Transcript
(Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript)
Kevin
Hi, you are listening to the SBS Learn English podcast...
Josipa
…where we help Australians to speak, understand and connect.
Kevin
My name is Kevin.
Josipa
My name is Josipa.
Kevin
I’m a proud Ngarrindjeri man from Ngarrindjeri Country in South Australia.
Josipa
And I’m a proud Croatian migrant who is still learning the English language.
Kevin
Your English is already really good, Josipa but how are you doing with Aboriginal English?
Josipa
Please don’t tell me that there is a difference between Australian English and Aboriginal English?
Kevin
That’s exactly what I’m saying! We are going to travel deep into Aboriginal English where the meaning of some common English words is different from your standard dictionary.
Josipa
Well, that sounded lovely, but I hope you’ll say that it wasn’t in English because I couldn’t understand a word!
Kevin
No, that’s not English. What you heard is the beginning of the Uluru statement from the heart in the Pitjantjajara language which I know a lot of Pitjantjajara people.
Josipa
It’s beautiful, Kevin. And how many Aboriginal languages are out there?
Kevin
Altogether, there are approximately 250 Aboriginal languages, and if you want to hear some of them, you can search the SBS website, just type and you’ll be able to hear 20 different languages.
Josipa
I’ll definitely have a listen. So, where do we start with learning Aboriginal English?
Kevin
Well, let’s start with Welcome to Country. Where else? Because this is Aboriginal land, and it always was, and always will be Aboriginal land.
Josipa
I’ve heard of a Welcome to Country but sometimes, at the beginning of events and meetings, there is a ceremony called Acknowledgement of Country? Is that the same thing? And why do we have Welcome to Country in the first place?
Kevin
Good question. Before colonisation, my people had LORE. L,O,R,E social rules and structures in place to keep order and show respect to each other.
For example, you couldn’t just walk through another Aboriginal country. You needed to be welcomed into that country, for safe travel, physically and spiritually. That’s why we do the ceremony. It is a sign of respect.
And the difference between the two is that Acknowledgement of Country is done when there is no traditional owner present to do the ceremony. Welcome to Country is always performed by one of the mob that belongs to that country.
Josipa
I see, that’s very clear now, thank you. So, what’s the first word you are teaching us today.
Kevin
You know how I said that Welcome to the country is always performed by one of the mob. Well, mob is the word I want to explain to you.
Here, it says, and I’m reading from the standard English dictionary that a mob is “a large crowd of people, especially one that is disorderly and intent on causing trouble or violence.”
Well, for my people, the word mob has a completely different meaning. Let me explain.
The word mob is a common word used by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The word mob for us basically means Aboriginal people.
For example, I am a comedian. So one of my favourite gigs is performing for the mob. I perform non-indigenous also, however, I love performing for the mob. Aboriginal comedians will call these mob gigs.
Josipa
So, the English dictionary mob and Aboriginal mob meanings are different. I think I know who I would rather spend time with.
Kevin
Yeah, I like hanging out with my mob. I’m a pretty sociable guy, meaning I like to spend time relaxing or socialising with people.
And it often happens that I’m in a new place because I travel a lot for work - so I often meet a lot of Aboriginal people and when we meet we ask each other “Who’s your mob? Where are you from?"
And if there is a social event on, I’ll ask, “Where do all the mob charge up?”
Josipa
Charge up? What does that mean?
Kevin
Well, basically it means having a few drinks, you are charging up. I have a joke about it. It’s usually reserved for only my mob gigs.
You know when a white person meets another white person. They've got that stuff down pat when the meet and greet each other. So another white person will walk to another white person and go, "What do you do?"
When Aboriginal people meet each other, it's like, "Hey cuz, who's your mob? Where are you from?" We make the connection, it's cultural, it's deep. Once we make the connection, then we'll ask you for a spare $20.
Josipa
Come on! So what else you are teaching us today?
Kevin
Another word my mob uses often is deadly. So, when you hear my mob say deadly, it’s not about something that is death or fatal.
We are talking about something that is awesome, excellent or great. That is what deadly means for Aboriginal people.
I actually have a funny true story. I won't mention this local government's council but I will say it was in the state of Victoria.
So what happened was, this local government got a $250 000 grant for an Aboriginal anti drug campaign. And what they did is just went hot and headed and just started to do the campaign without consulting the Aboriginal community.
No consultation. And what they went and done was, they've got posters put up around town, and the slogan for this campaign was, "Drugs are deadly!"
Josipa
That's both tragic and funny.
Kevin
Well, the flip side of tragedy is comedy.
Josipa
And do you have a word for the opposite of deadly?
Kevin
Well, the complete opposite of deadly is the word gammin.
Gammin is fake, wrong, not good, joking or pretend, and sometimes even pathetic. It depends how you use it in the context of the sentence.
Josipa
Do you have some examples?
Kevin
Yes, well, I thought i could run a 100 meter sprint in 10 seconds, well, I was absolutely gammin.
Josipa
Kevin, your teaching lesson was awesome, so deadly! And we’ve learned the Aboriginal English meaning for the words…
Kevin
Mob, charged up, deadly and gammin and we are not done. Want to hear something deadly?
[music by The Last Kinection - Black and Deadly]
That was the awesome duo of brother and sister duo, The Last Kinection. There's a lot of negative stereotypes placed on Aboriginal people so we like to counteract that with a lot of positive talk about being proud of our blackness and we are deadly.
A big thank you to for making this podcast with us and to The Last Kinection for the music.
