Week 5 – Audio Lesson: Vocabulary

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A pub game – a drinking game played at pubs (establishments that sell beer and food).
Counterfeit something – imitate fraudulently, usually money.
Be out – mistaken; in error.
John MacArthur (1767-1834) – A British army officer, entrepreneur, politician, architect and pioneer of the settlement in Australia.
The sheep/the wool industry – the economic activity concerned with raising sheep for meat and wool.
Commemorate something – make or celebrate (an event or person) by doing or producing something.
Align something – place or arrange (things) in a straight line.
Inconsistency – the state of varying a lot and not staying the same.
10 o’clock closing – when pubs had to shut at 10PM in the evenings (in the past).
Last drinks – the last chance to purchase drinks in an establishment before it closes.
Deface something – spoil the surface or appearance (of something), for example by drawing or writing on it.
A bar – a counter in a pub, restaurant, or café across which drinks or refreshments are served.
Currency – the fact or quality of being generally accepted or in use.

Dad makes a pun here with the word ‘currency’, which can also mean money, and in colonial Australia, ‘currency’ referred to anyone born in Australia as opposed to back in England (‘sterling’).

If you’ll excuse the pun – often said when someone says a pun, a play on words, when speaking, usually to point out the joke they’ve made.
Catch on – (of a practice or fashion) become popular.
A pineapple – (literal) a type of fruit. Here it is Aussie slang to refer to the $50 note in Australian currency, which is yellow like a pineapple.
A lobster – (literal) a type of crustacean. Here it is Aussie slang to refer to the $20 note in Australian currency, which is orange/red like a lobster (when cooked).
A green ghost/green tree frog – Here these Aussie slang that are referring to the $100 note in Australian currency, which is green.
Denomination – the face value of a banknote, coin, or postage stamp.
Get something as change – money returned to someone as the balance of a sum paid for something.
Buy something off someone – purchase something from someone.
Cash transaction – where something is purchased using coins or banknotes.
Mint – (of an object) in pristine condition; as new.

A trace (of something) – a very small quantity, especially one too small to be accurately measured.
In bulk – being in large quantities or not divided into separate units.
Back in the paper days – in the past during the period where paper bank notes were used.

‘back in the day’ – in the past.
‘back in the something days’ – in the past during the period where something existed or too place.

Absorb something – take in or soak up (energy or a liquid or other substance) by chemical or physical action.
Cellulose – an insoluble substance which is the main constituent of plant cell walls and of vegetable fibres.
Tougher – more durable; stronger.
As far as I know – used to show you’re not absolutely sure of what you’re about to say or just said, and you may be wrong.
A polymer – a substance that has a molecular structure built up from a large number of similar units bonded together.
Print (money) – produce large quantities (of money).
Detect something – discern (something intangible or barely perceptible).
A forgery – a document, signature, banknote, or work of art that is fake.
A hologram – a photo of an interference pattern which, when suitably illuminated, produces a three-dimensional image.

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