Do Aussies really say "G'day cobber" and call girls "shielas"? Depends on whether they're coming the raw prawn and acting like a galah deliberately. They CAN all talk like Hoges but, being natural gentlemen, choose not to.......

"G'day" is an everyday greeting - to anybody at all. Call somebody "cobber" and you'll likely get a queer look these days. Once common - especially in working men's speech, the old cobber ain't what she used to be. "Mate" is used as a general address, but your emphatic "mate" is your best pal, who'll stick by you through thick and thin... well, thick anyway. "Digger" was in common use, but usually referred to an acting soldier, or someone who'd been "up the sharp end". "Shiela" has also dropped by the wayside - fortunately... But "arvo" means afternoon, and is an example of the Oz habit of shortening long words (or lengthening short words) and ending them with a suitable(or unsuitable) vowel sound. "Tinnie" for tin (of beer) "Footy" for football. There are theories that the slang here came about from the criminal classes who were sent out from Mother England, and the vocabulary was just generally adopted, along with the manners of speech. It figures, really.

Now what excuse have the "Septics" got? (I'll let you work that one out.)