Is Australia really how it is portrayed on tv?

Question

Does everyone talk like the crocodile hunter and spend all weekend cooking shrimp on the barbie and does everyone say g'day mate

Answer 1

I think it depend on which TV program you see.Some over exaggerate our accent and some potray us as ratbags.Best description of an Aussie,he will give you a fair go when you earn it,will tease the hell out of you,be the 1st to offer a helping hand where needed.We like our beer,women,adventure,football,cricket and like having a good time.I am 61 years of age and the word mate has been used to greet friend since before I was born.The word crikey is quiet often used but probably not as often as Steve Irwin portrayed it.We also like our punch ups and usually will not take crap from anyone,but we will welcome you with open arms if come here and not try and change our way of life.

Answer 2

"A can of beer is called a 'stubby' "

It isn't. A can is a can or a "tinny". A stubby is a half bottle with a squat shape. Barbecues are popular and I have cooked prawns on the barbie on occasion. I prefer to do them very quickly in a wok with some chopped ginger, garlic, chilli and spring onions and served with a pesto mayonnaise. They are called prawns in Australia. The advert said "shrimp" because it was made for the USA, no Australian says "shrimp".

Many people from all walks of life say "g'day" but "mate" is used more sparingly. While there is an Australian accent, you will seldom hear it as broad as Irwin did it. Again, the program and everything about Irwin was made for the USA, not Australia. He was inflicted on us long after he was entrenched in America.

Answer 3

Steve Irwin had a broad Australian accent.Most Australians have a general Australian accent.Few have a cultivated accent,and ones that do often get criticised for sounding posh,or they also might be known as speaking with plums in their mouths.
Barbecues are very popular in Australia,however that does not mean that every Australian has a barbecue every weekend.Depending on the fire risk,barbecues might not even be allowed in some areas.No one I know says 'toss another shrimp on the barbie'.Shrimps are known as prawns in Australia.
Yes,people do say G'day,they also say mate.It is more common in rural and regional areas than in cities.

Answer 4

Q 1. SOME of Australia can be like SOME things you see on television. We live in a very diverse country.

Q2. No, everyone does not talk like the crocodile hunter. As with my answer for Q1 some people do but many don't.

Q3. Many, many Australians have barbies on the weekends. Most people still prefer steak, (lamb) chops, rissoles (hamburger patties) and sausages to prawns (shrimp).
Our family have at least one barbie meal every weekend in summertime. We also cook our bacon and eggs etc on the barbie every Sunday morning in summer for breakfast.
It's easier to cook outside than to dirty up the kitchen.
Also, in my family, only men cook on the barbie, it's a rule. (This rule was made and is enforced by me.)
So, I just have to cut up the salad, no cooking for me to do. Love it!

Q4. People from all walks of life say G'day. Most don't usually add the word mate as often as is portrayed on television.

A can of beer is a "tinny".
A glass bottle, the same size as a can, of beer is called a "stubbie". It used to be called an "echo" in South Australia but I don't know if it still is. "Echo" because it was returned for recycling.
A carton (24 tinnies or stubbies) of beer is called a "slab" of beer.

Answer 5

I live in a regional area in Queensland. We don't all talk like the Crocodile Hunter (some of us do though). Most people will say 'g'day mate) and we do have lots of barbies with prawns, salads, steaks and mangoes.

Answer 6

Of course it is!

TV is absolutely accurate, and I'll prove it.

Everyone in England drinks earl grey tea and eats scones scones with jam and cream at supper time. If they aren't the Queen, then don't worry, because they are still royalty and will have a title like Lady or Dame if they are a woman or if they are a man their title will be Earl or Lord or Duke. They all dress up in top hats and coats to watch the tennis at Wimbledon. Their favourite saying is "What's all this then?"

Don't believe me? Well here's further proof.

All French people eat garlic snails (escargot) for dinner every night followed by frogs legs. They all wear red berets, skin-tight horizontally-striped blue-and-white shirts and the men are marked by a red silk scarf tied in a knot around their neck. They will be carrying a bag of baguettes under their arms at all times. They all stink, of course, so they bathe in Chanel No. 5. No matter where you are in France, you will have a view of the Eiffel Tower from your balcony, which has a wrought-iron railing. Every French man is called Jean-Luc and every French woman is called Marie-Claire.

Still not convinced? Well wait, there's more...

All American men are called Al or Homer. Women are all called Cheyenne. They dress in flanellette shirts, own forty five handguns, and seventeen shotguns. In America, you go to jail if you forget to shoot at least 3 people a week. You all drive a massive, fuel-guzzling trucks. If you do shoot someone and people think it was for the wrong reason, you can hire your neighbour/ secretary/ psychiatrist/ waitress/ best friend's wife/ the person you shot because 99.9% of Americans are lawyers so chances are whoever you'll meet will be a lawyer. You can then sue someone for 700 trillion dollars because there was a fly in your soup. But of course, nobody eats soup because you're all eating burgers with enough meat in them to feed an entire starving African nation for a year.

Wow, I'm glad TV is so wonderfully accurate at portraying stereotypes, because we all know that stereotypes are exactly what absolutely everyone conforms to!

In the words of Homer Simpson
"Oh, by the way, I was being sarcastic".

Answer 7

Hey Marie, there are real australians left like meself.

I like to go pig shootin, watch rugby, surf, go for a body bash, fish, pull a sickie, have a good barbecue, drink four X.
Dont believe some answers.
A few of the younger new generation are a bit soft.

Answer 8

There IS an Australian accent. !!! Strange,but true.

'Barbies' are a way of life in OZ ,mate ! If you don't like 'em then don't mix with 'Aussies'.
You can say the same about beer. It's a national pastime. A can of beer is called a 'stubby' and they are always served ice cold.
And YES (!!!) people DO say 'G'day mate'.......

Now come on down here and we'll cook up a few shrimps and prawns.

Answer 9

Steve Irwin adopted an image of Australians that was a stereotype and obsolete even before he was born. However as US perceptions of Australia are obsolete (except of course among those who have been here) it went down well in the USA, which was his intention. Remember he was married to an American lady who probably knew what would sell in the USA.

I have heard that not all Americans drive monster pick-up trucks with gun racks built in. Is this true? Is it true that they don't all eat all their meals at the golden arches? Is it true than the men are not all named Milton, Al or Homer?

We don't talk about shrimp, they are "prawns" here and we usually eat them boiled. I don't mind a few but they are far from my favorite food. A lot of people say "G'day", but it is most common among those whose education and intelligence is not among the finest.

Answer 10

Strewth Maaaatttteeee...

Stone the flamin crow, I wus just watching the idiot box, getting me dose of kiwi floggin in the cricket, blow me over the flamin roo's got out of the yard and i had to get me thongs on and run after the buggers. ya bloody wombat.