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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
I could very easily get lost in that link: each section has highlighted words that just BEG me to click on them and see what I find. I just found this poem, which is in itself worthwhile. I found it by clicking on the word diggers. I'll include some of the explanations. (All of the following are quotes from the site.)
Briefly, a digger is an Australian solider, typically from WWI and WW2. They are revered, and, in many ways, epitomise the real Australian culture that is perhaps dying with them.
The following is a poem in their honour.
Diggers Lament
It was with great sadness, that we saw a dusty old digger, turned from the door for a century he and his mates had drunk and laughed and cried, and lived through war
But now it seems, he is not the right class No suit, no tie, no belt of brass To him it was all a tragic mystery Who were these Australians, who had forgotten their own history?
Somewhat in shock, we skulled our beers and rushed to join, our aging peer hey cobber, we yelled, knowing his tounge he turned and stared, eyeing us one by one
We built this bloody country, said he with our bloody hands we spilt our blood, we gave our youth and this is the thanks we have
In our day the pub was for one and all a place for laugh and cheer at the very least, an honest bloke could find an honest beer
Now noone wants to know us they throw us on the street sometimes I wonder why we bothered getting butchered, like raw meat
the fair dinkums we were known as as we fought the war of hate but most of all, we aussie blokes fought for one another - as good mates
Now I look around at Sydney Well, it just ain't the same the crowds - they aren't my people what they are is just a shame
they shove, they push, they toot their horns they speak american if you're lucky the dinkum aussies, my cobbers and I we're disappearing in a hurry
there's no shouting, mateship or blokeyness and 'bloody oath' is considered crude they think they are all winners I just think they're bloody rude
they carry on, throughout their lives chasing the almighty zac but they know no joy, they have no mates they'll die alone - for moneys sake
and what's worse, he sighed, is not here and now but where we're going to be and I ask myself, as I slowly die what happened to my country.
David Downie, 2000 ==========================================================
I found this by clicking on class: Australia has long been touted as the classless society. One only has to walk down the tired streets of Sydney and hear people shamelessly crying 'mate, mate - could you spare a dollar?' to know that this is no longer the case. Yet having said that, it does not mean that we are the same as everyone else.
The difference lies, not in the fact we all share equal wealth, or that there is no difference between a CEO on two millions dollars a year and the dunny scrubber on 12 grand a year, but in our attitude, generally speaking, to the swarming masses. As discussed elsewhere on this site, one of the great things about being Australian is that generally speaking it is the common traits that are considered to be Australian. Hence, if someone drinks, swears, says g'day, loves his footy, dislikes bludgers and bignoters and speaks all sorts of slang, then he is a fair dinkum Aussie. And, generally speaking, we like fair dinkum Aussies, and would all like to think that we are one ourselves, and we can certainly all share a beer together. Hence, in some important ways, we are all the same. ==========================================================
Cobber - Old Australian for mate, heavily used in the period of the first world war. Seldom heard in modern times, but understood by all.
Fair dinkum is an old Australian expression very roughly translating to mean genuine.
To shout is Australian meaning to buy something for someone. In a drinking context, it means to purchase a round of drinks (ie one for each person), often with the expectation of reciprocation. This was its original meaning.
The link to bloody is too darned intersting to post just part of it! Go take a look: http://www.australianbeers.com/
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