Drinking in Australia...

From a Transplanted Canadian's Perspective!

For someone coming from another country, the world of drink in Australia can be a strange and bewildering place. You see, Australians have created a whole new language to describe drinks, drinking and measures of drinks. You hear questions like "Didyabringagrogalong?" and "Should we take along some plonk for the Sheilas?" Well, for you foreigners, plonk is wine, and if you get drunk on it, you're plonko. And Sheilas, well, if you saw the movie Crocodile Dundee, you'll know the meaning of "Sheila".

If a drink is good, you may hear "It's a nice drop." If it's not so good, it could be called "Snake's Piss". If you are going out drinking, you are "on the turps" and if you get drunk, you are "floating on ice". If someone says, "It's your shout!", please don't stand up and yell. Just pull out your wallet and buy the next round! And be forewarned, if you don't shout the next round, you will be one of those tight bastards that "wouldn't shout if a shark bit him".

A "stubby" is a 375 ml (12.5 oz) bottle of beer, so named because of its short height. However, a foreign beer like Corona, would never be called a "stubby", even though it came in a stubby bottle! A "tallie" is also a bottle of beer (750 ml or 25 oz), so named because it is taller and bigger than a "stubby" (unless you are in Darwin, where they have their own definition of a "stubby"!)

A "tinnie" is a can of beer. A "slab" is the term used for 24 cans of beer that have been packaged together for sale in the liquor store. A slab, or fractions of slabs, can also be used for relating to distances between towns in the Outback. For example, locals will say that it takes approximately a slab and a half to drive from Ayers Rock to Darwin. It's descriptive, not scientific!

In Australia, when it comes to drinking, convenience is everything. Hence, you get the drive-through bottle shop. Fast, efficient, and the beer is cold. Add to this the fact that Australians are often on a first name basis with their favorite drink and you can see how easy it becomes: Drive in, roll down the window, and say "Bottle of Jack, mate." [Translation - "Could I have a bottle of Jack Daniels, please."] Instead of "Jack", you can ask for "Beam" - Jim Beam, "Bundy" - Bundaberg Rum, or "Johnnie" - Johnnie Walker. Over the years, it really can save a lot of time.

One of the most popular places to have a drink in Australia is the pub, also known as the local "watering hole". Going from watering hole to watering hole is also known as "pub crawling", which is a time honoured tradition brought from the Old Country by the English ancestors. That may explain why Guinness and Kilkenny are so popular with the Aussies.

In the pub, beer is the most common drink. But if a beer is not your choice, you may be offered something from the 'top shelf'. The 'top shelf' really is a 'top shelf' and it is lined with bottles of liqueurs and expensive whiskies, bourbons and scotch. These are the ones that are awarded the praise of 'top drop'!

It's also fun to have a few drinks at a barbie. Now for all of you foreigners, a barbie in Australia is not a doll. A barbie here is one of those social events where all of the men congregate around the barbecue with their tinnies and stubbies to watch the meat cook, while the Sheilas are in the kitchen with their plonk, preparing the rest of the food. After years of observing this phenomenon of congregating around the barbecue, one can only conclude that this may be the only opportunity for Aussie males to see food cooking, given their aversion to participating in the kitchen!

Drinking in Australia is a tradition, a way of life, and many of those who partake are extremely loyal to "their brand". A XXXX Man wears a XXXX shirt and puts his beer into a XXXX stubby cooler. He can provide many rude descriptions of VB. A VB Man wears a VB cap and VB socks and wouldn't be caught dead drinking a XXXX beer. The same is true for those quaffers of spirits. A Bundy man drinks Bundaberg rum, wears a Bundy t-shirt and owns a Bundy Rum hip flask. He is proud to be called a Rum Pig. And a Jim Beam or Jack Daniels loyalist wouldn't drink Bundy Rum even if he was "dry as an old lady's talcum powder"! (There are much ruder descriptions for "thirsty" which censoring laws may prevent us from committing to print).

For a foreigner in Australia, the simple act of ordering a beer can be daunting since the measures and terminology change from State to State. Just when the tourists think they have got it sorted out, they move on to their next destination and have to start learning all over again! To help those that may be visiting Australia from foreign soils, it may help to refer to the following explanation of beer measures which is taken from "The Dinkum Aussie Dictionary".

A Lady's Waist used to be either a 5 or 7 ounce measure of beer once served only in the parlour of a pub in New South Wales, but in Queensland was known as a glass because it was taken as a chaser to a glass or shot of neat rum.

In New South Wales a schooner is somewhat short of a pint which is known as a pot in Victoria but in the aforementioned State a pint is a pint but never has been sold as such because there were no glasses to hold that measure.

A pot used to be a 7 ounce in Western Australia where a schooner was 10 ounces, but in South Australia if you wanted a Coopers you had to ask for a bottle because only West End was sold in glasses or off the tap.

In Tasmania a glass of Cascade is sold as a glass while in Queensland Fourex comes in stubbies or tinnies.

Just ask for a beer.

We hope that explanation helps!