Ep014: Expression "Far Out"

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In today's episode...

In this mini episode of Aussie English I explain the expressing "Far Out" which is often used as a way of expression surprise or that you are impressed by something.

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Transcript of Ep014 - Far Out

G'day guys, and welcome to Aussie English. My objective here is to teach you guys the English spoken Down Under. So whether you want to speak like a fair dinkum Aussie or you just want to understand what the flippin' hell we're on about when we're having a yarn, you've come to the right place. So sit back, grab a cuppa and enjoy Aussie English.

Hey guys, welcome to this episode of Aussie English. I wanted to do just a little mini episode on an expression that I tend to use a little bit often. Not too often, but sometimes I catch myself saying it and that expression is "far out". "Far out".

So, 'far' obviously means long distance wise. Something can be 'far away'. Something can be 'far from the truth'. Which is more, it's not a physical distance, but it's a metaphorical distance, or it's a figurative distance from the truth. So if something is 'far from the truth', it means that it is nowhere near true.

So "far out", "far out". This is one of those phrases that I would use to express my impression of something. If I was really impressed by something, I would say, "Whoa, far out!" So if someone was to say "I just won the lottery", "I won $1,000", you know, or "I won $1 million", you could be like, "Whoa, far out! That's insane. That's cool. Well done. That's excellent." So it can be used for those sorts of phrases where you want to say, "Wow, that's cool", or "Wow, that's excellent." You can just say "far out", "far out!"

You can also say, obviously, that something is really far away from here by just saying "It's really far out" or "It's really far out from.." and then the location. Whether that's here or you're describing a location that is far away from a city. So you could say, you know, "Bendigo is really far out from Melbourne." So "far out" can also mean 'far away from.'.

Or you could also use this when something is an unconventional approach to something. So you could say, instead of saying "The technique he used was really unconventional", you can also just say "The technique he used was really far out." "The technique he used was really far out. It was not what I expected him to use. It was incredibly risky."

Or it could be "He had an insane imagination and came up with this really far out technique that he wanted to use that no one expected." So that can also be used that way.

Most commonly, I would just say 'far out' when I'm surprised by something or when something is really impressive. And I just want to effectively show that I'm impressed, you know, without necessarily saying that it's specifically excellent or it's specifically cool or, you know, "That's awesome." It's more just whoa, so "Whoa, far out."

Anyway, I hope you have that same reaction when you listen to this podcast and you say, "Whoa, far out!" I just learnt a really cool expression. Until next time guys, have a good one.