A traveler has noticed a “unique” phrase that all Australians say that no one else uses – and he’s obsessed with it.
Josiah Heinoriginally from Canada, travels the world and has recently noticed some strange differences between her home country and Australia – including the weird thing all Australians do at the airport.
He was walking down a Sydney street when he accidentally bumped into someone and apologized – only for the man to say: “Everything’s fine” in response.
“I’m in Australia and I’m walking down the street – and there’s this cool guy walking towards me in a suit,” he said in a statement. video. “And we both stop and I apologize – because Canadians apologize 7.8 times a day.”
But the stranger’s response shocked Josiah.
Josiah continued: “He didn’t say ‘you’re okay, bro’ or ‘it’s okay’ – the guy told me ‘you’re okay’.”
He explained that because of the man’s Australian accent, it sounded like “you’re right,” meaning he was right or had “the right answer.”
“It’s a very different way of saying things. I don’t think Canadians or Americans think like that,” he said.
People at our house usually respond in terms of “you’re nice” or “you’re good” after being accidentally bumped.
“I love that ‘you’re okay’ is unique,” the traveler continued. “It’s not very hot, but it has that Australian feel.”
Some Australians highlight this popular expression.
“As a statement, it means you don’t need to be sorry and that you are right in what you were doing and didn’t do anything wrong,” one woman said.
“Basically the same as ‘no apologies necessary, buddy’,” another added.
While some have noted the distinction between “you’re right, buddy” and “are you right, buddy?” – the latter meaning trouble.
A Canadian was shocked to come across the word “fortnight” in an Australian calendar
Josiah was also shocked to come across the word “fortnight” in an Australian calendar, admitting he only thought Harry Potter characters used the term.
He recently saw a calendar used by educators to teach children to measure time, but was perplexed when he came across a particular word.
He pointed to the calendar and said: “Here in Australia, look at this: there are 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day, seven days in a week, 14 days in a fortnight and 12 months in a year. » ‘
‘Fifteen days? Has anyone else heard of this word before? What is Harry Potter?’ He asked.
Josiah was extremely suspicious of Australians measuring time in fortnightly terms, and although he recognized that it sounded better than “bi-weekly”, he still could not understand the concept.
“No question of saying every two weeks,” he wrote in a comment.
“I know this word because they used it at Hogwarts in Harry Potter – but to be on par with ‘week’ or ‘month’ is amazing.”
The Anglo-Saxons used the fortnight to measure the time between a new moon and a full moon.
The term was common in North America and Canada until the 1880s, after which it was gradually phased out.
Thousands of Australians were shocked that the rest of the world didn’t use the term “fifteen” to measure two weeks.
“I worked for a South African finance company and they said more like twice a week,” one woman said. “It made me crazy!”
“It’s really much weirder that you don’t use fortnight,” wrote another.
“I can’t believe there are places in the world that don’t use it – it’s so convenient! they say.
