Australian English sporting terms
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Australian English vocabulary includes a number of unique colloquial sporting terms. To barrack, invariably a sporting team (typically rugby league or Australian rules football), for example, in Australian English means to hoot or cheer in support of something. Cognate with the US "root". For example: "who do you barrack for?" Almost the exact opposite of the (now rare) British usage of barrack, that is to denigrate: to jeer or hoot against something, such as a sporting team.
[edit] Cricket
The game of cricket is immensely popular in Australia and has contributed a rich vein of slang to Australian English. Some of this is shared with rival cricketing nations, like the English and the New Zealanders.
Australians can be bowled over (taken by surprise), stumped (nonplussed) or clean bowled or alternatively hit for six (completely defeated). When answering questions, one can play a straight bat (or a dead bat) (give a non-committal answer) or let that one through to the keeper or shoulder arms (dodge the question), particularly if they are on a sticky wicket (in a tight situation). The questioner in turn can send down a bouncer, a googly, a flipper or a yorker (difficult questions to varying degrees). Alternatively, the question could be a long hop or a dolly — an easy question that person being questioned can use to his or her advantage. The expression "to bat for the other side" is commonly used in respect of gay men or lesbians, and is not necessarily a pejorative.
[edit] Football
The word football or its shortened form footy is used by Australians for several different codes of football or the ball used to play any of them. Australians generally fall into four camps when it comes to the use of the word.
- In most of the Australian states, the word "football" usually refers to Australian rules football (also known simply as Australian football or "Aussie Rules"). In these States there is little or no popular differentiation between the two kinds of rugby football.
- In the States of New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland, most people refer to rugby league simply as "football". Rugby union is known simply as "rugby". Australian rules is often known in these areas as "AFL" (a name which, strictly speaking, refers to the main governing body, the Australian Football League).
- In areas in which all three codes are popular, especially the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory and the Riverina (south-western NSW), the word "football" is rarely used, and the names "league", "rugby" and "Aussie rules"/"AFL" (or just "rules") are used, to avoid confusion.
- Association football is generally known as soccer in Australia. In 2005, the governing body changed its name to Football Federation Australia. Other media sources (especially in New South Wales and Queensland) now also refer to the game as "football".
- In Australia, American football, which has a small following, is known as gridiron.
There are also a number of slang terms related to football.
- aerial ping-pong – Australian rules football (derogatory term)
- bum-sniffing – derogatory term used to describe Rugby, due to the use of the scrum
- cross-country wrestling - Rugby League (derogatory term)
- guernsey – a sporting team jumper; by extension also sometimes means a place on a sporting team as in didn't get a guernsey, meaning didn't get a place on the team or a chance to play.
- maggot - an AFL umpire (white maggot)
- mark – to catch a ball cleanly off another player's boot in Australian rules football, a feat which entitles the marker (catcher) to a free kick.
- pinged – caught doing something wrong, esp. by an umpire in the game of Australian rules football when penalised for holding the ball.
- throwball - derogatory name for rugby, usually used in the city of Melbourne where calling Rugby "football" is seen as offensive
[edit] Australian rules football words
Main articles: Australian rules football slang and List of nicknames used in Australian rules
Players, officials and followers of Australian rules football, have devised many unique concepts, terms, slang and nicknames. Some of these, such as footy, Grand Final and State of Origin have entered wider Australian usage, even among followers of other codes of football.
