question

In the late sixties I was a fan of the Barry McKenzie comic strip in Private Eye magazine. I loved the choice bits of Ozzie slang it contained. I was never quite sure which ones were made up by Barry Humphies. Some have been confirmed elsewhere, galah, coming the raw prawn, chunder, technicolour yawn, "coming across" (putting out) etc. I still wonder about the more lavatorial sayings. Straining the potatoes. Pointing Percy at the porcelain. Do (or did) Australians really call farting "opening ones lunch"? In particular, was defecating really ever jocularly referred to as "choking a darkie"?

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]In the late sixties I was a fan of the Barry McKenzie comic strip in Private Eye magazine. I loved ... Australians really call farting "opening ones lunch"? In particular, was defecating really ever jocularly referred to as "choking a darkie"?[/nq]
Google is your friend. Look up "Strine".
The two you mention specifically are unverified by my brief researches into the world of Oz speak but that don't mean they ain't out there.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Google is your friend. Look up "Strine". The two you mention specifically are unverified by my brief researches into the world of Oz speak but that don't mean they ain't out there.[/nq]
Well, Googling for "Choking a darkie" led me to a number of Australian slang pages which included that phrase, but they all seem to copy from one another, so that doesn't prove much. I was entertained to discover "choke the chook" which I hadn't seen before, although with hindsight I suppose I could have inferred its existence, and I chuckled over "Honey, I think it's time".
A slight and perhaps predictable digression led me to discover this headline from the Daily Telegraph of 20/12/2006 - "After the Irish embassy bash, the bishop has a party at home" - a story about the Bishop of Southwark, the Rt Rev Tom Butler, who was accused of alling drunk out of a taxi. Oddly, the reporter calls him "Mr Butler". You'd think the Telegraph would give a Bishop of the C of E his correct courtesy title of "Doctor". Or has that all been swept away these days? Maybe the reporter was too busy chuckling over his headline. maybe he, too , had been worshipping at the shrine of Bacchus even more than usual, given the season?

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Bishop of Southwark, the Rt Rev Tom Butler, who was accused of alling drunk out of a taxi.[/nq]
that's falling drunk

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]A slight and perhaps predictable digression led me to discover this headline from the Daily Telegraph of 20/12/2006 - "After ... about the Bishop of Southwark, the Rt Rev Tom Butler, who was accused of alling drunk out of a taxi.[/nq]
It was much more entertaining than falling out of a taxi: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/12/11/nbishop11.xml

Mr Butler... was at the Christmas reception at the Irish embassy...
He claims not to remember anything more of the night until he arrived at his house injured and without his personal possessions, including confidential church papers.

Witnesses, however, appear to have filled in the blanks.

They say he ended up in Crucifix Lane... where he clambered into a stranger's Mercedes and started throwing toys on to the road.

Paul Sumpter, the car's owner, was playing pool in Suchard Bar when he heard his vehicle alarm go off.
He ran outside and saw Mr Butler, dressed in his robes and a smart black over coat, sitting in the back seat throwing out the toys.
Mr Sumpter said to him: "What are doing in my car?"

Mr Butler replied: "I'm the Bishop of Southwark, it's what I do."
Mr Sumpter and a friend then dragged him out of the car and, in the fracas, the bishop accidentally fell to the
pavement(sidewalk).
(He) sat on the kerb while onlookers offered to call an ambulance. The bishop was then said to have stood up and staggered into a railway arch.
Paul Sathaporn, the manager of the bar, said yesterday: "I and some passers-by asked him if wanted an ambulance but he said no. Then he got up and staggered under the railway bridge.

"We were laughing because he was staggering so much as he walked off."
[nq:1]Oddly, the reporter calls him "Mr Butler". You'd think the Telegraph would give a Bishop of the C of E ... headline. maybe he, too , had been worshipping at the shrine of Bacchus even more than usual, given the season?[/nq]
I suspect that the reporter, sub-editor, and/or editor might have felt the use or "Doctor", "His Grace" or "Bishop" could have been interpreted as sarcasm.
I had completely forgotten that Doctor was a courtesy title for a bishop. I'm not sure that it would recognised as such by the wider public outside the CofE.

Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.english.usage)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]In the late sixties I was a fan of the Barry McKenzie comic strip in Private Eye magazine. I loved ... Australians really call farting "opening ones lunch"? In particular, was defecating really ever jocularly referred to as "choking a darkie"?[/nq]
Here is an interesting site about Aussie slang:
http://tinyurl.com/2rrcht
I found it entertaining.
(8~{} Uncle Monster

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]I suspect that the reporter, sub-editor, and/or editor might have felt the use or "Doctor", "His Grace" or "Bishop" could have been interpreted as sarcasm.[/nq]
I think the reporter was so distracted by getting "bash the Bishop" into a headline that he plain forgot.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]I suspect that the reporter, sub-editor, and/or editor might have felt the use or "Doctor", "His Grace" or "Bishop" could have been interpreted as sarcasm.[/nq]
[nq:1]I think the reporter was so distracted by getting "bash the Bishop" into a headline that he plain forgot.[/nq]
That possibility had not occurred to me.

Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.english.usage)

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