Aussie vocab

But we also speak to CHinese in Australia -- I've met plenty of Chinese tourists in Australia who ONLY know the city names in CHinese -- and I don't!

Canberra, anyone? I know it sounds like 'kan pei la' but I don't know the characters.

就是。So unless you [unlike most other natives I'd dare say] told them the Chinese name as you posted above,they've now been told the English and not the Chinese.Still,it's cool to know the Chinese names.At least it'll turn up on a Chinese atlas/internet map in one so motivated.

From my experiences in China telling people I'm from Brisbane I'd say most people generally don't know either the English or Chinese name. I found it easier to say I was from a town near the Gold Coast!

imdaniu,

Thanks for that.I'm curious though.I wonder how many Chinese know their geography well enough to be aware of places like Brisbane and Hobart? We're a pretty small place in the grand scheme of things.Furthermore,I wonder if it's actually more likely that some know the English words for such places and not the Chinese as they encounter them in meeting natives of the said places.

Brisbane -  布里斯本 bùlǐsīběn

Hobart - 霍巴特 huòbātè

Cricket - 板球 bǎnqiú

Vegemite - 臭黑酱？

Outback - 澳洲内陆 àozhōunèilù

Southern Cross - 南十字座 nánshízìzuò

Stolen Generation - 失窃的一代 shīqièdeyīdài

Yeah, for example, it'd be pretty boring if the name for a didgeridoo was "Windpipe" or something

But maybe that's what it means in the Aboriginal language!

chees,

Lol I like it

just like how 'didgeridoo' doesnt really mean anything in english, right?

giving everything a purely descriptive name makes for very boring language

Maybe the chinese for australian wind instrument (or something like that) would better communicate what you are talking about? If the person you are talking to has never seen a didgeridoo before it one that sounds like the word but doesn't describe what it is might be confusing.

音标用阿拉伯数字来代替？

掘 起 平 降

普通的话

带点敏感的词汇，语句间点缀着跳跃的因素。

话总是那么动听！

公平定肯

haha i just made that up but it captures some of the sound and some of the meaning

"Fair Dinkum"

Has got to be a Aussie classic, how do we translate that?   

Here's the link for the Aussie Rules lesson. Good bit of discussion over there regarding the sport

• Aussie Rules

didgeridoo  迪杰里都管di8jie2li1du4guan3

There's now a lesson on Aussie Rules. It calls aussie rules 澳式橄榄球 (Aòshì gǎnlǎnqiú)

I don't know about Vegemite, but I think Aussie Rules is just 澳大利亚橄榄球 - correct me if am wrong.

I wonder how they come up for an equivelent Chinese word for things such as Didgeridoo??

How about Vegemite and Australian Rules Football?

:-)

Trevlu,

I found the following two translations for "Didgeridoo":

澳洲吹管

蒂杰利多

Both seem not to be terribly common (200 vs. 154 Google hits) so you better be prepared to describe that instrument...