I have an honest question for which I’d love to know your thoughts. If you’ve not realised yet, I am an Australian author of near-science, techno-medical YA thrillers set IN Australia, and not ONE of my books contains a “g’day”. I’d not really thought about this, as it’s not a word that I use in my vocabulary, until recently …
Yesterday I was watching a live online discussion when the question was thrown out to the chat, “Do Australians really say, “g’day’?” To my surprise many claiming to be Australians said, “Yes.” I started counting in my head the few people I know who actually use this saying and, not to be disrespectful, most of them I realised were … mature … more mature than me, at least.
To be fair, I’m not a teenager anymore (shhh), but I do not use this greeting (unless satirically playing up to preconceived expectations, perhaps). Also, when Australians use this saying, the “g” is not thick and hard, the way most non-Australians say it. It’s more like a passing note, barely emphasised when playing.
This was the first time I’d ever felt compelled to add my opinion to a live, online chat. I could feel the, “Nooooo, we don’t!” building in me. My mind filled with visions of international tourists staggering into an airport after a long-haul flight wearily matching colloquial dialect with bold, “G’days”, only to be stared at and greeted with a polite, amused, “Hello.”
So, I cast it to the masses (well, the two or three who might read this blog and respond, lol). Am I an Australian anomaly? (Be kind!) In your experience is this something Australians say more often than I believe they do? Could it be an age/era-related usage? Or locale-linked?
Feel free to share your thoughts. You can even drop in a, “G’day,” if it makes you feel better. 😉
I say it in a semi-joking way to some of my long-term friends ( yes, all classifiable as ‘old’) but it’s not my usual greeting. I don’t think you’re alone, Adele!
Seems I’m not the only one who a little out of practise applying this greeting, Jeanette. Thanks for taking time to comment. (And I think an appropriate term is “wise” friends, yes? 😉 And for the record, I’m very grateful for my many friends who are full of wisdom. <3 )
I’ll say g’day, sometimes ironically, most often not. The older I get the more I appreciate these lexical choices that make our version of English stand out.
Thanks, Carolyn. It’s interesting hearing different perspectives on the nuances of our Australian English. Although not exactly a statistically relevant sample size (tiny focus group??? lol), it’s fascinating that in ensuing conversations and the few comments here there have been repeat mentions of “stage of life” and gender of the person with whom one is conversing as influencing factors for use.
I tend yo use ‘G’day’ when greeting other blokes, and tend to use ‘Hi’ when greeting women. The younger generation tend not to use it as much. So I suppose it doesn’t matter BUT it is a uniquely Aussie greeting.
Great to have your thoughts, Andrew. After posting I discussed the “g’day greeting” with the family and a similar conclusion was made, in that it tends to be more man-to-man usage, and more mature males at that. You’re right about Australian youth too (which may be why this doesn’t feature in my novels). They have other ways of greeting each other … dude, man (etc) lol. Interesting how language develops, isn’t it?
Adele, you are not alone! Hi. Hello. (Or hullo). How are you? These are the Aussie greetings that have surrounded me all my days (some sixty-one years of them). The only time I’ve found ‘g’day’ more dominant was back in 1999 when I travelled through outback Queensland, the Northern Territory, and the top end of Western Australia. Those who greeted us with ‘g’day’ were also more likely to add, ‘howyagoin’?’.
Appreciate your insights, Mazzy. I think you’re right about there being a locality bias. I was discussing it with the family and hubby (there’s an Aussie-ism for you, lol) wrinkled his brow and said he used it quite a lot, but had never heard me say it. I knew he did a little, but I wouldn’t have said a lot. Funny enough, my mother said it on the phone earlier, and she rarely uses it as a greeting. Timing, right?