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-   -   Aussie-ness.... (https://britishexpats.com/forum/barbie-92/aussie-ness-763146/)

PamK Jun 27th 2012 12:52 pm

Aussie-ness....
 
Hahha quite liked this article.....

Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/trav...#ixzz1z2pg9Mvv

With this being my favourite entry......

"How's it going?"

This has to be up there with the American "what's up" as the most nonsensical greeting around. How's what going? I remember a few exchange students at uni talking about this, saying, "It took me a while to realise that Australians don't actually want to know how you are going. They just want you to say 'good'."

bcworld Jun 27th 2012 1:09 pm

Re: Aussie-ness....
 

Originally Posted by PamK (Post 10143263)
"How's it going?"

Surely that should be "How ya going?"

Kelli28 Jun 27th 2012 1:59 pm

Re: Aussie-ness....
 

Originally Posted by PamK (Post 10143263)
Hahha quite liked this article.....

Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/trav...#ixzz1z2pg9Mvv

With this being my favourite entry......

"How's it going?"

This has to be up there with the American "what's up" as the most nonsensical greeting around. How's what going? I remember a few exchange students at uni talking about this, saying, "It took me a while to realise that Australians don't actually want to know how you are going. They just want you to say 'good'."

Not so different to the Geordie saying "ya areet" and "aye champion" is the reply it's just a greeting, no one really wants to if your piles are playing up :lol:

commonwealth Jun 27th 2012 3:03 pm

Re: Aussie-ness....
 
i've heard 'how's it going' in the US and canada many times.

Dorothy Jun 27th 2012 8:37 pm

Re: Aussie-ness....
 

Originally Posted by bcworld (Post 10143278)
Surely that should be "How ya going?"

Absolutely. "How's it going?" is a North Americanism, where "How ya going?" is Australian.

I remember the first time someone said that to me. I was waiting at the bus stop so I answered "By bus. You?" He looked at me like I had 6 heads. :lol:

carolinephillips Jun 27th 2012 8:48 pm

Re: Aussie-ness....
 

Originally Posted by Dorothy (Post 10143675)
Absolutely. "How's it going?" is a North Americanism, where "How ya going?" is Australian.

I remember the first time someone said that to me. I was waiting at the bus stop so I answered "By bus. You?" He looked at me like I had 6 heads. :lol:

:rofl::thumbsup:

Tramps_mate Jun 27th 2012 8:52 pm

Re: Aussie-ness....
 
I'd take 'How's it going?' as meaning, hows life in general going..

I'v been saying it for years and I'm English.

moneypenny20 Jun 27th 2012 10:38 pm

Re: Aussie-ness....
 

Originally Posted by Tramps_mate (Post 10143708)
I'd take 'How's it going?' as meaning, hows life in general going..

I'v been saying it for years and I'm English.

Ditto.

Japonica Jun 27th 2012 11:23 pm

Re: Aussie-ness....
 

Originally Posted by Dorothy (Post 10143675)
Absolutely. "How's it going?" is a North Americanism, where "How ya going?" is Australian.

I remember the first time someone said that to me. I was waiting at the bus stop so I answered "By bus. You?" He looked at me like I had 6 heads. :lol:

:rofl: Awesome!

I remember a foreign exchange student talking about how she had to figure out that this was just one of those rote social niceties that means nothing and stop answering with, "Well, I have a bit of a cold," or "I'm tired and have a headache."

commonwealth Jun 27th 2012 11:28 pm

Re: Aussie-ness....
 

Originally Posted by Dorothy (Post 10143675)
Absolutely. "How's it going?" is a North Americanism, where "How ya going?" is Australian.

I remember the first time someone said that to me. I was waiting at the bus stop so I answered "By bus. You?" He looked at me like I had 6 heads. :lol:

Agreed.

I've been hearing/using "how's it going" before going to Oz.

First job in Oz, someone in the office asked me at 6pm, "How ya going". I said "I'm going home" and he laughed.

ProudVIC Jun 27th 2012 11:56 pm

Re: Aussie-ness....
 
I did have to laugh at the weather denial bit.

It was 13C in Melbourne at lunchtime and the 'feels like' temperature was 6C with a stiff northerly blowing but a handful of people were sporting bare legs and thongs. :eek:

Some people here feel that if they don't acknowledge it's winter at any stage then they can pretend it never happened.

The same works on the reverse side of the coin and is even more common where people in Melbourne dress up in overcoats and scarves like it's Moscow or something as soon as the temp drops below about 18C.

BadgeIsBack Jun 28th 2012 12:03 am

Re: Aussie-ness....
 

Originally Posted by Japonica (Post 10143919)
:rofl: Awesome!

I remember a foreign exchange student talking about how she had to figure out that this was just one of those rote social niceties that means nothing and stop answering with, "Well, I have a bit of a cold," or "I'm tired and have a headache."

I believe that you are allowed to say something along the lines of:

'Not baaad - for an old fellar!'.

I sometimes say this in an old man voice and it always get a laugh.

abi31 Jun 28th 2012 9:04 am

Re: Aussie-ness....
 
I say 'how's it going' all the time - I had no idea I was multi-lingual :p

It's only the more relaxed form of the British 'how are you?' which is rarely demanding a genuine answer.

And I left Oz 23 years ago but I still say 'chucking a uey' - that one sticks with you. I love the fact that the Aussies shorten everything - it suits my lazy sensibilities perfectly :D

Kim67 Jun 28th 2012 10:03 am

Re: Aussie-ness....
 
Whether you say it or ya, you've all got it wrong it's not going, it's garn.

DadAgain Jun 28th 2012 10:58 am

Re: Aussie-ness....
 

Originally Posted by abi31 (Post 10144870)
...It's only the more relaxed form of the British 'how are you?' which is rarely demanding a genuine answer....

I've never been a fan of the Australian customer service introduction of "How are you today?"... As if the questioner has some kind of reference to compare todays response with other days. There's always much confusion if I answer with "Same as yesterday really" - or even more confusion if I ignore the linguistic inflation of the vernacular and respond with "Average." or "Ordinary"


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