Dub^3 Aussie Style

It's back! This time with a new twist.

For those of you who are new, Dub^3 is short for WWW which is short for the Wonderful Words of Wednesday. This is the segment in which I talk about talking. Since I've recently returned from Australia, I though it'd be appropriate to show you guys some of the Aussie words I picked up.

Even though they speak English in Australia, sometimes I felt like thay were speaking a whole different language. For example, the word, "jumper". When I was younger, my gramma used to make me little dresses that we called jumpers. So when one of my cousins told me to grab a jumper for my mom, I wondered why on earth they thought my mother would need a dress. It turns out that in Australia, a jumper is a hoodie!

The word I heard the most down there was "heaps". They use it in place of "lots" or "a lot". In fact, I don't think I ever heard them say "a lot" or "lots". For example, instead of saying, "I miss you lots!" an Aussie says, "I miss you heaps!". Or instead of asking, "Do you get a lot of snow in Canada?" an Aussie asks, "Do you get heaps of snow in Canada?". I can't tell you how many times I was asked about snow in Canada, all I know is that I got that question heaps of times.

Another word that got me confused was "football". My cousins asked me if I played football and I wasn't sure how to respond; I didn't know if they were talking about the kind of football played in the States or the kind of football the English play that North Americans refer to as soccer. When I asked them which one they meant, they told me they meant neither. When an Aussie uses the word "football" they are talking about rugby. To them, American football is called "grid iron" and English football is called soccer.

I also noticed that the Australians love to make all of their words cuter by shortening them and adding an -ie or -y ending.
"Football" = "footy"
"breakfast" = "brekky"
"barbeque" = "barby"
"television" = "telly"
"lollipop" = "lollie"
"umbrella" = "brelly"
Need I say more? One word that they didn't shorten, however, was "truck", but they still gave it an -ie ending to create "truckie". I would hate to be a truck driver in Australia. Nothing says instant demanification better than admitting that you drive truckies for a living.

Kiss Me and Smile For Me

Well aren't you a lucky bunch? Today you are getting 3 posts-in-one from yours truly. Why the excessive blogging, you ask? I shall tell you.

1. Today is Wednesday. That means another installment of the Wonderful Words of Wednesday.

b) Today is also the last day of March. That means you get a recap of my month.

iii. Today is also the day I leave. For Australia that is! So of course I must say goodbye to you lovelies.

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First thing's first. Dub^3!

For those of you who are new, Dub^3 is short for WWW which is short for the Wonderful Words Wednesday. This is the segment where I talk about words that I like and you smile and nod and pretend to be interested. (Yes, I can see you smiling and nodding through the computer)

On friday, I learned a new phrase: Kitty Corner. I've heard it before and I know what context to use it in, but I've never been entirely sure of what it means to be "kitty corner" from something. When giving directions, if the place you are referring to is diagonally across from another place of reference it is said to be kitty corner from it. For example, "My house is easy to find. It's just kitty corner from the school over there."

But seriously, kitty corner? I hate cats, why do we have to bring their offspring into this? It turns out, the original word that was used used to be "catercorner", but people had trouble remembering "cater" so over time it got replaced with "catty" and it has now become the "kitty" that we hear today.

reference!

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H'okay, moving on...

It's time to recap my resolutions for March.

1. Write a journal entry once a week.
It's fairly obvious to see that I'm doing well with this one. I've recently bought a new notebook to serve as my journal. It is red and I love it.

2. Find a job.
Found one. Still have it. I watch Tim's kids.

3. Get my license
Boo yah! I got it. I can't remember what I did back in the days when I didn't have it.

4. Work out 2-3 times a week.
Just when you thought I'd given up, I surprise you. I've surprised myself. I've been running and biking all month. I love getting my endorphins in the morning. Toby tells me that only two props are returning to the Pronghorns this year, so if I can get my fitness levels up and my knee up to snuff, I will have a spot on the team come fall!

5. Stop gossiping.
Oh goodness, every month I hide my face in shame when I come to this goal. This is the only one that I've made no progress on :( but maybe now that I've gotten the other ones out of the way, I can focus on this. (yeah right...) I should make a T shirt that says "No gossip zone" . . . =O OMG! That's a good idea!

So as you can see, March was my month of progress. I can cross my license goal off my list entirely and my workout goal has now taken effect. Rugby has made its way back into my life this month, I got some vaccinations, Elder Bednar came to Lethrbidge and gave an awesome firside, I made a buttload of shirts, I created a weekly blog-segment, I babysat a lot, I hung out with Plausible, I told Pirate Steve (and you) about Plausible, I played in the Kiwanis with my orchestra, I donated blood, Selina came to Lethbridge on Saturday (we've been together every day since she's been here) and I finally got to play Beatles Rockband - it was everything I imagined and more. Oh, also - this Monday for FHE we had a scripture study night. I was so pleased with how it turned out! People actually showed up with scriptures in hand, ready to participate. I am so grateful it was a good night, I think we should have another one before the end of the year.

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Ack! I can't believe it! I'm leaving for Australia soon! Depending on when you're reading this I could be on my way right now. Please don't miss me too much, friends. I will be home soon. I am going to try my hardest not to miss you so that I can enjoy every moment. I still have no idea what the computer/internet situation will be like down there, but I do know that I won't be bringing my lap top. As I promised, I will try to take a picture everyday specifically for this blog. I can't say I'll be able to upload everyday (if at all), but you will see them eventually.

If you happened to notice what time I'm posting this, you are quite the observant person. It's so late/early because I've been up packing all night. My friend, Star was pestering me over a week ago to start packing and I just laughed. Sorry pal, that's not how I roll. With every single trip I've been on, I have never started packing more than 2 days before I leave. I don't put anything in my suitcase until the night before. I've been using this system for years and I don't plan on changing it :P

Anyways, enjoy the next month without me! I hope I'll be able to give you at least a couple updates to share the fun I'll be having. I also hope to find me a hot Tongan to bring home. Fingers crossed.

Grand Unveiling

Welcome to the second segment of . . . The Wonderful Words of Wednesday. Quite the mouthful, eh? To shorten it I'll call it Dub^3.

For those of you who are new, Dub^3 is the time of the week when you get a dictionary thrown at your head and are forced to learn the meaning of the random words or phrases that fascinate me.

This week, I decided to choose a phrase to analyze: "Kick the bucket". How come when someone dies, they are said to have kicked the bucket? Were people punished in the olden days whenever they kicked buckets around? Was there a time when buckets were dangerous and killed you when you kicked them? Is the bucket filled with nitroglycerin?

After a little research, I believe I've found a pretty good explanation as to why buckets are kicked when people die. The first link between buckets and death was made in approx. 1785 when it appeared in Grose's Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue: "To kick the bucket, to die."

The phrase is speculated to have arisen from the notion that when people hang themselves, they stand up on a bucket with a noose around their neck and kick the bucket away to bring about their end.

Another explanation is that "bucket" has another meaning. It also refers to the beam from which animals (mainly pigs) are hung by the feet before slaughtering. Therefore, kicking the bucket would be in reference to the spasms the animal goes through once it's dead.

What a happy note to start your Wednesday, eh? Oh well, at least you learned something. Knowledge is power! The more you know, the more you grow.

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References here and here

No Point in Trying

For those of you who don't know, Lethbridge gets the worst winds EVER. No matter how nicely you style your hair in the morning, the moment you walk out the door and into the 100km/hr wind, all your hard work goes to waste. You may as well roll out of bed with your hair all a-tangle and walk outside to let the wind style it for you. Either way, you get the same look as if you'd actually tried to do something with it before. At the University, you can tell who lives in rez on a windy day because they are the only ones with decent hair (unless they'd just rolled out of bed with ther hair all a-tangle).

Are you sick of me complaining? Sorry. Just one more and I'll be done: I don't like St. Patrick's day. Not to bash Ireland or the history behind the tradition, but I just don't like the colour green. I will wear green because it looks good on me, but that is the only tolerance I have for it. Why should green be so special? I think it's discrimination against the other colours if you ask me. AND, you don't even get a day off school for it. What kind of holiday is that???

Anyway, I wanted to try something new with my blog by doing a weekly segment. I'm not sure what I want to call it, so I think I'll have you folks vote. Here are your options: Wordy Wednesday, Wordly Wednesday, or Wordsy Wednesday. So leave a comment and let me know! I'll have made a decision by the next segment.*

As you might be able to tell by the name, I want to talk about words. The kind that we don't use anymore, to be exact. Today's word is: Bodacious. As in, "You are one bodacious babe."**

This word popped into my head this morning and I thought to myself, Why has that gone out of style? It is such an awesome word!

So I've done a little research and here's what I've found:

- Most experts believe it was created by combining "bold" and "audacious"
- It was used mostly in the 80's and 90's
- It can have multiple meanings, such as remarkable, courageous or audacious
- It can be used to describe a good looking guy or girl

Until I blog again, have a bodacious time!

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* -Since this is my blog, if I don't like what you choose, I'm picking one on my own :P

** -500 points to whoever can tell me the movie that quote is from!