OT: New Aussie Tourism Campaign Strikes Controversy

[dean]

Ah, drifting be good...

The F word certainly is an international word, even in non-english speaking countries [getting insulted by an Indonesian for being a f-ing nerd for instance is really funny, especially since he thought he was giving me the biggest insult possible.]

And yes I do use 'bugger off' a fair bit.  In fact I'm also quite partial to sod off, but that's more me liking cockney British swearing more than an Australian thing [I keep calling a friend of mine an 'absolute git' just because I like the sound of it, more than me actually knowing what the hell it means]

And I think we will be killing each other for petrol soon [damn price rises...time to invest in some leather and some chains...]

As for the ad campaign itself [drifting back slightly on topic] I'm not sure how much of a stir it's actually making in the news overseas to justify the silliness of it all [unless it has, I really don't know] but everytime it gets banned in another country, it makes the news here, and I have a good laugh.

I like the campaign, but I do think it's a little, um, bogan really.  Sure there's lots of shots of the beautiful outback and bikini babes, but nothing is mentioned about coming and visiting the city at all.  I guess they're 'playing to our strengths' but frankly I'm a little sick of it all.  

At least it's a hell of a lot better than the ill-fated campaign with Paul Hogan and 'chuck another shrimp on the barbie.'  I mean, I've only seen that happen once...

[dean]

Just watched another spoof of the original ad.

See it here

[odinn7]

Dean...how about the word "numpty"? I belong to an anti-scammer board where most of the members seem to be brits and numpty seems to be a fairly popular word. I use it quite often now. I was just wondering if it's used in Australia at all.

Used in a sentence: Anyone that would watch Gigli all the way through is a complete numpty.

[trekgeezer]

I love the British term "wonky", as in "it's gone wonky" to describe something that's not going as expected.

[AndyC]

We use "wonky" in Canada. It's not especially common, but you hear it.

Actually, that reminded me of the expression we Canucks seem to have in common with the Aussies -- "G'day." It's been a common greeting here for as long as I can remember, as you might have gathered from watching the MacKenzie Brothers. But when Paul Hogan hit it big in the 80s, he popularized it as an Australian greeting. I mean, it doesn't take much to abbreviate "good day," but it's still interesting that the informal Australian greeting is the same as the informal Canadian greeting.

Anybody know if the British say g'day? I heard Richard Attenborough say it once, but I don't recall any other instances.

[Mitch McAfee]

Dean - that spoof was made by a mate of mine. He made it for a bit of fun & never imagined it would generate so much interest!

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/tourism-spoof-not-bloody funny/2006/03/27/1143330979106.html

[Fearless Freep]

Used in a sentence: Anyone that would watch Gigli all the way through is a complete numpty

That was along way to go to get a Gigli reference in this thread..

[dean]

Hey Mitch, that's great!

The friend who sent me the link said it was from the Ronnie John show but not aired, so either you know some pretty crazy people, or my friend is a liar who should be shot immediately.

I thought it was much more fun than the Chaser's version.

[plan9superfan]

By the way, the British don't say "G'day!", they say "Cheerio!".

[odinn7]

Fearless Freep Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> > Used in a sentence: Anyone that would watch
> Gigli all the way through is a complete numpty
>
> That was along way to go to get a Gigli reference
> in this thread..
>

I know...but shouldn't I get extra points for that?

[dean]

I think, in terms of the english language, no one term is exclusively used by one nation: there's always going to be a cultural bleed affect, I guess, such as G'day being used alot in Canada.  Sure it may be a stereotypical Aussie thing, but it goes both ways.

Oh and Odinn, I don't have a clue what numpty is or means, but I'll take a Gigli reference whenever I can get it!

[odinn7]

So then Dean, can I take it that numpty is not used in Australia? Basically it means idiot.

[trekgeezer]

When I lived in Scotland I used Cheerio and Cheers quite often as greetings for my Scottish friends.

Speaking of Canucks, I guess the term "heh" at the end of almost every sentence is akin to an American say "ya know".

[AndyC]

The correct term is "eh?"

I know a few people who like to sign their emails "Cheers." One at least has a British father. The others are just pretentious.

[dean]

Hehe, I use cheers as a way of saying thanks alot, but I certainly hope it doesn't come off as pretentious [I don't think so, but then again I could be a pretentious ass and not know it, oh dear god!!!!  Now I'm going to be paranoid for the rest of the night...]