Transcript of AE 1005 - The Aussiest Interview Ever!

I had nothing on but me jocks.

Now, Daniel, you've managed to put some pants on in the meantime.

Yeah, mate...

That's good to hear. Do you feel like a hero?

Oh, not really. It's just something you've got to do for the community, mate. It's like, you look after your mates and your mates will always look after you.

G'day, guys. Pete here, from Aussie English, I have wanted to do this episode for a while today. I have this viral video clip, "Aussiest interview ever, what a legend" from the Today show. Go check out their channel on YouTube, you can obviously go and check out the video there. I'm going to play it through, react to it, and then I'm going to teach you some of the interesting vocab that is used in this video. Okay, so let's go.

What happened?

Oh, well, it's really quite funny. I was in bed sleeping at two o'clock this morning, me wife comes in and says, oh, the shop's been- Someone ran into the shop. And I said, oh, what? So, I jumped out of bed and all I had was me undies on and I've walked out the front and I've seen the car smashed in...

So, what's happened is his wife has woken up in the middle of the night and heard a massive crash. And it turns out that the shop here on the corner has been run into by a car and the front of it's just collapsed.

The bloke walking back to the car, and so I've walked outside, and I said, oh, what are you doing, mate? Like, you can't be leaving the scene. And he goes, don't be a hero, mate. And I said, I'm not trying to be a hero, but the police are coming. And he just decided to scoot up the road. And I just said, nah, it's not going on like that, mate.

So, I jumped in me car and I started chasing him up the road and then he went down a side street and then the police were coming, and I flash them and set them off in the direction of him. But mate, all I had was me jocks on and I was chasing him up the street and I'm just like, mate. Like...

Cos you told me that this is your mates' shop and you didn't want him to get away. Yeah, nah, nah.

I loved how, Karl, I think it's Stefanovic. Yeah, I love how Karl Stefanovic, who is a famous, I don't know, he's a celebrity in Australia, but I think he got his fame from being on the news as a newsreader and just being a really funny dude.

Really sort of dark sense of humour, made a lot of jokes online. And yeah, he has compilations online. You'll see them. There's loads of jokes and he quite often goes too far. I love his reaction here of just.

Well, me mates mums had this shop for like 40 odd years and look at it, look at it...

It's a mess, isn't it?

Beyond a mess, oh, like, words can't explain how it is, mate. Like...

Now, Daniel, you've managed to put some pants on in the meantime.

Yeah, mate.

Do you feel like a hero?

Oh, not really. It's just something you've got to do for the community, mate. It's like, you look after your mates and your mates will always look after you.

There you go.

Daniel's an absolute legend, man. He went viral, obviously, and we saw him all over the news when this happened in 2016, and people still remember this video. And yeah, they had him on the news and interviewed him as well in another video, so you can check him out. I get sent this video all the time because he has such a strong, broad Australian accent. He uses loads of slang in here and a lot of interesting expressions.

So, I think that's sort of the end of the main interview. I'll let it go a little bit further and we'll see what he says. But then I'll go through, and I'll try and explain maybe some of the pronunciation for what's going on and any of the interesting vocab.

A good attitude. There you go, guys. Daniel Quite the Australian hero here this morning. As for the owners of the fish and chip shop, well, they are insured, but there is a big mess to clean up this morning.

Oh, wouldn't you like to live next door to Daniel?

Big round of applause.

Aussie of the day!

Cheers, guys.

Yeah, thanks a lot.

Just what Daniel needs to realise, Daniel, if you can hear me, you know all good superheroes wear their jocks on the outside, so it kind of fits the brief. Pardon the pun.

Yeah, but I had nothing on but me, jocks.

Yeah, Lisa.

Well, you missed that bit of the uniform, but that's okay. You're a hero in our eyes. Well done, Daniel.

Alright, let's go back to the start of the interview, and I will try and explain some of the pronunciation and expressions. Okay. And I'll just stop it as we go.

What happened?

Oh, well, it's really quite funny. I was in bed sleeping...

One of the first things you're going to notice here is because he's got a broader accent, it's going to sound a lot more nasally. So, instead of my accent, which is a general Australian accent, Daniel's here is much more nasally. It's higher up in the nose when he's speaking, and it's just like that. I don't know why that's the case, but that is the broader Australian accent. That's one of the big features of the broader Australian accent.

It is a little higher in the nose. You'll hear it up there in the nose, a bit more nasally. The interesting thing that he just did here is use the syllabic N. So, this is kind of linguistic territory, but it's something that you're going to notice Australian speakers do all the time, especially in sort of more informal English in the broader accents.

Words that end with "ing" quite often, so the gerund and the present continuous particle. So, like sleeping, doing, going, saying. We're going to turn the "ing" into an /ʊn/ sound instead of an "ing" sound. So, instead of sleeping, he said, sleeping, sleeping. We also do that with words that end in a vowel and then "N". So, E-N, O-N, A-N, I-N, etc. And we often do it with the word "and", which you're going to hear him do.

He's just going to say "n" instead of "and", okay. So, let's have another listen.

I was in bed sleeping...

I was in bed sleeping.

...In bed sleeping at two o'clock this morning, and me wife comes in and says, oh, the shop's been- Someone ran into the shop. And I said, oh...

See how he just said, "n", "and I said, and I said". Have another listen.

Someone ran into the shop. And I said, oh, what? So, I jumped out of bed and...

"n". "So, I jumped out of bed and".

...What? So, I jumped out of bed and all I had was me undies on...

There was another interesting phrase that he used here. See if I can see it again.

And at two o'clock this morning me...

"S'morning". So, instead of saying this morning, you'll know this too from Australians saying, "this arvo", quite often we just contract this down to "s'arvo". And he just did it for "this morning" saying "s'morning, s'morning", and he used the syllabic N at the end of the word "morning". He said "morning, s'morning".

...Sleeping at two o'clock this morning, me wife comes in and says, oh, the shop's been- Someone ran into the shop. And I said, oh, what? So,I jumped out of bed and all I had was me undies on and I've walked out the front and...

"n". So, he's doing that quite a lot. He's saying "n", he's using the syllabic N instead of saying "and", right. "n". Interesting thing here you'll notice in this interview, he uses the slang terms "undies" to mean underwear, he just used it then. And later on, he says "jocks", which also is a slang term for underwear. I think he said, "I had nothing on but me jocks, but me jocks", and I'll explain what "but me" means later on.

But have a listen again.

...Shop's been- Someone ran into the shop. And I said, oh, what? So, I jumped out of bed and all I had was me undies on, and I've walked out the front and I've seen the car smashed in, and I've seen the bloke walking back to the car.

So, "bloke". "Bloke" is Australian slang for guy, man, person who is a man, right. So, this "bloke". You can use it on people you know, oh, I love this "bloke", he's one of my best mates. You can use it on people you don't know, who's this "bloke"? Did you see that "bloke" who stole my car? "Bloke".

...Undies on, and I've walked out the front and I've seen the car smashed in, and I've seen the bloke walking back to the car. And so, I've walked outside, and I said, what are you doing, mate? Like, you can't be leaving the scene.

What are you doing, mate? You can't be leaving the scene. You'll hear again that nasalisation when he says "mate, mate" instead of "mate, mate". It's nasalised. "Mate". Remember, we use that in Australia. Typically, men use that more often than women, and we use that- It can be with friends. In this case, he's obviously not friends with the guy, he doesn't even know him, and he's a potential criminal.

This guy's like, you've got to stop and wait for the cops. But you can use "mate" when interacting with someone. It's kind of a way of making it informal and also being friendly, even in situations like this ironically. You know, what are you doing, mate?

And so I've walked outside, and I said, oh, what are you doing, mate? Like, you can't be leaving the scene.

"Scene" here, he's talking about the scene of the crime, right, or the scene of an incident. It's where something has happened, and you can't leave the "scene" of the crime. You have to wait for the police to come so that this can all be sorted out. But I would imagine the guy was probably drunk or, you know, under the influence of some other drug, which is why this happened, and which is why he would not want to wait around for the police.

And I love how even when this guy, Daniel, puts on the accent pretending to be this other guy, the guy that- The bloke that he's having a conversation with, he takes his broad accent to another degree, making it even more nasal when he's impersonating. Have a listen!

He goes, don't be a hero, mate...

Don't be a hero, mate.

...I said, I'm not trying to be a hero, but the police are coming. And he just decided he'd scoot up the road and...

"Scoot up the road" is obviously to drive, to move, to go really quickly up the road. And I guess it's associated with, say, a scooter. If you're using a scooter to scoot, if that's a verb. I wouldn't really use that, but I know what he means. He means he just went up the road quickly. "He scooted up the road. He scooted up the road".

So, let's have a listen again to that nasality that he uses when he does the accent, he makes it really broad and how he uses the verb "to scoot".

...I've walked outside. And I said, what are you doing, mate? Like, you can't be leaving the scene. And he goes, don't be a hero, mate. And I said, I'm not trying to be a hero, but the police are coming. And he just decided he'd scoot up the road. And I just said, nah, it's not going on like that, mate. So...

"It's not going on like that. It's not going on like that". So, you'll know that the phrasal verb, "going on, to be going on" means to be happening. So, he's effectively saying, that's not going to happen. "You're not just scooting up the road, mate. That's not going on, that's not going on. I'm not going to have that, you know, that's not happening."

...Hero, but the police are coming. And he just decided he'd scoot up the road. And I just said, nah, it's not going on like that, mate. So, I jumped in me car.

Interesting thing that he just did there. I wonder if you noticed the pronoun that he used to describe the car and who it belongs to, right? This is a common feature of Australian English. People will say "me" and then the thing instead of "my thing". So, instead of saying "my car", what did he say?

...Hero, mate. And I said, I'm not trying to be a hero, but the police are coming. And he just decided he'd scoot up the road. And I just said, nah, it's not going on like that, mate. So, I jumped in me car...

"Me car, me car". This is a very common thing with salt of the Earth kind of Aussies, you're going to hear this with, I hate saying it, but like less-educated Australians. Because they haven't had it smashed out of them like I did when I was in high school. You know, if I was caught saying "me thing or them ones", the teachers would usually give you a hard time to the point that you would no longer say it.

But when I went and hung out with my other friends who went to rougher schools or who perhaps were tradies or stopped going to school at 16, quite often they use this kind of language, you know, "I can't find me keys. Where is me car. Who's got me beer?" All that sort of thing. So, you're going to hear people do this in Australia, usually they're going to be less-sophisticated, I hate using this, less-educated.

But it is something that's kind of associated with the middle- lower-class than the upper-class. But, you know, it's common, it's everywhere in Australia, and I think it's a really cool aspect of Australian English. "Can't find me car."

Don't be a hero, mate. And I said, I'm not trying to be a hero, but the police are coming. And he just decided he'd scoot up the road. And I just said, nah, it's not going on like that, mate. So, I jumped in me car and I started chasing him up the road, and then he went down a side street, and then the police were coming, and I flash them...

When he says, "I flash the police", I think he's talking about- I don't know if he followed him in a car or he used his hand to sort of signal to the cops. So, if he was in his car, he could flash his lights to get the attention of the cops, and that would be flashing them. If he wasn't in a car, maybe he means he waved them down and got their attention to tell them where the guy had gone, down a side street. He'd sort of nicked off.

And I started chasing him up the road, and then he went down a side street, and then the police were coming, and I flashed them and set them off in the direction of him. But, mate, all I had was me jocks on...

Heard him say, "jocks", right. "All I had was me jocks on", and he just used "me" again, instead of "my". All I had was my underwear on. "All I had was me jocks on".

...Chasing him up the street...

I'm having another listen again. Hold on.

...But, mate, all I had was me jocks on. I was chasing him up the street and I'm just like, mate.

"Just like, mate. What are you doing? I'm just like, mate."

I was chasing him up the street and I'm just like, mate. Like...

Cos you told me that this is your mates' shop, and you didn't want him to get away.

Yeah, nah, nah.

So it's his friend's shop. It was his friends shop and he didn't want him, the guy who smashed the shop, to get away.

Well, me mates, mums had this shop for like 40 odd years.

"Me mates, mum." So, my friend's mother.

...And look at it, look at it.

It's a mess...

This is interesting, I've been asked this quite a few times. What does "beyond a mess" mean? So, it comes from this video and the woman here who's interviewing him has said, the shop is a mess, right. It is, obviously, you know, smashed up, it's been damaged. And when she says, oh, it's a mess. He says, "it's beyond a mess", and "beyond a mess" here means that it's worse than just a mess, you know, have a look at it.

Look at it.

It's a mess, isn't it?

Beyond a mess, like words can't explain how it is, mate. Like...

Now, Daniel, you managed to put some pants on in the meantime.

Yeah, mate.

Love that! "You put some pants on in the meantime. Yeah, mate." This is an interesting thing; I've used this in a few videos before showing that men still can use mate on women. And even in this interaction, where this woman is clearly in a much more formal setting because she's on the news, she's wearing all this nice clothing, she's definitely been taught to speak a very sort of formal English when presenting on the news.

And he is just not conforming to those kind of norms and is just like, pfft, just refers to her as he would anyone else and uses "mate". So, I love it. I love it.

Now, Daniel, you managed to put some pants on in the meantime.

Yeah, mate.

That's good to hear. Do you feel like a hero?

Oh, not really. It's just something you've got to do for the community, mate. It's like, you look after your mates and your mates will always look after you.

Yeah, that's probably the best thing to come out of this interview. You look after your mates and your mates will always look after you, right. So, take care of your friends and your friends will take care of you.

It's like, you look after your mates and your mates will always look after you.

There you go. Good attitude. There you go, guys. Daniel quite the Australian hero here this morning...

Does he say anything else at the end here? So, they kind of come up with some silly puns, and then what does he say?

Yeah, thanks a lot.

Guess what Daniel needs to realise, Daniel, if you can hear me, you know, all good superheroes wear their jocks on the outside, so it kind of fits the brief. Pardon the pun.

Okay, so there's a lot going on there. So, superheroes wear their jocks on the outside, right. The joke is that the superheroes wear their underwear on the outside of their pants and, she says, fits the brief. And I think she's making a pun there where if it fits the brief, so I guess "fits the brief" here is a synonym for fits the bill, which is be suitable for a particular purpose.

So, she's using this "briefs" is another way of referring to underwear, undies, jocks, except they have longer pant legs, right, they're kind of like shorts. Short briefs? I don't know. I don't know my fashion, guys.

So, she's made that joke and then he's like, but I didn't have anything else on except my briefs, right, or my jocks, he says. And he uses a different word for, "I didn't have anything on, but", have a listen to the word that he uses instead of "but".

It kind of fits the brief. Pardon the pun.

Yeah. But I had nothing on but me jocks. "Ba". So, we can use "ba" to mean, except for, right. I had nothing on "ba" me jocks. I had nothing on except for my underwear, my jocks, my undies. I had nothing on but my underwear, my undies, my jocks.

So, it kind of fits the brief. Pardon the pun.

Yeah, but I had nothing on but me jocks.

Yeah, Lisa.

You miss that bit of the uniform, but that's okay. You're a hero in our eyes. Well done.

Yeah, I guess that's it, guys. But yeah, I just absolutely love this video. I wanted to share it with you. Daniel, great job. Guys, don't forget if you want to learn more Australian English, go and check out this video here. See ya.