Learn Australian English in this expression episode of The Aussie English Podcast where I teach you how to use DOWN-TO-EARTH like a native speaker.
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AE 498 – Expression: Down-to-Earth
Australia is a vast and lucky land. Beneath our feet is a treasure trove of unimaginable riches. But this story is about much more than precious minerals and dusty mineshafts. For 150 years, mining has changed the lives of us all in unexpected and extraordinary ways. It sparked waves of mass immigration and ignited political revolt.
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G’day, you mob! Welcome to this episode of the Aussie English Podcast, the number one podcast for anyone and everyone wanting to learn English so… and the Aussie English Podcast guys is brought to you by the Aussie English Classroom. If you would like to learn English even faster and have access to weekly courses, videos, quizzes, vocab lists, all the extra stuff that will help you get your English to the next level, make sure that you go to theaussieenglishclassroom.com, sign up and it’s just a dollar for your first month. So, get in there and give it a go! You’ve got nothing to lose!
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Anyway, that aside, today’s intro scene, guys, was the intro to a documentary called Dirty Business: How Mining Made Australia, and this was on the Sterling Documentaries YouTube channel. So, I will put a link into the transcript today so that you can watch that entire documentary on their channel on YouTube if you so choose, it’s pretty interesting. And in today’s Aussie English fact we will go through mining and the history of mining in Australia.
Anyway, guys, as usual, let’s get into an Aussie joke before we go through the expression, the definitions, the examples of how I would use it, the listen and repeat exercise and then the fact, okay?
So, the Aussie joke today guys:
My dog used to chase people on a bike a lot. It got so bad, finally, I had to take his bike away.
So, this isn’t a question and answer joke this time, it’s a story and it’s funny because the first sentence has you thinking there is a dog chasing someone on a bike. A person who is on a bike, but actually it’s the dog who is on the bike chasing people, right? So, that sentence can be actually taken two ways and this is something interesting about English, right?
So, I’ll say the sentence again. My dog used to chase people on a bike a lot. So, he could be chasing people on a bike, as in people riding bikes or it could be that his dog was chasing people whilst the dog was on a bike, right? And then the last line, it got so bad, finally, I had to take his bike away. So, now you’re like, ahhhh, it was the dog’s bike. (I) got it, got it.
So, we have those jokes all the time in English where the first line sounds normal and then the second line shows you that it is not what you thought the first line was, okay?
So, today’s expression is ‘down-to-earth’, to be ‘down-to-earth’. And this was suggested by Lily in the private Facebook group for Aussie English Classroom members. Good job, Lily!
So, as usual guys, let’s go through and define the words in the expression ‘down-to-earth’, ok? ‘Down-to-earth’. I’ll break it up into the individual words.
‘Down’. Obviously, ‘down’ means downwards, right? The opposite of up or upwards, downwards is towards the ground, right? ‘Down’.
‘To’ is towards, in the direction of something.
And, ‘earth’ is the name of the planet, right? The planet Earth. But we often use this to mean the ground or the soil, right? If I’m standing up, usually my feet are on the Earth. If I am digging in the backyard, I might be moving earth around as in the ground or as in soil.
So, what does the expression ‘down-to-earth’ mean? And you’ll often hear this as a compound adjective, as in, someone is ‘down-to-earth’, or Pete is a ‘down-to-earth’ person, right? It could be an adjective in front of a noun as well.
So, if you are down-to-earth or if someone is down-to-earth, it can mean a few different things, although, they’re sort of similar, okay? Practical, reasonable, and friendly, if you’re a down-to-earth person. It could be also that you are practical and directly deal with people so you don’t sort of beat around the bush, right? You’re very straightforward. You’re down-to-earth. But, it can also mean someone who’s very easy to talk to, right? So, they’re not up in the clouds, their head’s not in the clouds, they’re down-to-earth, they’re easy to talk to.
So, let’s go through three examples of how I would use the expression to be ‘down-to-earth’, right? If someone’s ‘down-to-earth’, alright.
Example number one: imagine that you are a foreign student and you have arrived in Australia from somewhere overseas. You’re studying English, you’ve organised your school, you have organised your accommodation, but you need to find a job, right? So, you have asked your friends maybe at the school that you’re learning English at, where can I apply for a job? How do I apply? What do I need to do for my CV, my résumé? And then you get that all sorted, you print out a few copies of your résumé and you head down to a local coffee shop or a cafe where your friends have suggested that you could submit your resume or your CV and apply for a job. So, you do that, you go down there, and you find out the people there are really down-to-earth. So, you get along with them really well, you get along like a house on fire, and they decide that they will give you the job. So, lo and behold, you get the job, you really had a good time with them. They were really down-to-earth, you got hired and the rest is history. The people you talk to were really down-to-earth. They were very easy to talk to, very practical, very reasonable, very friendly.
Example number two: so, you are going to a party where you know that there are going to be loads of rich people, but you’re just an average Joe, right? You’re just an average middle-class, white-collar, or even blue-collar worker. So, you’re worried everyone at the party is going to be really pretentious, really pompous, stuck up and, quite frankly, unpleasant to be around because that’s your opinion. That is the stereotype of rich people, right? So, you show up in your modest car. Maybe it’s a Holden Commodore or Ford Falcon. You get out and you see Ferraris everywhere, Lamborghinis, Mercedes, BMWs, Audis, everywhere around you. The party’s in this huge house, a mansion with butlers, waiters, servants, gardeners running around at the guests’ beck and call the whole time. The grounds of the house are huge, massive lawns, fountains, statues, and you go in. Everything’s really extravagant. Everything is really gourmet food wise and everything is very luxurious. However, when you start chatting to people, you realise that despite these people being loaded, despite them having a lot of money, many of the guests are actually incredibly down-to-earth people. They are really down-to-earth, meaning that you can have great conversations with them. They’re very practical, they’re very direct, they’re very friendly. They just seem like normal down-to-earth people, right? So, the idea here being that you thought that they were going to be stuck up with their heads up in the clouds, you know, on a different level from you, but it turns out they were down-to-earth with their feet firmly placed on the ground, they were very well-grounded.
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Example number three: Imagine you’re a young lady. You’ve gone out on a date with a boy, you’ve hit it off, you’ve done really well, you decide you’re going to be in a relationship, and you want to take him home to meet the family, but you’re worried that your dad he has high expectations and he’s very judgmental when it comes to boys who want to date you, right? For your romantic partners. So, you’re worried about his high standards and how this boy that you’re seeing is going to perform. So, you take him over and when your dad meets your boyfriend, he quickly realises that he is a great kid, he’s a great guy, he’s got a good head on his shoulders, his head isn’t in the clouds. He’s very practical, direct, easy to talk to. Everyone gets along like crazy at dinner and when he leaves your father might talk to you and say, well done, he seems like a great guy. He seems like a very down-to-earth guy. I approve. Your boyfriend is very down-to-earth. He is an awesome guy.
Awesome, guys! well I hope you now understand the expression to be ‘down-to-earth’. This can be to be a practical, reasonable or friendly person. It can be that when you deal with people you do so in a very direct and practical manner and it can also mean that you’re very easy to talk to so, you’re very realistic when you talk to people.
So, as usual, let’s go through the listen and repeat exercise now, guys, where you guys can practice your pronunciation. So, listen and repeat after me, guys. If you’re working on your Aussie English accent, obviously, try and mimic my accent as much as possible as I have a general Australian accent. If you are working on a different accent just go with that, practice that accent. Let’s go!
To
To be
To be down
To be down to
To be down-to-earth x 5
Good job, guys, good job! So now we’re going to go conjugate through the sentence. ‘I used to be down-to-earth’. ‘You used to be down-to-earth’. So, we’ll be using ‘used to’. And remember, if you ‘used to’ and ‘do something’, ‘be something’, whatever it is, it means that that thing used to happen previously quite a lot in the past, right, but it’s no longer happening. For example, I used to go to high school, I used to like surfing, I used to have a lot of friends, I used to live in Melbourne. It’s something that happened in the past, but no longer happens today, okay? So, let’s go!
I used to be down-to-earth.
You used to be down-to-earth.
He used to be down-to-earth.
She used to be down-to-earth.
We used to be down-to-earth.
They used to be down-to-earth.
It used to be down-to-earth.
Good job, guys! Remember, if you would like to go through this pronunciation exercise in more detail where I take you through step by step all the aspects of pronunciation, I talk about intonation and rhythm, things like that in a video make sure that you go to theaussieenglishclassroom.com. Sign up and you will get access to two days of video for this course that will go with this expression episode, as well as all of the previous courses and you can complete them in your own time, anywhere you like, online in the Classroom.
Anyway, guys, let’s get into the Aussie English fact for today and then we will finish up. Alright, so today’s expression was about Earth as in the ground. Therefore, I was thinking for the Aussie English fact maybe we could talk about mining in Australia, because mining is a relatively big deal in Australia.
So, mining in Australia is a significant primary industry and contributor to the Australian economy. I’m sure if you are here already, you’ve probably seen it on the news as they, the politicians, are always talking about mining.
Numerous different kinds of ores and minerals are mined across the continent and, historically, mining booms have encouraged immigration to Australia.
In the early days of Australia, when the colonies were being developed, mining contributed a significant amount to preventing potential bankruptcy of these early colonies so they were making a lot of money from mining.
Copper and silver were discovered in South Australia around the 1940s, which led to the export of the ore and a great deal of immigration of skilled miners and smelters into Australia.
The first economic minerals in Australia were silver and lead, and that started in 1841 in a mine at Glen Osmund in Adelaide, South Australia. The value of these mines though was soon overshadowed by the discovery of copper at places like Kapunda, Burra, and the Copper Triangle, they are three towns called Moonta, Kadina and Wallaroo. These are all indigenous names, I take it, and this was located at the top of the York Peninsula.
About 10 years later in 1851, gold was found in New South Wales and Victoria and the Australian gold rushes took off. The influx of wealth that the gold brought soon made Victoria Australia’s richest colony by far, and Melbourne, the largest city on the island.
By the middle of the 1850, 40% of the world’s gold was dug out of Australian soils.
Today, mining activity occurs in all states and territories across Australia, but only an estimated 0.02% of Australia’s land surface has directly been impacted by mining. That was actually a lot less than I had expected.
So, major active mines in Australia include the Olympic Dam, in South Australia. This is a copper, silver, and uranium mine believed to have the world’s largest uranium resource. And the Super Pit gold mine, which has replaced a number of underground mines near Kalgoorlie in WA, Western Australia.
So, which minerals and ores has Australia primarily mined? We mine iron ore and we’re the second largest supplier after China, supplying about almost a billion metric tons of iron ore every year, and that is 25% of the world’s output.
We mine nickel, 9% of the world’s output, aluminium that’s almost 30% of the world’s output, number one we are for aluminium. We mine copper, we mine gold, we mine silver, and we mine uranium. Those are the biggest ores and minerals that we mine in Australia. But we also mine diamonds, opals, zinc, coal, oil shale, petroleum, natural gas, silica, and other rare elements as well.
Despite the value of mining in Australia and the revenue that it generates for the Australian Government and obviously the Australian people, many people would like to see an end to mining in Australia, especially, for certain minerals and ores others such as coal, which is a relatively contentious mineral or that is dug up from the ground and burnt in order to create electricity, but it is relatively inefficient and it contributes heavily to climate change. That said, mining is arguably the backbone of the Australian economy and it will likely remain a big part of Australia into the future for better or worse.
So, I hope you enjoyed today’s episode, guys. I hope you have a great weekend and I’ll chat to you soon.
See you later!
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AE 354 – Expression: Six Of One, Half A Dozen Of The Other
In this expression episode of Aussie English you’re going to learn how to use SIX OF ONE, HALF A DOZEN OF THE OTHER like a native.
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AE 354 – Expression:
Six Of One, Half A Dozen Of The OtherAlright. So, welcome to today’s episode, guys. This is The Aussie English Podcast, the number one podcast for those interested in learning Australian English, learning to understand Australian English, the accent. I know it’s a bit tricky sometimes. And also, wanting to speak like an Australian when you learn English. So, that’s what this podcast is all about. That’s what my YouTube channel and Facebook is all about. It’s empowering you guys, helping you guys to overcome the annoying language of Australian English.
So, today’s expression is going to be “six of one half, a dozen of the other”, “six of one, half a dozen of the other”. This one comes from Petinka. Thank you Petinka. She suggested this in The Aussie English Virtual Classroom group on Facebook, which you can all join. Every week on Tuesday, I put a post up asking for suggestions for the expression episodes. Petinka was the one who suggested this week’s one. And then you guys get to vote on which one is your favourite. And this is the one that got to the top.
As usual guys, before we get into that let’s go through a little joke first, an Australian joke. OK.
Aussie Joke:
So, why do kangaroos hate rainy days? Why did kangaroos hate rainy days when it rains, when it buckets down, when it’s raining cats and dogs? Why would kangaroos hate rainy days? Because their children play inside. Do you get it? Why the kangaroos hate rainy days? Because their children play inside. Hopefully, you get that one.
So, obviously, they live in the pouches, and if it’s raining the kangaroos are stuck in the pouch just playing inside, which is something that would probably annoy most, I guess, humans when it’s raining and they can’t put their kids outside. So, there you go. The joke for today: why the Kangaroos hate rainy days? Because their children always play inside.
Expression Breakdown:
So, as usual, we’ll go through the different words in this expression, guys, “six of one, half a dozen of the other.”
So, “six”. I’m sure you guys know what “six” is. The number six. One, two, three, four, five, six.
“Half”. 50% or one of two equal portions of something. So, if I cut a cake down the middle, there’s two halves. I have half the cake on one side, half on the other. That’s half.
“A dozen” is a group or set of twelve things. So, most commonly I think you’ll buy a dozen eggs, or you might go to the bakery and get half a dozen hot cross buns during Easter in, I guess that’s, March/April in Australia. That’s something I love to do. I always go to get half a dozen hot cross buns in Easter. So, “half a dozen” is six, obviously. A dozen is twelve.
And then the last word here that you guys may or may not know is “other”, and this is used to refer to something that is different or distinct from something that has already been mentioned or is known about. OK? So, if something is the other, it’s the distinct or different or separate things, something else, “other.
Expression Definition:
So, “six of one, half a dozen of the other”. Let’s define the expression. The expression “six of one half, a dozen of the other” effectively just means same difference. So, it’s usually used when there’s two alternatives, you’ve got two options, and it doesn’t matter which one you pick, because they’re either the same or you just don’t care. So, as in, it’s like, it’s the same to you. So, they could be exactly the same thing as in you’ve got six here and half a dozen here, which is also six. Or it could be that you have two things and you don’t care which one you pick or which one you get. And so, you can say, “It’s six of one half a dozen of the other.” So, there’s no difference. OK. It’s all the same to me. I don’t mind. I don’t care. Either’s fine. Whatever. Six of one, half a dozen of the other.
So, as usual, let’s go through some examples, guys, of how we would use this expression.
Examples:
1.
So, example number one. Imagine that you go into a mate’s party. You’re going over to his house or you’re going around to his house for a party. And you’ve got to get an Uber there. You get in that bar and the guy says, “There’s two different ways to go over to your mate’s place or go around to mate’s place, which one did you want to take?”. And I might ask him, “Well, what’s the difference?”. And he says, “Well, they’re both going to take the same amount of time. They’re the same distance.”. So, I could say, “I don’t really care. It’s six of one or half a dozen of the other. So, they’re both exactly the same. They are going to give me the same result. So, I don’t really care which one you pick. Six of one, half a dozen of the other. You choose. Flip a coin. 50/50.” So, six of one, half a dozen of the other.
2.
Number two. So, imagine that you’re going to get takeaway food for the evening and your wife says, “Did you want to get Chinese food or did you want to get fish and chips? Chinese food or fish and chips?”. If you honestly don’t care, as in, you don’t mind, you know, it doesn’t bother you which one she picks, you’re just hungry. You could literally say, “It’s six of one, half a dozen of the other. I don’t mind. Same difference. Whatever you feel like. It’s all good. You pick. That’s the same to me.”. Six of one half, a dozen of the other.
3.
The last example here is probably where this sort of expression originates from. Imagine you’re going to buy some eggs and the guy at the “egg store”, wherever it is you’re buying eggs. The supermarket or the market. You’ve got to buy eggs from a store where they’re being sold. And imagine he has half a dozen over here and half a dozen over here, and they’re different brands, but they’re almost exactly the same, effectively. (The) same number of eggs, obviously. If he says, “Which would you like?”. And I look at them and say, “Well, it’s six of one and it’s half a dozen of the other.”, as in it’s exactly the same thing. I don’t care. Whatever. There’s six and one is six and the other one here. Six of one, half a dozen of the other. It’s the same to me. I’m fine with either one.
OK? So, hopefully you guys understand the expression “six of one, half a dozen of the other”. It’s just it’s the same difference. You’ve got two options, but they’re equal or you don’t care which one you choose. It’s six of one, half a dozen of the other.
So, let’s go through a little listen and repeat exercise here, guys, where you guys can practice your pronunciation. I’m always really passionate about helping you guys improve your pronunciation, and I feel one of the best ways to do this is to practice when you’re on your own. You don’t just have to practice English when you’re around other speakers of English, whether they’re native or they’re foreigners who have learnt English as a second language. It’s good, but it’s also really good to practice on your own. OK? Practice makes perfect.
So, let’s go through a quick listen and repeat exercise. If you guys want to speak out loud, maybe find somewhere quiet, somewhere away from other people. And let’s go through this exercise. OK.
So, I’m going to break up the phrase “six of one half, a dozen of the other”, and then at the end I’ll put it all together.
I want you to pay attention to how I pronounce the word “of”. OK? O-F. “Of”. We’ll talk about it a little bit after the exercise, but pay attention to how I pronounce of. OK? Let’s go.
Listen & Repeat:
Six of one x 4.
Half a dozen x 4
Of the other x 4.
Alright. Let’s do the full phrase.
Six of one half a dozen of the other x 5
Awesome job guys. So, the reason that I wanted you to pay attention to how I pronounce “of” is because I convert of into a schwa (/ə/) kind of sound. It just turns into a little vowel there when the word “of” is followed by another word that starts with a consonant sound. So, even though the word of “one” begins with a zero, an O*, it starts with a consonant sound “Weh”, “one”. So, I say, “O- one”, instead of one. So, that’s what happens when I speak quickly like a native. “Six_o-_one”, instead of “Six of one”.
The same thing happens with “half a dozen o- the other”, “half a dozen o- the other”. It really gets swallowed. It disappears in there. And because “the” starts with a consonant sound, “th-“, “the” I just say “o-“, “o- the other”. “Half a dozen o- the other”.
So, remember guys, if you want to practice that specific technique make sure you sign up to The Aussie English Classroom. There’ll be a link attached to this after the episode’s finished, or below if you’re watching this on YouTube or listening to the podcast. It’s a dollar to try for a month. But you’ll get all these kinds of exercises to really take your pronunciation to the next level and get you approaching native like pronunciation. That’s what I’m really passionate about, and it’s my mission to help you guys speak as much like me as possible.
So, before we finish, guys, let’s give you an interesting fact about Australia. Make sure you go and tell someone this awesome fact after you listen to this episode.
Aussie Fact:
So, despite Australia having a landmass, a landmass about the same size as Europe, its population is actually 30 times smaller than Europe, or the population of Europe. So, Australia’s population is only 24 million people. It’s a little above 24 million people. There are cities in the world bigger than that. Beijing, for one. However, in Europe they are 743 million people. So, it’s getting close to three quarters of a billion people. So, despite Australia having a huge landmass, it’s only one thirtieth the size of Europe with regards to population.
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So, with that guys, I hope you have a frickin amazing weekend and I will see you next week.
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AE 298 – Live Class: 10+ Common Aussie English Expressions
Learn Australian English in this Live Class episode where I teach you to use 10+ common Aussie English Expressions like a native.
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AE 423 – Expression: To Have a Chip on Your Shoulder
Learn Australian English in this expression episode of the Aussie English Podcast where I teach you how to use the expression TO HAVE A CHIP ON YOUR SHOULDER like a native English speaker!
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AE 423 – Expression: To Have a Chip on Your shoulder
G’day, you mob. What’s going on? How have you guys been?
Intro Scene:
That intro scene, I wonder if you know that sound. If you have been to Australia, if you have been to a beach in Australia, or even a location near the ocean, near the beach, then I am sure you have come across that sound or at least the birds that make that sound. So, that was the common Australian seagull. These guys are white with grey wings. They have like a red bill, red feet, and they’re commonly known as “Flying rats” in Australia, because there are a lot of them and they will eat anything that you will throw at them.
So, the guy in the video that I found where I took that sound from was feeding them fish and chips. And today’s episode is going to be chip heavy. So, it’s going to be related to the word “chip” quite a bit. We have the expression “to have a chip on your shoulder”, which we’ll get into, and then we’re going to go over fish and chips, and I wonder if you guys have had fish and chips before.
Anyway, before that happens, guys, we’ll go through a few announcements, the Aussie joke, definitions, some examples, an exercise for your pronunciation, and then the Aussie fact.
Alright, guys. So, as usual, this is The Aussie English Podcast. My name is Pete. I am the host. Welcome if this is the very first time that you happen to be listening to The Aussie English Podcast, and if it is not the very first time, then welcome back. Thank you for listening to The Aussie English Podcast and thank you for your support.
So, the Aussie English podcast is obviously a podcast designed to teach you Australian English, whether you want to understand Australian English or you want to speak like an Australian this is the podcast for you, and it is brought to you by the Aussie English Classroom at TheAussieEnglishClassroom.com. This is an online membership website full of courses, lessons, quizzes, videos, bonus content for all of the episodes on the podcast and more. So, if you want to learn Australian English and you don’t want to muck about, you want to do this quickly, this is the best place for you to go.
Aussie Joke:
Alright guys, anyway, let’s get into today’s Aussie joke. Today’s Aussie joke is related to fish and chips as well, but bear with me, it’s a bit of a ripper. I thought it was funny.
A bloke walks into a fish and chip shop and says, “Can I have some fish, please?”. The guy behind the counter says, “Yeah, okay. It won’t be long.”. To which the bloke replies, “Well, it better be fat then”. Do you get it, guys? So, he’s asking for some fish and the guy behind the counter says it won’t be long, meaning it won’t take long to cook, but the bloke ordering the fish interprets that as the fish won’t be very long in size. It won’t have a long length. And that’s why he says, “Well, it better be fat then.”.
Alright, so that was today’s Aussie joke. A bloke walks into a fish and chip shop and says, “Can I have some fish, please?”. The guy behind the counter says, “It won’t be long”, and the bloke says, “Well, it better be fat then.”.
So, today’s expression is “to have a chip on your shoulder” and this one was suggested by Lima. Great expression, Lima. Good job.
Definitions:
So, let’s go through the definitions of “to have a chip on your shoulder”, and different words in this expression.
So, “to have”. You guys’ll know what “to have” is. You’ll know it’s to possess or to own something. To have something.
“A chip”. “A chip” can be quite a few different things. It means something different from say, fish and chips, where we’re talking about fried potato, in the expression “to have a chip on your shoulder”. In this case, it means a small piece of wood as might be chopped or chipped from a larger block. Okay? So, it’s a chip of wood. A chip.
If the chip is on your shoulder, it’s sitting on the part of your body that’s either side of your head that connects your arm to your torso. Okay? That’s your shoulder. So, those are the words in the expression, “to have a chip on your shoulder”.
Expression Definition & Origin:
So, let’s define the expression. If you have a chip on your shoulder, it refers to the act of holding a grudge or grievance that readily provokes disputation. Alright, let’s see if we can define that a little more simply. So, a chip on your shoulder, if you have a chip on your shoulder, it is that you carry or that you have figuratively a perceived grievance or a sense of inferiority to other people. Right? So, it’s the kind of thing where you’re jealous about what someone else has or what someone else has done and you feel inferior as a result, and because of this you feel a grievance between you guys, or that you hold a bit of a grudge. Okay? And so, I guess, the metaphor here is that you’ve got a chip on your shoulder meaning, like, it’s a burden, like you’re carrying around a large piece of wood, which would obviously slow you down. If you’ve got a chip on your shoulder, it’s like you have an emotional burden, because you’re jealous or you resent someone else for something they’ve done or possess, you know, maybe characteristics.
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So, let’s go through the origin of this expression. There were two different possible origins. The first one was that in the 18th century the British Royal Navy Dockyards, obviously in Britain, were where men worked on these ships, they built these ships, and they were called “shipwrights”. Okay? “Shipwrights” were the men who worked on these ships. And each day they had a daily allowance of wood chips that they could take home on their shoulders, and they could use these wood chips for firewood or as timber for building. However, this didn’t appear in common use in literature, this expression, “to have a chip on your shoulder”, until the 20th century. So, it seems unlikely that this was the origin.
And so, let’s go over the other origin. The phrase “a chip on one’s shoulder” is reported as originating with the 19th century US practice of spoiling for a fight–which means of wanting to fight someone. If you spoil for a fight you really, really want a fight. You want some kind of altercation–spoiling for a fight by carrying a chip of wood on one shoulder daring others to knock it off. According to the Oxford Dictionary, the first recorded use was in 1830 in the Long Island Telegraph Newspaper, when two churlish boys were determined to fight, a chip would be placed on the shoulder of one and the other demander to knock it off at his peril.
So, who knows. Who knows where this originates from, but apparently the second origin there is more likely.
Examples:
So, let’s go through some examples, as usual guys, where we can talk about how I would use the expression, “to have a chip on your shoulder”. This one is a more complicated expression. So, pay attention to these examples and see if you can understand how you would use this in your life.
1.
Alright so, example number one. Imagine that you’ve got a very old and unpleasant uncle who never went to university, he never finished high school, maybe he went straight into the workforce, working in a factory, and is always trying to show off that he is still intelligent, that despite not going to university, that despite not go into high school, he’s still very smart. And so, as a result, he’s very demeaning and nasty to the rest of the family who did go to university or who did finish high school. So, he’s constantly competing with these people putting them down and trying to show off his intelligence. If he did this, I would say he’s got a chip on his shoulder about not having been to university or about not having finished high school. He resents those who have been to university, who have finished high school, and as a result, he has a bit of a complex about it, that is he’s sensitive and it’s a sensitive issue. He feels inferior to everyone else. He has a chip on his shoulder. He has a chip on his shoulder, because he never finished uni.
2.
So, example number two. Maybe you have friends or family members who aren’t very well-off. So, they don’t have a lot of money. They’re not very wealthy. So, you and the rest of the family have done pretty well for yourselves, meaning that you do have good jobs, you have enough money. You might not necessarily be rich, but you can afford nice things, you know, you can afford to travel, you can afford a nice house, you can afford a nice car, because you’ve got good jobs and relatively high incomes. So, if your friend or other family members have a chip on their shoulder about this difference between you and them where they’re poorer, you’re richer, it might manifest with them always trying to compete with you, buy nicer things, show off what they’ve done, what they’ve bought, maybe they wear a lot of jewellery, etc. So, this competitive nature, and if it turns into resentment as well, a bit of a grudge, a bit of a grievance, we could say that they have a chip on their shoulder. They have a chip on their shoulder, because they aren’t as well-off, or because they have money troubles. They have a chip on their shoulder about not being wealthy.
3.
Example number Three. Imagine you’re a teenage girl with a twin sister. Okay? So, this happens sometimes you hear about these twin sisters, they’re not identical, and so they look different, they’re not identical twins. So, I imagine that one of these girls is an average looking girl. So, she’s not ugly, but she’s not attractive. Okay? She’s a “Plain Jane” we would say, an incredibly plain looking girl, “Plain Jane”. Rhyming slang there for you guys. But her sister is a 10 out of 10. Okay? So, she’s a 5 out of 10 and her sister is a 10 out of 10, one of the best-looking girls at school. Okay? So, when both start to become interested in boys, as these girls get into their teenage years, and one becomes incredibly attractive and the other one isn’t as attractive, is very plain, she’s a “Plain Jane”, you would imagine that the attractive one would get all the attention from the boys, okay, and the Plain Jane girl, the normal looking girl, would get relatively ignored. So, you might grow to resent your sister for her dumb luck, for just being dealt the cards she got dealt. She’s attractive, she’s getting all this attention, but you’re not. It’s not fair. You might start holding a grudge against your sister, because of her attractiveness, and it could be a constant source of grievance. So, you could get upset when you see the attention she gets. You can get jealous. If this was the case, you’ve got a chip on your shoulder about not being good looking. You feel inferior to your sister, and thus, you resent your sister. You have a chip on your shoulder, because you aren’t as attractive as your sister and don’t get the same attention. You’ve got a chip on your shoulder.
So, that’s the expression, guys. I hope you understand how to use it, “to have a chip on your shoulder”. So, it refers to the act of holding a grudge or a grievance that readily provokes disputations. So, you know, it provokes you showing off, you arguing, it’s a constant source of frustration, always coming up in conversation, or more simply, it’s just that there’s a perceived grievance or sense of inferiority because of something.
So, let’s go through listening and repeat exercise, as usual guys. This is your chance to practice Australian pronunciation, or just to practice your English pronunciation with the accent that you currently have if you’re not after an Australian accent. So, listen and repeat after me, and focus on the connected speech in this exercise, guys, if you want to sound more natural when you speak English. Okay? Let’s go!
Listen & Repeat:
To
To have
To have a
To have a chip
To have a chip on
To have a chip on your
To have a chip on your shoulder x 5
I’ve got a chip on my shoulder
You’ve got a chip on your shoulder
She’s got a chip on her shoulder
He’s got a chip on his shoulder
We’ve got a chip on our shoulders
They’ve got a chip on their shoulders
Great job, guys. Great job. Remember, if you would like a breakdown of all the different aspects of connected speech in this exercise, so that you can learn them, so that you can implement them when you speak English, make sure that you sign up to The Aussie English Classroom where you’ll get exercises for the connected speech and we’ll go through them step by step so that you can use them when you speak English.
Aussie Fact:
Let’s go through the Aussie fact for today, guys. So, today, I wanted to talk about the history of fish and chips. Fish and chips. I wonder if you guys have had fish and chips in Australia, or maybe in England. If you’ve been to England you will have seen and probably tried fish and chips.
So, first of all, what the hell is fish and chips for those of you who haven’t been to Australia or England? Fish and chips is a hot dish of English origin and it consists of fried battered fish and hot potato chips, as well as a bunch of other things that get fried as well. But the most common thing is obviously hot potato chips and fried battered fish, and it’s a common takeaway food and an early example of culinary fusion. So, where these two different kinds of food were taken and fused together.
So, today, I found a really cool article that I want to read for you guys. It’s just a short one about the history of fish and chips. And this comes from Fishandchipsawards.com.au. The link will be in the transcript. I really recommend that you go and check out this website, because it allows you to find where all the awesome fish and chip shops are. So, it gives out awards every year to all the different states and territories in Australia, and it ranks the best fish and chip shops, and funnily enough, the one that won in Victoria is right near where I grew up, and I’ve been there before, and it was called Trident Fish Bar. So, you can check these out. The links’ll be the description. But maybe have a look to see, if you’re in Australia, where the closest award-winning fish and chip shop is and go and check it out.
So, here’s the article guys. Let’s go.
Eating fish and chips is an iconic Australian experience. Possibly more well-known than a pie at the footy. You can get fish and chips in just about every Australian town, but how, where, and when did fish and chips find their way onto Aussie plates?
Like so many other elements of Australian society, the history of fish and chips is one of multicultural influences. In this case, refined into a simple and tasty meal enjoyed equally by all walks of life.
Fried fish is thought to have first been brought to Britain in the 16th century by the Marranos, a group of Jewish migrants from Spain and Portugal. The invention of potato chips is claimed by both the French and the Belgians, the potato of course originally coming from the South American Andes before being adopted by the Europeans.
The first recorded combination of fish and chips was in a London shop opened in 1860 by Jewish migrant Joseph Mallon. It didn’t take long for the concept to catch on here, and the first Australian fish and chip shop is often credited to Greek migrant Athanasius Comino who open his shop in 1879 on Sydney’s Oxford Street.
So, there you go. I had no idea that Sydney was potentially the birthplace of fish and chips in Australia. Back to the article.
It might have been even earlier, though, as family records say Athanasius copied the idea from a Welshman down the street. The peckish Greek man had supposedly wandered into the unnamed Welshman’s shop and decided that cooking fish and chips didn’t look that hard.
Back in Britain, fish and chips became so popular there were 35,000 shops by 1927, although, numbers have since declined to about 10,000. Former Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, called fish and chips, “The good companions”, and during the Second World War, they were considered so crucial to public morale that they weren’t subjected to rationing as most other foods were.
In Australia, there are an estimated 4,000 fish and chip shops today, with successive waves of migrants investing in these businesses and playing a crucial role in popularising the take away offering across the country. Of course, fish and chips is also an essential menu offering in many hotels, bistros, and restaurants.
Whether wrapped in paper or served with the finest china and silverware, fish and chips are a classic part of the country’s culinary landscape.
So, that was a neat little article guys from Fishandchipawards.com.au. I recommend that you go and check it out.
And before we finish up, I want to tell you what I would normally order when I go get fish and chips. So, if you guys are thinking about getting fish and chips anytime soon. This is what I would normally get. So, I would go to a fish and chip shop. I would get minimum chips, at least, that’s if there’s two of you. If there’s more people, you might have to get more chips. I would get one to two dimmies, which are dim sims. These are kind of meat in batter that’s deep fried. “Dimmies”. I would get one or two potato cakes. Kind of like a potato that’s been flattened into the shape of a flat circle and then deep fried. And then I would get some flake, and flake is kind of an unknown shark. It can be any kind of shark. It’s boneless. It’s a really tasty fish. And then, the cheeky thing that I do, I run off to the shops whilst the fish and chips is being cooked, and I often get tomato sauce from somewhere like Coles or Woolies, because you can get an entire bottle for like two dollars, so you save a lot, and the drinks, as well, I tend to get from Coles or Woolies, because the sauce and the drinks and everything else at the fish and chip shop is often marked up in price.
Anyway, guys, that is today’s episode. I hope you enjoy this episode. Let me know in the comments if you’ve ever had fish and chips, and what you thought of that meal. It’s one of my favourites and I would love to know what your experience was like.
Anyway, guys, I will chat to you soon. All the best.
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