{"id":5466,"date":"2017-11-17T12:02:03","date_gmt":"2017-11-17T01:02:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/?p=5466"},"modified":"2017-11-17T12:03:56","modified_gmt":"2017-11-17T01:03:56","slug":"australianisms-in-dr-huxleys-bequest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/2017\/11\/australianisms-in-dr-huxleys-bequest\/","title":{"rendered":"A Guide to Australianisms in ‘Dr Huxley\u2019s Bequest’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr Huxley\u2019s Bequest<\/em> is about two Australian teenagers, Rosy and Jaz, who live in Sydney and speak Australian English. I think most of their Australianisms make sense in context. However, when I uploaded the Kindle version<\/a>, Amazon.com was VERY CONCERNED about terms such as \u2018esky\u2019 and \u2018ute\u2019. So, for those readers who aren\u2019t Australian, here\u2019s some additional information about the Australian terms and cultural references in Dr Huxley\u2019s Bequest<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Firstly, an esky<\/a> is a portable cooler or ice box, usually made of sturdy polypropylene. Inside is ice or those freezable \u2018ice\u2019 bricks, which keep your freshly-caught fish, barbecue meat or canned drinks nice and cold. Eskys are usually big enough to use as a picnic seat or, if your boat sinks, a flotation device. Apparently in New Zealand, they call them CHILLY BINS! New Zealanders have the best slang.<\/p>\n

A biscuit is a cookie. I\u2019ve talked about this before<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Australians, including Rosy, are very fond of putting slices of pickled beetroot<\/a> in their salad sandwiches and hamburgers. We also put canned pineapple on pizza.<\/p>\n

A ute<\/a>, or utility vehicle, is a pickup truck with an enclosed cabin for a couple of passengers and an open flat-bed platform at the back. According to Wikipedia, the Australian ute was “the result of a 1932 letter from the unnamed wife of a farmer in Victoria, Australia asking for ‘a vehicle to go to church in on a Sunday and which can carry our pigs to market on Mondays’.” Traditionally, Australian utes have a couple of hay bales and some cattle dogs bouncing around in the back. In Dr Huxley\u2019s Bequest<\/em>, Jaz\u2019s dad keeps his gardening equipment in his ute.<\/p>\n

A eucalypt is a eucalyptus tree<\/a> or a \u2018gum tree\u2019, native to Australia and to other parts of the world. You already know that, don\u2019t you? I don\u2019t know why Amazon.com had a problem with the word. Anyway, there are hundreds of different types of eucalypts, all beautiful and usually home to a lot of interesting and extremely noisy wildlife. Some of these animals are extremely possessive of \u2018their\u2019 gum tree:<\/p>\n