Special Sub-Topic: Journey Of Australian Slang Click Here To Play: Journey Of Australian Slang

I've taken a trip to the Wonderful World Of Oz – that is, Australia. What will Yankees sometimes call this ‘Great Southern Land’?

Down Under. That's because Australia kind of looks like an upside-down America (home to the Yankees). The band Men At Work sang a song called "Down Under", which was a huge hit in 1980. ‘Great Southern Land’ was also a hit song by another band.

Firstly I fly into the nation's capital, and it turns out to be the administrative centre of the country rather than a large tourist destination. Who "screams blue murder" there?

The Pollies. The Pollies are the politicians of Australia, and they ‘scream blue murder’ (this means to complain loudly) a lot. Canberra is the capital of Australia but mainly houses government workers. It can be likened to Ottawa in Canada.

Heading north-east I encounter ‘the big smoke’. Which of the following could be used as a derogatory term for some of its inhabitants?

Westies. ‘The big smoke’ is what country folk may call the big city. Sydney (capital of NSW) can be separated into east, west, north, and south. Yet the ‘Westies’ are supposedly the least educated and the poorest of the lot. We Westies of course know that this is not necessarily true.

I decide to keep heading north. In a hotel on the Central Coast I turn on the idiot box and see an ad for the Cockroaches vs. the Canetoads. Once I reach the Gold Coast I pull out my copy of “The Australian” to learn that the Banana-benders have lost the Cockroach and Canetoad battle. Therefore, who has won?

The Blues. The idiot box is the television. The Cockroaches are the New South Wales Blues, and the Canetoads are the Queensland Maroons. This is a best-of-three series played in Rugby League (it was first introduced in 1980). “The Australian” is a national newspaper. Queenslanders are also called Banana-benders, because there is a lot of banana cultivation in that state. Sugar cane farms are also very popular.

I’m as ‘flat out as a lizard drinking’, but I’ve decided to go to a tourist attraction, called “Australia Zoo”. What phrase would I have been most likely to hear whilst at Australia Zoo? (Until late 2006)

Crikey, the bugger bit me!. Steve Irwin, “The Crocodile Hunter”, owned “Australia Zoo” with his wife Terri until he passed away in September 2006. The zoo saves threatened animals from the wildlife and keep them at the zoo until they can be safely released again. ‘Flat out as a lizard drinking’ means to be doing something really fast (or to be busy).

Having ‘a month of Sundays’ on my hands, I choose to ‘go bush’. Whilst I do this, I may also go on some sightseeing to places such as Uluru, or The Olgas. What might one of my ‘China Plates’ say to me about this journey?

'You'll never never know if you never never go.'. I’m traveling to the Northern Territory. A ‘month of Sundays’ is a long time, to ‘go bush’ is to withdraw from society and relax, and a ‘China plate’ is rhyming slang for a mate (friend). This friend is mimicking an advertising campaign from the 1990s that had Daryl Somers (of “Hey Hey It’s Saturday” fame) saying this quote about tourism in the Territory. 'This was derived from the name Mrs Aeneas Gunn gave to the area around Mataranka, just south of Katherine, and the title of her book "We of the Never-never"' - thanks to FrogJesus for this info.

As I travel south-west from my last destination, I feel a ‘soldier’s bold’ coming on. Who shouldn’t I consult about this?

The Fremantle Doctor. This is because the Fremantle Doctor is actually a nickname for a late afternoon breeze in Perth, the capital of Western Australia. A ‘soldier’s bold’ is rhyming slang for a cold. If you’ve ever seen a cricket match at the WACA (a cricket ground in Perth), the ‘Fremantle Doctor’ can be a real pain to fast bowlers at the end of a session. And as we all should know, a breeze is not healthy for a cold.

My next plan is to have a ‘Captain Cook’ at the ‘City of Churches’. However, to get there I must cross the treeless expanse of the Nullarbor. But it will be all worth it when I finally catch up with my ‘Simon & Garfunkel’, who lives with his ‘trouble & strife’. Where am I headed?

To my rello's place in Adelaide. ‘Captain Cook’ is rhyming slang for look. The ‘City of Churches’ is Adelaide, SA. The Nullarbor Plain is a vast arid desert (meaning "no trees" in Latin). My ‘Simon & Garfunkel’ is my uncle, and ‘Trouble & Strife’ is his wife (both rhyming slang). A rello is short for a relative. 'Mate's rates' means free.

I’m now in the city where I’m very likely to need my ‘Aunt Molly’ when I travel to watch a game of the ‘great Aussie free-for-all’. What is a derogatory name for the residents of this state?

Mexicans. I am talking about Melbourne, where it rains a lot (therefore I will need my Aunt Molly – rhyming slang for brolly: umbrella). The ‘great Aussie free-for-all’ is the game of AFL, which sometimes seems to be a huge scrambling mess on a mud-covered field. Victoria is this state, and Victorians are sometimes called ‘Mexicans’ by New South Welshmen because it is ‘south of the border… down Mexico way’ when geographically compared to NSW.

In 2004 a shiela from the Apple Isle became the ball and chain to a good sort she met while on holiday to Oz's largest big smoke. Turned out that the bloke was sorta like ol' Big Ears from the motherland. What country was this bloke from?

Denmark. A 'shiela' is a woman. The 'Apple Isle' is the island state of Tasmania, which is south of Victoria. A 'ball and chain' is a wife (or sometimes husband), and a 'good sort' means someone you are attracted to, in her case a man (also known as a 'bloke'). So it means the woman married a man. Australia is sometimes known as 'Oz', and the 'big smoke' is the city. Sydney is Australia's largest city. 'Big Ears' is England's Prince Charles, and the 'motherland' is England, or the United Kingdom. This question refers to Mary Donaldson, a girl who grew up in Tasmania and, while in Sydney for the 2000 Olympics, met Denmark's Prince Frederik (heir to the Danish throne). They had a fairytale romance and got married on May 14, 2004. I hope you enjoyed my quiz! If you have never been to Australia then you should definitely visit someday.