new slang.

 

I often ask my new Australian friends to define phrases and slang that I am less familiar with.

"When you say 'he's such a pissa...' is that a good thing or a bad thing?" "What does 'good on ya' mean?"

I do this not to flash my "I'm an American!" card at every opportunity (although this is usually what I end up doing anyway), but because I have had some Very Bad Experiences assuming that certain things mean something entirely different from the original intention.

Here's one of them.

Many many years ago, I went out on some casual dates with a very nice, very opinionated man. He talked authoritatively and in-depth about all sorts of things - politics, religion, classes, music - and I always felt at a loss for words during our dates. I really wanted to express my opinions too, but I never knew enough about anything to feel comfortable joining the conversation. Until one car ride home:

"Chemistry is the bane of my existence!" he was saying, and went on to talk a lot about his Chemistry class.

He had a way of speaking so passionately about everything that I couldn't tell if he loved or loathed whatever he was raving about. So I usually just went along, nodding thoughtfully. This time, I assumed that he was talking about something he loved. A lot. So much that it was the core of his being, something he couldn't live without.

"Anyway, enough about Chemistry," he glanced at me, pulling up to a stop light. "What's the bane of your existence, Candice?"

We both attended a Christian college. We both grew up in Christian households. So I went with the Sunday School answer.

"Jesus." I said.

"...what?" he stared at me.

"Jesus!"

"What??"

"Beep!" said the car behind us. The light was green.

"You're not serious..?" He was focused on the road now.

I nodded my head defiantly. I was going to defend my response, stand my ground, final answer.

He said nothing. He was finally the one at a loss for words! I was ecstatic.

We never spoke of the incident again. Probably because he had forgotten it, as he was now talking about some other class or concert or congressional bill. We broke up soon afterwards (not due to this conversation, but in retrospect I'm pretty sure it didn't help!).


A year later, I was studying in my dorm room when my roommate threw the door open.

"BIOLOGY IS THE BANE OF MY EXISTENCE!" she roared, dropping her books on the couch.

"You say it like it's a bad thing," I looked up at her, very puzzled. "or... is it?.. oh no... what does 'bane of my existence' mean?"

"It means that you hate something. A lot. With the fire of a thousand suns."

 Oh.

"Is there any possible way that it could potentially mean something else? Anything else?"

"...not really."



So, apologies to all my new Australian friends - if I keep asking you to define words, phrases, and pop culture references, I'm not trying to be any more of a nuisance than I usually am.

I'm just trying to avoid repeating new slang in inappropriate contexts.

And also, committing blasphemy.

CK