CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | Contact
As families across the country reunite for Christmas celebrations, it has been reported that young Queenslanders are continually being confused by the varying terminology and dialects of their southern cousins.
Earlier this week The Betoota Advocate reported on the noted inter-state discrepancies regarding backyard cricket, with Southern NSW and Victorians unable to recognise the commonly accepted street rules known as ‘electric wickie’.
The rules state that if playing in front of a garage door or similar, the structure takes on the role of wicket keeper. Any balls making contact with the auto wickie without bouncing, or “on the full”, is considered out. Catches (i.e. from snicks) also apply.
However, in the South, the Queenslander term of electric wickie, also known as ‘leckie wickie’ is seen as foreign terminology, with many of the cooler states opting for ‘auto-wickie’ or ‘auto-slips’.
Backyard cricket isn’t the only Christmas activity that can be confuse, with hundreds of youngsters holidaying in Victoria confused by the terms ‘potato cakes’ when visiting a small-town fish and chip store.
It is believed the term ‘potato scallops’ was retired from use in Melbourne and surrounds following the first visit of Queen Elizabeth II in 1952, as the Southern loyalists actively worked towards sounding more British to impress their imperialist head of state.
However, one linguistic inconsistency that has proven most confusing for hundreds and thousands of young kids visiting their cousins down south is the term ‘cossie’ to describe swimsuits, or what Queenslanders refer to as togs.
“Have you packed your cossies, we are going for a swim!” asks Sydney pre-teen Bronte Darlinghurst (11) after her cousins arrived from Toowoomba this morning.
Confused and distressed by the terminology, it took intervention from the parents to help inform the young Queenslanders that cossie was short for ‘swimming costume’.
It is believed the cousins from Adelaide are struggling the most this time of their year, as their received Queen’s English does not translate to either NSW or QLD – especially when asking for somewhere that they can get changed into their bathers.
