Comments on: australian yell

Question: australian yell

tommassit — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 20:06:06 -0800

Is there a yell of exuberance or exhilaration to which Australians are partial? Something equivalent to "woowee" or "yahoo." Maybe "cooee"?

By: wilful

wilful — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 20:10:42 -0800

no.

Cooeee is anachronistic. It's just a call for attention across distances - like yodelling but without any greater communication than "hello, I'm here!"

My mother and I are about the last people we know that cooeee. That reflects my rural background.

By: wilful

wilful — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 20:12:01 -0800

This is the classic "coo-ee" recruiting poster from WW1

By: converge

converge — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 20:13:38 -0800

Oi?

By: krisjohn

krisjohn — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 20:13:43 -0800

"Wooo!" and "Yeah!" probably cover it.

By: zaeon

zaeon — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 20:22:21 -0800

'fuck yeah' or 'fuck yes'.

Depends on how formal the situation is.

By: Artful Codger

Artful Codger — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 20:30:47 -0800

hello??? it's 'Crikey!'

By: Artful Codger

Artful Codger — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 20:31:15 -0800

or 'Streuth!'

By: Remy

Remy — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 20:35:14 -0800

Howzat?

By: DOUBLE A SIDE

DOUBLE A SIDE — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 20:54:16 -0800

Seconding 'Strueth' and 'Crikey' (Very Australian) ... used in ironic/cool mode amongst the younger set.

'Howzat' is used in cricket, by most countries.

By: pompomtom

pompomtom — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 20:59:46 -0800

"You beauty!" (or "You ripper") for the particularly Australian, but I'd say "Fuck yeah" or "Shit yeah" would be in more common contemporary use.

By: ranglin

ranglin — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 21:04:22 -0800

I've never heard 'strueth', 'crikey' or 'cooee' from ANY Australian, ever, unless it was in irony (or Steve Irwin).

I will third (second?) "fuck yeah" and "you little ripper" though...

Also, "wahoo" or any of a myriad of other american terms, due to our overexposure to american tv like the simpsons.

By: GaelFC

GaelFC — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 21:06:39 -0800

Heh, our Aussie friend just says "Wanker!" all the time. Doesn't quite translate as "yahoo," though...more like "Loser!"

By: dangerousdan

dangerousdan — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 21:06:49 -0800

"You little ripper!"
"Go you good thing" (when watching the ra-ra)
Most formations using "bloody" or "fucking".

Having been an Australian for all of my life, I had never heard crikey! used as a spontaneous exclamation before Steve Irwin became well known (01 or 02 or there abouts).

'Struth is a good exclamation of surprise.

Howzat is an appeal in cricket ("How is that?") to the umpire to questioning if the batsman is out.

By: tabulem

tabulem — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 21:11:09 -0800

grandparent's generation:

bonza!

parent's generation:

you little ripper!

my generation:

fuckin oath!

By: booksandlibretti

booksandlibretti — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 21:26:53 -0800

a yell of exuberance or exhilaration

You mean like

AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE
OI OI OI
AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE
OI OI OI
AUSSIE
OI
AUSSIE
OI
AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE
OI OI OI

?
Call and response pattern frequently heard at sports matches. Done at top volume with exclamation marks to suit.

By: tomble

tomble — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 21:33:00 -0800

It's `Struth', not `Strueth'. Supposedly a contraction of `God's Truth!'.

By: wilful

wilful — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 21:50:29 -0800

it's strewth.

By: harmless

harmless — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 21:55:51 -0800

Seconding "you beauty", pronounced: yeew beewdy.
Strewth (strueth/struth) is more an exclaimation of surprise in a 'WTF?' kind of way. But neither of these are really used in everyday mainstream Australian language anymore.

"Wooo!" and "Yeah!" probably cover it.
yep, I agree.

By: Steven C. Den Beste

Steven C. Den Beste — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 21:59:50 -0800

How about "Vegemite!"

By: brujita

brujita — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 22:28:30 -0800

I thought "coo-ee" was the equivalent of "yoo-hoo" when one is searching for another.

By: a.

a. — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 00:05:47 -0800

I'm glad Tasmania has some form of isolation from the rest of Australia, because you all sound crazy.

By: cholly

cholly — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 00:34:38 -0800

FAIR-DINKUM

By: robcorr

robcorr — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 01:09:59 -0800

The usual: woohoo, yahoo, hooray.

I think "Bonzer!" and "You little ripper!" are probably the closest "Aussie" expressions, but I don't think they're used in quite the same way.

By: coriolisdave

coriolisdave — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 02:38:06 -0800

Note: "fuckin' oath" is more likely to be pronounced "'kinoath". But I think "mate" is probably the closest you'll find to a genuine current Aussie "yell".

MAAAAAAAAAATE!

By: zardoz

zardoz — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 02:54:31 -0800

My Aussie buddy says "Good on ya!" when congratulating someone.

By: peacay

peacay — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 07:36:04 -0800

I agree with pompomtom for what it's worth (not very much) and opine that cholly and I have never ever crossed Sydney paths when exuberant outbursts were called for.
Wilful, I actually think there's always been an underground continuation of 'cooee'. It's got a bit of retro-chic hipness, particulary when preceding the obligatory 'cobber'. But maybe that's just my circle of twisted experience.

Geez, we ain't got any cultcha. Thank god we have animals we can hide behind to give an illusion of depth.