The Australian language has evolved over more than 200 years and its still evolving – for better or worse. Words come and words go and so do what we call ‘colloquial’ phrases where we describe things and activities in our unique and often very colourful ‘slanguage’. Our language is the result of our cultural influences and, in particular, our pioneering stock which was predominately British and Irish. This became our ‘main’ influences however, because of continuing immigration, we have also taken in words and expressions, and even speech patterns, from other cultures be they European or Asian. Even the mobile telephone has affected the way we speak and what we say.

Australians in the first half of the 20th century had a reputation for speaking slowly as if this was a reflection of our ‘no worries, mate’ attitude to life. This is especially true of the stereotypical gangling bushie in the city. Some observed that we spoke with our lips hardly parted. The standard joke out of this, of course, was that we spoke this way because a wide-mouthed style would have resulted in a mouth full of flies.

The contributions in this section – and I would be grateful for additions to the list – come mainly from Sydney following a series of pars in the Sun Herald Newspaper (Peter Fitzsimmons column 2005) and I have included them verbatim. - WF