Strine

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other meanings see Strine (disambiguation)

Scan of the cover of the first edition of Let Stalk Strine showing a sample of Morrison's distinctive illustrations for the book

Strine was a term coined in 1964^[1] and subsequently used to describe a joke or made-up "language" purportedly spoken by Australians. The term is a syncope, derived from a phonetic rendition of the pronunciation of the word "Australian" in an exaggerated Broad Australian accent. It was the subject of humorous columns published in the Sydney Morning Herald from the mid 1960s and a later series of books written by Alastair Ardoch Morrison under the Strine pseudonym of Afferbeck Lauder (another syncope, for "Alphabetical Order").^[2]

Written Strine can be initially puzzling to the uninitiated, but reading it aloud can often resolve any confusion (especially for users of, or those familiar with, Australian English). For example:

"Eye-level Arch: The Strine method of ordering a meal in a restaurant. As in: 'Eye-level arch play devoisters ...' " ("I'll have a large plate of oysters").

Steve Irwin was once referred to as the person who "talked Strine like no other contemporary personality".^[3]