I’ve been wondering. Does anyone know if flashing your headlights at oncoming traffic to warn of an upcoming speed-camera is a uniquely Australian act? Or is it common practice the world over? It certainly seems characteristically Australian – uniting in the blood-drenched spirit of Eureka to rebel against authority, etc, etc – but of course that doesn’t make it exclusively so.
And is the mortal-blow, ‘That’s Un-Australian,’ an expression that’s unique to our wide, flat, brown land? Or do Swedes, for instance, frown disapprovingly and declare, “That’s just Un-Swedish”? Or Brazilians shake their heads sternly and say, “Look, seriously, that’s Un-Brazilian”? Surely we can’t be the only ones to possess an all-purpose, Patriots’ phrase with the power to shame a scoundrel at 500 yards? ‘That’s Un-American’ sounds plausible, but I can’t say I’ve ever heard it. I suppose the British could use, ‘That’s just not cricket, mate’, but it lacks the sheer, unadulterated shaming power of our version.
Anyone travelled long and far and wide enough to know?
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This link suggests that the practice is not unique to Australia. (It's also a damn funny link in its own right.)
ReplyDelete"Un-American" as a phrase is tainted by the activities of the 'House Committee on Un-American Activities', which make for fascinating reading.
A modern American would understand the concept of "un-Australian" though, as would a Frenchman. That's because all three countries share the belief that what defines us as a nation is that we all share some basic beliefs; and that anyone who accepts these values (and who is willing to go through any legalities required to become a citizen) - regardless of the colour of their skin or the nationality of their parents - is just as Australian (or French, or American) as a natural-born citizen.
This is not the norm around the world. Two examples of the more common case spring to mind:
There is a non-trivial number of German residents who are not citizens, despite having been born in Germany to parents who were themselves born in Germany to, for example, Turkish immigrants who emigrated to Germany during the labour shortages of the sixties.
There are also many ethnically Korean residents of Japan, whose families have been living there for centuries. They are not citizens, since effectively the only way to become a Japanese citizen is to at least one parent who is a Japanese citizens.
(To be 100% accurate, most Japanese citizens are also ethnically Korean, descendants of Koreans who invaded Japan around the time of Christ and drove most of the Ainu people out. But I digress.)
To say 'un-German' or 'un-Japanese' in a moral context would be ludicrous, since there is no moral component to being German or Japanese. The national identity of those countries is not built around shared values, but around shared genes.
Its un Australian to question this! You just have to accept it and use the phrase next time someone says...
ReplyDelete'The Commodore is too big for my family, I actually like the Smart Car'
or 'I prefer my sausages to be cooked in a frying pan rather than on the BBQ'
or 'I have had enough of this beer, I'll just tip it out on the grass or down the sink'... In this case the very Australian thing to do would be;
a. pretend you are sculling the whole beer and just tip the contents onto your face to make it look like you just cannot drink quick enough,
b. when no one is looking tip the dregs into a the nearest pot plant... if you are cought doing this your nick name by default becomes 'pot plants'
c. throw the beer at the head of the next person who says something you do not agree with.
Thanks for your post and those links, Triple J. Very interesting, and very funny story about the police bashing heads. :-) Speaking of funny, Davidic sent me the link to the wikipage on Australian English Vocabulary, which makes the observation that 'Un-Australian' is a term "rarely used by anyone outside of politics or current affairs shows."
ReplyDeleteBomber, hilarious. Points taken, and I will try to implement them at the next barbie I attend, (which I will of course drive to in my 4WD.)
Oh, and I notice that a 'jaidyn' is an esky. Derived from Jaidyn Leskie. And a 'fart slicer' is a pair of g-string type underpants.
ReplyDelete