Australians believe the American hamburger and U.S. slang are infringing on their culture and they are “not at all pleased” about it, according to a survey released Monday.
The telephone poll of 1,213 people by the government-funded U.S. Studies Center at the University of Sydney measured Australians’ attitudes about their closest ally, the United States.
Asked to judge the influence of American culture on Australia, 67% of respondents said they were “not at all pleased” about the prevalence of U.S.-style fast food in Australia. Australians ranked fast food second only behind U.S. foreign policy as an issue they were “very worried” about.
The survey did not ask respondents for specific examples, though fast food chains selling burgers and french fries are more common now in Australia than the once-ubiquitous corner store selling fish and chips.
A further 52% said they were very unhappy with the influence of “the American language” on the way people speak, which could easily now include phrases such as “Hey, buddy” instead of “G’day mate.”
But… Australian fish and chips shops are superior to British ones. In an Australian shop, the fish is not cooked in advance but only in response to orders received. So when you go in, you have to wait a few minutes, but everything is freshly cooked.
Meanwhile, the U.S. government-funded Australian Studies Center at Stanford University has released a report on the alarming number of Outback Steak Houses springing up in America. Crikey!
“A further 52% said they were very unhappy with the influence of ‘the American language’ on the way people speak” —Associated Press
Better to have saved this sentence for April 1.
Chill dude
trans: no worries, mate.
[blockquote]Australians unhappy about American language, fast food[/blockquote]
And some of us Americans aren’t that happy with those, either.
Pendennis:
I think what you mean is: you and a few other Australians are unhappy with the immense international popularity of American food and language. People have voted with their mouths and pocketbooks, and you wish you could control both. I’m glad you can’t.
And, yes, I’m a foreigner.
Rats!
One of our plots to conquer the world has been revealed! Now we’ve got to focus on our remaining covert efforts:
Mc Donalds
KFC
Frito Lay (they love them fish chips in Japan, and I don’t mean FISH AND CHIPS, I mean fish-flavored chips)
Cheap autos that burn lots of gas
Satellite TV
American Sitcoms (you haven’t lived until you’ve seen Home Improvement with German overdubbing! Oh my!)
The Dollar
The Internet
Britney Spears (and her antics/entourage)
Coca Cola!
Need I go on? The world has already lost to us, they just haven’t acknowledged it yet.
And the most popular luxury car brand in Mainland China is….(drum roll please….)
Buick. I’m not kidding!
KTF!…mrb
Well mates, I can’t blame Professor ‘Ocker†Goot for wanting to protect the “bonzer†slang of “down underâ€. It would be a pity if this “boofhead†generation saw “digger†slang “cark it†. But Goot’s “coming the raw prawn†when he suggests that American culture is infringing on Aussie speech and cuisine. It would be “Buckley’s chance†for American culture if “Oz†idiom were easier to understand.
I know it’s easier to try to “cut down a tall poppyâ€, than to make other people go back to using “Anzac†idioms, even if their “blood’s worth bottlingâ€, but only a “wowser†would try. So, Goot mate, if you want the lingo to survive, you’ll need to “give it a burl†and get the rest of us used to your vernacular, instead of just “splitting the dummyâ€. Otherwise, just have a “cup of tea, a bex, and a good lie down†and you’ll be “apples†in the morning.
Australians believe the American hamburger and U.S. slang are infringing on their culture
I wasn’t aware Australians had culture…any more than we do.
Culture shares a root with cult–for good reason. 🙂
Did you live down under, Clueless? I’m sure you warm the cockles of Australian hearts.
CH, I think the world has been informed that it has no culture by France, has it not? So neither we nor the Aussies ought to be worried about that!
Australians believe the American hamburger and U.S. slang are infringing on their culture .
Then they should stop eating American hamburgers and stop speaking U.S. slang.
Australian and American culture exists, and thrives, and is both known as “yogurt”.
And I live down under in Missouri where I rely on good old “Google” the universal language, born in the USA.
That’s it, I’m tossing my jar of Vegemite.
I don’t mind the fast food culture – I can avoid that. But I can’t avoid cricket. I live with two cricket-a-holics and summer is one long
innings in our house.
Last night they played a twenty/twenty game against NZ and we were horrified to see baseball type uniforms, brass band accompaniments to every wicket and a dunk-the -dill machine for every six.
This is the end of civilisation as we know it. Cricket is sacred and must not be tainted with flashy borrowings from American sport!
Whwn I say “they played”, I mean of course Australia, not my husband and son!
JustinMartyr [#6]: Why do you call Pendennis Australian?
In any event, on what basis do you accuse him of merely wanting to control other people’s mouths and pocketbooks.
Drat! On a thoroughly grotty night like this I was headed to the kitchen to brew up, but got caught out by the missus when I tried to sneak a bloody tot o’ rum outta the closet.
Works both ways, eh?
Well, I’ll tell you what. If Australia will deport or gag Associate Professor Barry Walters (see article about paying $$ for extra kids using up carbons) I’ll quit dirtying up Australian pocket books and mailboxes. (I buy organic skin care products from Australia, and I have a distant cousin in Melbourne with whom I correspond. Heaven knows I’ve polluted something or someone “down under!”)
Wow, Americans getting hot under the collar over criticisms about our fast food? Uh, it IS the pits!
Irenaeus:
[i]In any event, on what basis do you accuse him of merely wanting to control other people’s mouths and pocketbooks.[/i]
The notion that Australians are against American fast food or American language is patently false. The food is wildly popular in Australia or there wouldn’t be complaints by some that it is “destroying” the culture. Australians are not having hamburgers shoved down their throats with the barrel of a gun–they are paying for them. And yet there are some who would use the law to ban or regulate the free market. I have very little tolerance for people who whine to government to force their will on the rest of the people. If selling hamburgers in Sydney offends you so, come up with a better recipe and open up an American Tofu joint down under.
strewth, me an’ me larrikin mates read this whingin’ bogan in the arvo when i got up, made me so crook thought i’d throw a sickie, but don’t get compo in my line, so instead had some savs an’ pav with a cold one, ace, now i’m a box o’ birds
Uh, 15, I prolly shouldn’t ask but what’s a dunk-the-dill machine?
Incidentally, American slang has been metphorically the richest of the slangs, although this proposition cannot be proven, obviously. Recently, however, this richness has been diluted by teenage slang, which is merely repetitious and lacks vigor and clarity. “Dude,” cannot compete with “went over like a lead balloon,” which was originally a vigorous image. Or “foxy,” which is a strong image, in contrast to “hot” or “my bad” and the like which are weak. And we distinguish this from British slang which is often baby talk abbreviation, like “grotty” from “grotesque.” Australian slang is vigorous stuff but it seems to be mostly idiosyncratic rather than strong as image. See 22 above.
AS to our power to corrupt liguistically, the French have been whining for years about Franglish. Larry
Dunk the dill – a bloke or a sheila (!!) sits on a stool suspended over a pool of water. People have turns in throwing a tennis ball at a big button and if they hit it hard enough it tips the stool and the dill gets dunked. The one they had at the cricket was activated every time a player scored six runs, with someone dressed in the uniform of the bowling side as the dill.
Now you know! They probably have something similar in the US. Here in Oz its a great attraction at school fetes. (Do you have fetes?)