Are there any "Australianisms" in lyrics that we can explain to you non-Australians?

Midnight Oil have a lot of references to people, places and history that I didn't know before. God bless Google! It's always good to learn new things.

 

I swear I don't speak like this (or like Jemaine Clement)!

 

Yes but the Glasgow version includes an 'r'

 

Ya mean 'pumps', flower ?

 

When you say rugby i imagine it's Union or have you also seen Rugby League, which is a different, but similar game. Rugby Union is/was more about the middle/upper class and private schools while League's origins are more the working classes game. I think that's roughly correct? Personally i'm not a fan of either however i mention League because whenever i've heard Americans talking about Rugby it always is about Union, don't think League is very well known out there?

I deleted the Bruces sketch because of the old fashioned slang term for homosexuals which is mentioned about 400 times, mind you i'm unsure if Americans have even heard of the term?

Cricket has SO MANY laws but is quite easy to understand really.

The first time i was aware of the beginnings of pc was when i was living in England and comedian Ben Elton[who co-wrote Blackadder and wrote the musical We Will Rock You.] started attacking Benny Hill. It was about the way females were portrayed in Benny's shows, you know, scantily clad, wearing stockings and suspender belts, all the good stuff!
Yeah so he really got stuck into poor Benny[a genuis comic imo] and then because of Ben's criticizms the British press started having a go at Benny too. All this eventually resulted in the BBC sacking Benny even tho' he was their most successful comedian of all-time, and he was doing something unusual in America, actually becoming well known and liked!
Benny was never the same and as far as i recall he never did any more shows in Britain. He became very sad, poor guy. He felt betrayed by the press and the BBC as Benny had been an institution in Britain for decades and up to that point he was genuinely loved. He ended up dying alone sitting on the settee while watching tv. He never did get over all the criticizm.
When you see Ben Eltons comedies they are usually full of innuendos and double entendres just like a lot of Benny's work, so it was the pot calling the kettle black. As much as i absolutely love Blackadder i really dislike Ben Elton.

 

One who cobs, obviously.

 

I take your point but Ben Elton was merely one of dozens of 'alternative comedians' who hated the rampant sexism, racism and homophobia which had been rife in 1970s British comedy. Benny Hill was a big part of that old school comedy and 'alternative comedy' was a refreshing and much-needed change.

 

Benny Hill never worked for the BBC. I loved Benny Hill but his later shows were tired and unfunny, he was past it.

 

Yeah but i still miss little Jackie and the sketches with Benny!

 

Correct. His cheap, tacky, sexist, racist, slapstick style comedy was hated by most I grew up with- (a working class mining community in the 60's and 70's).
His humour was regarded as childish.

 

And litigation, which in turn leads to money or the loss of it!

 

A farmhand/cockie that checks the fences of the station , we have cattle stations in WA almost the size of Texas .

 

I think a commentator down inside the boundary at ground level for AFL.

 

also the commentator on the sideline of a footy game

 

As Texas is roughly the same size as France that's just mind-boggling to a Brit like me!

 

I have cousins in Mt Hawthorne.

 

commentator's these days sound like they have our 240V stuck up their butt's!
too over the top, in other words.

 

like the old soccer commentators lol .... nothing is happening and the commentator sounds like they're going to explode lol

 

Most Australian rhyming slang is about celebrities Barry Crocker = shocker, Reg Grundys = undies, Gene Tunney = dunny, Royce Hart = ?

 

Me and a few still use the term, '****, I need to go to the dunnies'....
Dunnies = toilet
I say it all the time, 'where's your dunny'?'

 

On the AFL coverage Rex Hunt and Harry Beitzel used to make the game sound like it was a full scale alien invasion while over on the ABC the commentators, calling the same game, sounded like funeral directors

 

He did between 1955-1968
BBC - Comedy - The Benny Hill Show

 

have we had ' left handed rock chucker' yet,

whats that about?

 

Was it ITV where Benny Hill worked then?
When we were growing up Benny Hill was family viewing, everyone i knew loved his shows and DID find him very funny and we never saw his stuff as hateful, racist or sexist. We were kids and we probably didn't even know those words back then in those times, and btw i didn't grow up to become a misogynist or racist.
He gave myself and millions of people around the world lovely memories and lots of happiness. To be able to do that for complete strangers is an amazing thing.
I can actually still picture in my mind my mum, dad, and my brothers in the front room watching his shows. Many times we'd have tears in our eyes because he made us laugh so much.

I've seen interviews with some of the women who worked with him on his show throughout the years and they answered questions about the sexism subject, and they themselves had no problem with his humour.
It is ridiculous to judge his shows by todays pc world, just like it is to judge other comedians and also historical figures by today's standards, very few people can pass the test.
Benny was of his time. I consider myself fortunate to of lived thru' that particular time and being able to see his shows while growing up, and later as an adult too, as well as the other classic Pommie comedy shows back then. Happy days indeed.