英語口語コーナーコミュのWays to say someone is a bit strange.... (Australian slang)

1. He's not the full quid.
2. He's a few chops short of a barbie.
3. He's a few cans short of a six pack.
4. The lights are on but nobodies home.
5. He's a bit soft.
6. He's been out in the sun too long.

I wonder if Japanese people can work out where the
expressions come from.

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[1] mixiユーザー 09月02日 21:12

Interesting!
I might be able to work out the 6 expression, He's been out in the sun too long, but other sentences... no, I can't. Maybe there are long stories behind these ways to express about a bit strange people.
I would like to know where these words come from.

[2] mixiユーザー 09月02日 21:46

Hi Ian,

Australian slang is right.lol
They all refer to the fact that someone is stupid or bit slow.

Same as "His elevator doesn't go to the top floor."
"A few cans short of a slab."
"A few sandwiches short of a picnic." etc.....

[3] mixiユーザー 11月15日 05:28

ハハハI've never heard of most of those, and I'm a native speaker (canada)
very interesting though, I've heard australian slang is really different

[4] mixiユーザー 11月15日 05:30

ハハハI've never heard of most of those, and I'm a native speaker (canada)
very interesting though, I've heard australian slang is really different

[6] mixiユーザー 01月29日 20:25

I have absolutely no idea where those expressions come from.
But I can guess and feel what they mean.

[7] mixiユーザー 02月02日 14:09

Very fun. I'm a yellow Jap monkey myself and I'm somewhat familiar with those Englishes spoken by Brits and Yanks, but know nothing about the variations elaborated by Aussies.

While Ian-san used the expression "a bit strange," Gertie-san used the words "stupid or bit slow." I suppose those six sentences above are more about dummies than about weirdos. Am I correct?

I don't know the meaning of the "chops" of "few chops short of..." in Sentence 2.

[8] mixiユーザー 02月02日 14:15

Erratum

7. tomoki y., Line 7
[wrong] few chops short of...
[correct] a few chops short of...

[9] mixiユーザー 02月05日 01:55

Since no one would reply, I have started wondering if I sounded irritated, intimidating or hostile in my previous post. If that is the case, I apologize. That was not what I intended. I just wanted to be jocular but perhaps hit the wrong note. I'm eager to learn Australian slang and await response from you all.

[11] mixiユーザー 02月05日 15:16

10. Rob-san

Many thanks indeed for your kind response. I suppose you are right, but let me clarify my original motives. I *DO* take pride in my race, as well as my nationality and cultural background. The reasons I used the phrase "a yellow Jap monkey" were:

1) I simply wanted to make myself sound jocular, and

2) By calling myself that way, I can also call other peoples by such degrading names as Brits (instead of Britons) and Yanks (as opposed to Americans). My intentions were somewhat along the same line with the tactics employed by stand-up comedians making fun of themselves before they can start mocking their audience. I sort of tried to bring myself low in order to tease the others on the same low level (Do I sound superior rather than self-deprecating this time? Please don't take this seriously. I'm joking anyway).

All in all, my two attempts above both failed, so please forget all of my remarks so far and get back to the main topic. Anyone who is familiar with those interesting Australian expressions, please enlighten us all.

[12] mixiユーザー 02月05日 15:39

Hey everybody!
Tomoki-san, I have actually been called "a yellow Jap monkey, go home!" when I just waited for a signal for pedestrians to change... my dear Canadian friend said back to this gentle man "Fuck off!! Lick ur own b***s, or I kick them up!!"
Calling urself a yellow Jap monkey was not a good joke to me. Sorry to say...

Anyway!
I as well as Tomoki-san, want to know the nuance differences of those sentences :)

My first impression when I read those was, "Joey on Friends!!"
also the phrase "Thanks God, ur pretty!" came up in mind.

Am I getting them right?
When you post up questions, you have a responsibility to show the answers... :)
look forward to hearing from Ian-san :D

[13] mixiユーザー 02月05日 16:18

I used to think "queer" meant someone strange. Since when has the word been associated with one's sexual orientation? (speaking of which, the word "gay" is used to mean "jolly" at least in the Flintstones' theme song and the Christmas song "Deck the Hall". So 30 years ago or so, did people say "Hello Joe, you're looking very gay" to a heterosexual guy without offending him?)

[14] mixiユーザー 02月05日 17:10

I think queer can mean both gay and also someone who is a little odd. Have you ever heard of the TV show "Queer as Folk". I'm not gay and the scenes of gay sex make me a little uncomfortable but it's a really good TV show, Lesbian sex on the other hand....I'm totally up with that lol.

12: ちゅうちゅう

If anyone said something like that around me, I wouldn't even give them the option of licking their own balls....I'd pound them into dust. That sort of expression is so offensive even Chris Rock couldn't make it funny.

[15] mixiユーザー 02月06日 13:54

Thanks a bunch, Ian-san!
I feel a lot of people still can't shift to a 21 century mind and say unthoughtful things like "Jap monkey, go home", yet the truth that Japanese ourselves still have a streotype of "gai-jin" thing and should start from changing ourselves first :)
Good Karma, Zen ring, or whatever that is, "What goes around, comes around", eh? Hope it has a good meaning, too.

[16] mixiユーザー 02月06日 23:09

12. ちゅうちゅうさん
Many thanks for your sensible remark. I appreciate it.

13. ユウカさん
> Since when has the word [queer] been associated
> with one's sexual orientation?

Since "the early 20th century" is the answer according to Oxford Dictionaries Online, although I'm not sure how reliable this information is. See the "Usage" section at the bottom of the page at the following link: http://oxforddictionaries.com/view/entry/m_en_gb0680110#m_en_gb0680110

14. Ian さん
So, as I asked earlier (7. tomoki y.), could you please enlighten us about the meaning of "chops" in the phrase "a few chops short of a barbie"?

[17] mixiユーザー 02月07日 12:08

An afterthought re my original post (7. tomoki y.) having been misconstrued.

Humor rarely travels well. The response I received in this thread somehow reminded me of the recent incident over a British TV show allegedly laughing off a Japanese atomic-bomb survivor.

japanamerica: Fry got fried in Japan--but why?
http://japanamerica.blogspot.com/2011/02/fry-got-fried-in-japan-but-why.html

[18] mixiユーザー 02月07日 17:20

Chops are a cut of meat, usually from lamb or pork. I think they are most popular in Australia, New Zealand and England, but I'm sure Americans eat them as well.
We often cook chops on the BBQ....so when you say someone is "a few chops short of a barbie" (barbie = bbq), you are saying there not all there.

[19] mixiユーザー 02月08日 00:04

18. Ian さん

Thanks a lot for your reply. Now I see. I *DO* know "chops" in its usual sense, which you kindly explained to us, but I was imagining that "chops" here meant something different. Besides, I had no idea that a barbie is a colloquial form for BBQ. I thought you were referring to a Barbie Doll. No wonder I couldn't get it! LOL

[20] mixiユーザー 03月04日 10:24

Haha wow I've never heard of any of those! Nice nice. American and Australian slang is definitely different. But here in American as you all know depending on where you live, the slang can be different.

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