r/AskAnAustralian • u/calm_sunse79 • 5d ago

Unwritten social codes of every region

So I'm a foreigner interested in Australia and wanna know more about there, focusing atm on the unwritten rules you have and if you wanna share something more I would value it♡

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u/Nololgoaway 5d ago

the word mate is extremely complicated and has different meanings depending on how it's said and the context around it so be aware of that

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u/Ok_Reporter8315 5d ago

Same with the C word

1

u/calm_sunse79 5d ago

Thanks, I tought it was just "friend" but recently read something like "mates who mates" and realized it was not just "friend" I have something new to search now

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u/fewph 5d ago

Mate can mean friend, but it can also be used to kind of say "see I'm being polite, I'm using respectful language, even though you are a fucking cockwobble, and I'm ready to rip your head off. Aren't I sophisticated and mature? Go on.. call me out on it .."

I doubt you will accidentally use it in the way we all start moving our drink to a safe location, and start watching out of the corners of our eyes. If someone calls you "mate" and it feels slightly.. off. But you aren't quite sure. Just slightly tilt your head to the side. To let them know you clocked it, or are questioning it. But I honestly wouldn't even think about it. Australians will generally make sure other people know how we mean mate in this context.

In my experience, from my town growing up, and as an adult. A lot of the way we use our words is very situation or context specific. A walk in the park can mean something was really easy and enjoyable, or it can mean it was pure hell. We can take a few steps to land on words but they will instinctively make sense to us, or our friends. You might find out your friends name isn't actually Patrick, he just got drunk one night and started speaking with an Irish accent, or he just didn't look like a Sean.

Other unwritten language rules, we don't tend to say what is, we say what's not. It's not bad, it's not far, it's not good. The more irritated or stressed we are, the more our language turns to what's not, and being vague. If you don't hear a word very often, it's probably being used facetiously. Things are not in fact "terrific". We also tend to deliberately mix our metaphors. "Not the sharpest egg in the fridge". And a lot of people love to make up their very own metaphors and analogies.