> Yeah, because nobody has ever posted a bare comment here about drop bears
You'd be surprised how many Australians have never heard of "drop bears". Because it is just an old joke about pranking foreigners, yes many people remember it, but also many have no clue what it is. It is one of those stereotypical Australianisms which tends to occupy more space in many non-Australian minds than in most Australian minds.
> or how "the front fell off".
I'm in my 40s, and I've lived in Australia my whole life, my father was born here, and my mother moved here when she was three years old... and I didn't know what this was, it sounded vaguely familiar but no idea what it meant. Then I look it up and discover it is a reference to an old Clarke and Dawe skit. I know who they are, I used to watch them on TV all the time when I was young (tweens/teens), but I have no memory of ever seeing this skit in particular. Again, likely one of those Australianisms which many non-Australians know, many Australians don't.
Your examples of Australianisms are the stereotypes a non-Australian would mention; we could talk instead about the Australianisms which many Australians use without even realising they are Australianisms: for example, "heaps of" – a recognised idiom in other major English dialects, but in very common use in Australian English, much rarer elsewhere. Or "capsicum", for "bell peppers"–the Latin scientific name everywhere, but the colloquial name only in a few countries–plus botanically the hot ones are capsicum too, but in Australian English (I believe New Zealand English and Indian English too) only the mild ones are "capsicums", the hot ones are "chilis". Or "peak body"–now we are talking bureaucratese not popular parlance–which essentially means the top national activist/lobbyist group for a given subject area, whether that's LGBT people or homelessness or financial advisors.
Well, I hope I at least cleared the bar for "understands other countries exist".
Thanks for the clarifications. I think my first exposure to drop bears was a few decades ago on a microcontroller mailing list (PIClist). So maybe that poster was just pulling our legs.
I did perceive "front fell off" as an online phenomenon (ie meme). Which speaks to a growing pan-country online culture (I mean, you did get the reference, it's just not part of your Australian identity)
"peak body" is an interesting one, for the concept being acknowledged. I don't think we really explicitly state such a things in the US. I can come up with lobbying groups I think are notable, but perhaps other USians perspectives differ on that notability. Although I'm sure by the time you get to Washington DC and into the political industry there has to be a similar term.
You'd be surprised how many Australians have never heard of "drop bears". Because it is just an old joke about pranking foreigners, yes many people remember it, but also many have no clue what it is. It is one of those stereotypical Australianisms which tends to occupy more space in many non-Australian minds than in most Australian minds.
> or how "the front fell off".
I'm in my 40s, and I've lived in Australia my whole life, my father was born here, and my mother moved here when she was three years old... and I didn't know what this was, it sounded vaguely familiar but no idea what it meant. Then I look it up and discover it is a reference to an old Clarke and Dawe skit. I know who they are, I used to watch them on TV all the time when I was young (tweens/teens), but I have no memory of ever seeing this skit in particular. Again, likely one of those Australianisms which many non-Australians know, many Australians don't.
Your examples of Australianisms are the stereotypes a non-Australian would mention; we could talk instead about the Australianisms which many Australians use without even realising they are Australianisms: for example, "heaps of" – a recognised idiom in other major English dialects, but in very common use in Australian English, much rarer elsewhere. Or "capsicum", for "bell peppers"–the Latin scientific name everywhere, but the colloquial name only in a few countries–plus botanically the hot ones are capsicum too, but in Australian English (I believe New Zealand English and Indian English too) only the mild ones are "capsicums", the hot ones are "chilis". Or "peak body"–now we are talking bureaucratese not popular parlance–which essentially means the top national activist/lobbyist group for a given subject area, whether that's LGBT people or homelessness or financial advisors.