Еще об Австралии

Пост об Австралии оказался очень продуктивным на комментарии. Пожонглировав комментариями, получилось небольшое приложение к оригинальному посту. Посмотрите, как это выглядит после моей обработки:

Парочка интересных австралийских выражений…

Australian English has also produced many colorful figures of speech. For example, to say that someone's blood is worth bottling is a term of high praise.

An exceptionally brave person is said to be as game as Ned Kelly. Ned Kelly was a famous Australian outlaw of the 1870's.

She's apples means that she is all right, quite reliable.

If someone turns lemony on you, or goes crook on you, he or she is very angry with you.

"Waltzing Matilda", the title of Australia's most famous song, refers neither to a dance nor to a woman. A matilda is a blanket roll. "To waltz matilda" means "to tramp the roads."

Here are the other examples of Australian colloquial sayings:

to have kangaroos in the top paddock - to be crazy;
Sydney or the bush - all or nothing;
up a gumtree - in all sorts of trouble;
as happy as a possum up a tree - very happy;
as bald as a bandicoot - with no hair at all :-)

Many of the British settlers borrowed words from the Aborigines. Such Aboriginal words as kangaroo, kookaburra, dingo and koala were introduced into English. Many aboriginal words are tongue twisters, such as Cadibarrawirracanna, the name of a lake in South Australia.

Затем комментарий к выражению Waltzing Matilda:

Waltzing Matilda probably came to Australia with German-speaking settlers in the late 19th century. In the German army a soldier's rolled blanket was known as a 'Matilda', and traveling from place to place was to be 'on the waltz'.

Потом спросили:

What are Australians like? "What beefsteak is to Argentina, flamenco to Spain, cool reserve and self-control in all situations to an Englishman, what vodka is to a Russian and beer to a Bavarian, what money to a Swiss, that is ............ to an Australian". How would you fill the gap?

Мой ответ однозначен: outdoor life :) Если не так, поправьте меня.

Закончить тему Австралии хочу ответом на вопрос:

Will you advise how to find a pen pal (key pal) from Australia or any other English-speaking countries? I guess it could become a good hobby for me.

Просторы интернета безграничны. Перед поиском друга по переписке, определитесь с полем деятельности, которое вам по душе. Так можно будет обсуждать обоюдно интересные вещи. А способов найти друга сколько хотите: здесь, например, или здесь.

Только не нарвитесь на какого-то продавца супер-пупер продукта, который попытается вам его протолкнуть.

Всем, кто участвовал в обсуждении темы Австралии, отдельное спасибо!