so, my husband chris is kind and swings by a local cafe shop to pick his extremely scatter-brained wife up a rare coffee beverage. while waiting in line, he gets in conversation with a man who had spent some time in australia. he said, “you know, you couldn’t wear that shirt there, “rooted” means something completely different and really inappropriate.” the guy went on to say his ministry he had started was called “rooted and grounded” and when they started wearing their shirts, everywhere they’d go, people would laugh.
we had a similar language barrier in scotland when we said pants (means underwear), tea (means dinner), dinner (means lunch), pudding (means dessert). we never knew what meal we’d be eating. fortunately, we didn’t talk about chris’ great aunt. her name was fanny. and that is one word you do NOT want to say out there.
so, my aussie friends…is it true?
I’m so going to email my Aussie friend!
It’s 1:30 am there so it might take a while to hear back…
i made that shirt.
reminds me of the time I said “buggered” while teaching in england. It was a yikes moment indeed.
I once had dinner with a missionary from Australia, and when one of the other dinner guests was done, he pushed away from the table and said, “I’m stuffed.”
This missionary got this horrified look on his face, and then burst out laughing. When he calmed down he said, “That’s not something you would ever want to say Down Under. Not only is it impossible for a man, it is completely undesirable.”
“What does it mean,” we asked.
“Pregnant by reason of rape,” he answered.
‘Nuff said.
I’m not Australian, but a quick Google search with the keywords “rooted” and “Aussie” pull up many a-sites! Here is a PG-rated version of the word you are looking for: http://www.australianexplorer.com/slang/behaviour.htm. Do your own Google search and check out the R-rated version… Yipes!
It’s True! I spent a college semester in Australia and got some big laughs when I asked a waitress if I could order a Root Beer.
And, to add a French perspective, do NOT exclaim, Je suis excite if you are excited about something. It really means you are aroused sexually. Yikers.
That’s really funny. My wife is Australian, and we lived there for almost a decade. I remember the first time I went to an Australian football game and asked the guys I was with who they were “rooting” for. They gave me a nice little talk about that :-)
There are lots of words that mean totally different things. My wife still cracks up every time she hears someone say “fanny pack”. A fanny is a women’s, um, are there any kids reading this?
It goes the other way around too. I remember my wife asking a Mom at a baby shower if she could nurse her baby. The whole group looked at her very strangely. But, alas, in Australia nursing a baby just means holding it instead of breast-feeding it :-)
It’s true… all true…!
Jeff, I think your mate was pulling your leg about the whole stuffed thing. Stuffed means the exact same thing in Australia as it does everywhere else.
Quite hillarious how words can mean different things in different places.
Anne, I saw the picture of the guy with ‘Rooted’ on it, and was like what is this sick woman going on about! Alas I read the post and understood.
It’s true.
never heard the stuffed one though…
no. you would not wear that tshirt.
all i know is that he is a fine man.
Fanny was the biggest one that I remember from visiting Australia, but that was back when people actually wore fanny pack’s!
My biggest take away (not sure if I’ll spell it right, but it sounds like this)
Beauty bottler bonza cobba!
“…when people actually wore fanny pack’s!”
So what are you trying to say? My neon pink (from the Grand Canyon) fashion accessory is no longer cool?
Please.
And when I said I would knock you up in the morning it was a perfectly innocent suggestion that I would give a wake up knock at the door don’t know why you recoiled in horror
i used to live in south africa and they have some of the same things, as do all cultures. a minister could say dam, hell or shit from the pulpit without them blinking an eye. but if the minister or anybody else said “bloody”, then… well… it wasn’t pretty.
It’s midnight and I am laughing out loud at these comments…glad no one can hear me!! ;)
I’m an Aussie, and yes, its true about the word “rooted”.
But completely false about “stuffed”. I use that sometimes in the context of being full after a meal, but mostly if someone is stuffed, it means their exhausted, worn out or in some cases, intoxicated.
For example:
“Do you want to go out for a movie tonight?”
“Nah mate, I’m stuffed.”
/Aussie accent.
About “fanny”, I remember as a child turning round to make sure Mum wasn’t listening when The Nanny theme song got to the part where she gets kicked out on her “fanny”. One day Mum did hear, and after seeing my look of astonishment and embarrassment, explained to me that it meant a different thing in the US.
i was just scrolling down the page like i usually do before i read what you have written and i was like ”oh my gosh! Anne SWORE!” but no you didnt…you just made your point, that is a BAD word over here!!! :D
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