Fair Dinkum

[pawnhead]

Slang puts sheila in fair dinkum trouble

An Australian woman thought she was cactus when a hostie got her back up over some classic Aussie slang during a flight in the United States.

"Fair dinkum," NSW woman Sophie Reynolds muttered when told by a air hostess that there were no pretzels for her to snack on.

The next thing Reynolds knew, the flight crew had demanded her passport to note down her details, telling her that swearing at attendants was a crime.

The 41-year-old, who lives in Queanbeyan, near Canberra, was stunned to find three uniformed officers waiting for her when she left the flight in the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

"They said: 'You swore at the hostess and there are federal rules against that'," Reynolds told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

"And I said: 'I did not swear at the hostess, I just said 'fair dinkum'."

Stone the flaming crows, I reckon that these seppos have got got a few roos loose in the top paddock. If they had our Wild Dingo on a plane, they’d be flat out like a one armed Sydney cab driver with the crabs, and he’d last about as long as a fart in a blizzard before he’d be off like a bride's nightie.

Fair crack of the whip!

[Ashore]

Slang puts sheila in fair dinkum troubleStone the flaming crows, I reckon that these seppos have got got a few roos loose in the top paddock. If they had our Wild Dingo on a plane, they’d be flat out like a one armed Sydney cab driver with the crabs, and he’d last about as long as a fart in a blizzard before he’d be off like a bride's nightie.

Fair crack of the whip!

Only trouble cobber is that she went over there to marry one and will live there. So mabye its a plot to educate from within and learn them some good strine

[Sebastiaan56]

Them seppo's are a weird mob huh? When I read it I wondered if she had inserted the universal adjective where it normally goes. In my limited travel in the States they are a lot more uptight and sensitive than your average Dingo. Flew on one American Airlines flight where the hostie just kept asking me if I wanted anything, when I uttered strewth she blushed, and the guy next to me told me it was better not to use such language!

Stick a snowball where it fits to the lot of em,

Sebastiaan

[Honorary Bloke]

Them seppo's are a weird mob huh?

Fairly weird, yes.

When I read it I wondered if she had inserted the universal adjective where it normally goes. In my limited travel in the States they are a lot more uptight and sensitive than your average Dingo.

Well, we were founded by Calvinists. What do you expect?

Flew on one American Airlines flight

There was your first mistake.

where the hostie just kept asking me if I wanted anything, when I uttered strewth she blushed,

I suspect she was just in love with your accent (not that you have one, of course).

and the guy next to me told me it was better not to use such language!

Probably the Federal Air Marshal disguised as a passenger. Lucky he didn't shoot you.

Stick a snowball where it fits to the lot of em,

A bit harsh, I suppose, but considering the heat wave we are having it promises a certain relief.

[Sebastiaan56]

Hi Bob,

Thanks for the feedback, and there are glaring inconsistencies from an Aussies point of view. This was the same week Schwazeneggar called the Democrats a pack of weenies in the housel. What would the marshall have done if I read that out loud from the paper?

I loved the Americans, detested the false morality imposed by the authorities. I ran across wierd stuff in other places as well, like when I asked in this restaurant why there were no black or hipanic people in the offices of the company I was working with, could have hit my host with a shovel and wouldnt have got more silence. To be fair that was Texas.

Do you consider "Fair Dinkum" to be swearing? Serious question,

Sebastiaan

[silentC]

My first encounter with US weirdness was just after my travelling partner saved me from getting run over by a wood panel sided station wagon in New York because I looked the wrong way before crossing the road! We were on our way to MacDonalds to get some breakfast. I asked for hotcakes and the girl wanted to know if I wanted sausage with it. Why the hell would I want sausages with hotcakes and maple syrup? Well, OK, I'll give it a go. But it wasn't a sausage, it was a hamburger pattie. Strange mob!!

[Gra]

I think its time for some cultural sensitivity training all round...

Sorry couldnt find the tounge in cheek smillie

[Wongo]

Here I have "The little book of Great Aussie Slang". Fair Dinkum is not an Aussie slang because it is not on the list.

Hmm what does "couldn't fart in a bottle" mean? Sounds pretty rude.

[Honorary Bloke]

Do you consider "Fair Dinkum" to be swearing? Serious question,

Sebastiaan

Serious answer. No. But most Seppos wouldn't know what it means. Even so, how can it be swearing? It is actually a phrase of love.

I have a feeling there is a context to this story we don't know yet. Even so, fair dinkum seems almost, you know, like agreeing with the hostie, as in "Fair dinkum, too bad there are no pretzels. What a pity. Maybe next time."

Doesn't seem at all hostile. I don't get it, unless there is more to the story.

[silentC]

Fair Dinkum is not an Aussie slang because it is not on the list

No, it's just not "great Aussie slang" in the opinion of the author. Fair dinkum, some of these knobs are bonkers!

[bitingmidge]

I got into trouble once when I used the term "sheila" in front of a female director of a large seppo franchise. Even though we knew each other quite well professionally, she went pretty much spack.

When I could get a word in edgewise, I explained that "sheila" was not a derogatory term, providing one was describing a sheila as one, but had I called a bloke a sheila she may have had a point.

I lost a few brownie points that day and there was no one else in Connecticut to back me up! Fair dinkum, it fair ripped the fork out of my nighty.

P

[silentC]

We had a guy from Chile working with us a few years ago. 'es name was Carlos. He was totally mystified by metaphors.

He was a business analyst and, despite his Latin blood, completely calm and not given to histrionics, which I can assure you were warranted given the person he reported to (a Greek woman, now there's a match made in heaven!).

I used to say to him when he'd come out of her office with that look on his face "Carlos, it's water off a duck's back to you, isn't it mate?" I always had the feeling he got it but didn't let on.

After I left the company, I had an email from him telling me he'd resigned and bought a news agency in the country. He signed off "Carlos, the featherless duck".

[bitingmidge]

Even so, how can it be swearing?

I have a feeling there is a context to this story we don't know yet. Even so, fair dinkum seems almost, you know, like agreeing with the hostie, as in "Fair dinkum, too bad there are no pretzels. What a pity. Maybe next time."

You may be right bloke, she may have said something like

"Fair dinkum you drongos give me the shiddle di dits," which of course would be less polite, but still not swearing imho.


That'll teach 'em for coming the raw prawn.

P

[silentC]

fair dinkum seems almost, you know, like agreeing with the hostie

Fair dinkum started out as an expression of something being true, or genuine.

eg.
He's a fair dinkum bloke = He's a genuine sort of chap
Is that fair dinkum? = Are you being honest with me, my good man?

Then it became a rhetorical exclamation of surprise at a statement being made:

Bloke 1: See that bloke over there, he reckons he can scull fifteen schooners in 15 minutes!
Bloke 2: Fair dinkum?

From there, it naturally evolved into an ironic retort:

Have you got any peanuts?
No, I'm sorry we are fresh out of peanuts.
Fair dinkum!

And that's the fair dinkum truth!

[Capt. Zero]

Heck I've lived here all my life and I still get into hot water frequently with normal speak. I'm afraid we've gotten so thin skinned and wrapped up in PC speach we've mopped ourselves into a corner with any real personal comunication. The way things are going in the states it won't be long before we live in T.H. Whites ant community. "Anything not mandatory is forbidden."