Aussie

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This article is about the slang word for Australian. For other uses, see Aussie (disambiguation).

Aussie is a friendly slang word for Australian. In Australia and New Zealand the word is only pronounced /ˈɒziː/; however, in the United States, it is either pronounced /ˈɔːsi/ or /ˈɑːsi/;[1][2][3][4][5] and pronunciation of the word in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Canada usually follows Australian and New Zealand practice. Pronouncing the word with a voiceless /s/ in place of the voiced /z/ is strongly frowned upon by Australians, who consider it a canonically North American error, along with such errors as pronouncing the last syllables of Melbourne and Brisbane as "born" and "bane," respectively (both are correctly pronounced with a schwa).

[edit] Cultural moniker

In a multicultural context, Aussie is used by some in Australia as a specific term for Australians of the 'traditional' majority cultural group of Northern European descent, especially Australians of English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, German, Dutch or Scandinavian background. A parallel can be drawn between the usage of Aussie in Australia and Boer in South Africa, both referring to the descendants of early settlers, as opposed to later immigrants.

The usage of Aussie in this context is regarded as offensive by those who believe that it unfairly excludes some cultural groups as not equally Australian. It may also be used in a derogatory sense by those who do not consider themselves Australian to label those who do. In spite of attempts by schools, politicians and the news media to use the term as an all-encompassing label for those with Australian citizenship, it has continued to retain some usage as an ethnic descriptor, especially among youth. Another reason for the discriminatory use of term Aussie is the tension between official citizenship status on one hand and self-identity and identity by the community on the other, a tension by no means unique to Australian society.

The terminology received international attention as a result of the 2005 Cronulla riots [3], where t-shirts and scrawlings on the beach reading "100% Aussie Pride" were largely seen as a display of ethnic identification.

  • Down Under, a colloquialism referring to things related to, or coming from Australia

[edit] Chants

Further information: Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi

[edit] References

  1. ^ Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., 1961 (repr. 2002).
  2. ^ Merriam-Webster Online.[1] Retrieved on 7 June 2007.
  3. ^ Random House Unabridged Dictionary.
  4. ^ MSN Encarta Dictionary, North American edition. [2] Retrieved on 7 June 2007.
  5. ^ Webster's New World College Dictionary, Wiley, 2004.
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