Tim Blair

I was under the impression that "going apeshit" was an American expression. A couple of local colloqualisms for similar behaviour is to "go berko" or have a "spaz attack".

One particular form of weirdness in >a href="http://members.tripod.com/ahrens/serial/miltmrdr.html">dealing with foreign students at least is banged up for the forseeable future.

Takes all the excitement out of hitch-hiking, though.

One particular form of weirdness in dealing with foreign students at least is banged up for the forseeable future.

Takes all the excitement out of hitch-hiking, though. (Stuffed up the link).

Blowing one's nose directly onto the ground is only bad manners when it's not done by Rugby League players on the paddock.

However, vomiting in public places (quaintly known as throwing up or chundering) is socially acceptable. Likewise, belching and farting (except in a confined space). When it happens, you should loudly draw attention to the fact. This is called mateship and will make you very popular.

Ever heard the saying "hanging around like a fart in a phone-box"?

Bit like you in this thread, Habib.

Vomiting in public places is socially acceptable?

I'm relieved to hear it.

Dear students

Holding hands with an Australian man is not acceptable in either sex - unless you really mean it. In that case, if you are a man, you may follow with compliments about his ability to consume beer and play football and remark on the size of his penis. Wait until he is completely drunk, then carry him off to bed. Next morning, he can pretend nothing happened, which will probably be correct.

If a woman, do not show any intelligence, act passive and expect a rapid and unsatisfactory sexual encounter. Be prepared for his mates to know all the details within an hour.

"Going apeshit" is definitely used in America, as is "spaz attack". "Going berko" is not, to my knowledge, but neither is it hard to figure out.

On the other hand, I still have never been able to parse "fair suck of the sav". Any help, Kind People of the Southern Hemisphere? Or Tim?

"sav" is a shortened version of saveloy, a sort of horrible sausage made out of all manner of meat off-cuts and offal, which looks a little like a tumescent tadger. The saying is I believe referring to forced oral sex, but is in the context of "get serious, or get real".
I does not refer to cabernet sauvingnon, as some who have pretensions to Australia's cultural enhancement.

Hi there students, it's Sally White here again with another helpful hint to make your next social encounter with Australians a successful and memorable event.

Please practise the following conversation for instant social acceptance in Sydney:

"Hi, my name is Wang. I just bought a half-million dollar shack in Campbelltown. Boy, is my home loan big! How about yours?"

"That's nothing, mate. I'm up shit creek with two loans for over two million, interest-only payments. I'm buggered!"

"Pardon me?"

Just curious, does Oz have an arbiter of social decorum such as we in the U.S. have? Mind you, she's pretty good, keeps our forks straight and all that.

This fella does a bang-up job manners-wise, keeping we crude colonials in line when interacting with our social betters, a sight better than the silly tart in the SMH.

...Fellow student Heng Hua, 25, who arrived from China in 2000, had a more immediate problem: "When I got out of the aeroplane the first problem I got was the appearance of the taxi is pretty much like the police car in China." He spent the next 30 minutes avoiding cabs....

Big mistake, Comrade Hua. Perhaps the Public Safety Bureau will find out the reasons behind such avoidance, on your return to China?

Personally I've always found Sir Les Patterson's "The Traveller's Tool" the perfect orientation to Oz culture.

Thanks Habib. You're a kind soul...er..I mean you are the most vicious person in the blogosphere...uh...whichever is what you would want me to say. ;)

So sorry to bug you, but if you define a quaint Aussie colloquialism with another, how are we foreign travelers to understand your meaning?
I am refering to, "sav" is a shortened version of saveloy, a sort of horrible sausage made out of all manner of meat off-cuts and offal, which looks a little like a tumescent tadger.
My answer to that would be, "Yes, I see." with a polite nod of the head. Then I would shuffle off to find another person to ask, "Hey buddy. What's a tadger?"

What is the proper response if - or should I say, when - an Australian vomits on your shoes? Does the response vary with the social setting (i.e., a football game; a romantic encounter; a state dinner at the Prime Minister's residence)?

No the response is the same on all three occasions.
First you say in a firm voice "Hey, did you just vomit on my shoes?"
(Mostly to draw attention of any bystanders to the righteousness of your next action.)
Then you follow with a Rugby tackle.

A tadger is the same as a tockley, a plonker, a donger and a pyjama python.

As to a follow-through onto footwear, it depends on who is vomiting; if it is the Prime Minister, the correct response is "fine hurl there, PM".

If it is the Governor General, it would be "You're a credit to Her Majesty, Your Excellency".

If it is the leader of the opposition, it is "Call that a perk, you pipsqueak".

In the unlikely case of it being seator Bob Brown of the Greens, having over-indulged with two Pimms and lemonade, it is acceptable to beat the snot out of him and force him to pick the chunky bits out of your brogues with his own toothbrush.