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Shoesforher.com

A new website about fashionable shoes from Perth WA (What is it about Perth that attracts shoe people?) at:

http://www.shoesforher.com/shoes_for_hercom/

Passed on in good faith .

In times gone past, the penal colony in Perth was one of the few that taught shoemaking to the prisoners of Her Majesty (POHMs). Consequently during the 19th and 20th century there were more bedspoke shoemakers in Western Australia per head of population than any other part of the Big Brown Land. But now they are a dying breed. The old Australian slang for a shoemaker was "a snob", and shoe making was considered the best trade to have in the prison colony. The same reserve was found in Nazi and Japanese Concentration Camps during the Second World War.

Cameron

 

couldn't find "snob" in the Aussie dictionary....

But I did find this from www.aussieslang.com

The Basics of Aussie Slang
Australian culture and customs are unique, but not as unique as the Australian language. Aussie English is so full of colloquial expressions, slang words and slang phrases it is enough to confuse other speakers of English quite easily. So just so you don't look like a complete drongo, here are enough Aussie words to help you get by in Australian society! Now, the accent, well thats another story...
The really basic basics.
• G’day is hullo, pronounced Gidday which is a shortened form of Good Day, and used mostly in informal situations. More formally we would say Hullo, Good Morning, Good Afternoon, or the likes.
• Goodbye is, um, er, Goodbye. Although some people say Hooroo, pronounced ‘ooroo.
• Bloke is an Aussie male who generally is a hard worker and does the right thing. Eg., "Bill’s a Good Bloke".
• Mate is Friend, mainly for males. Everyone in Australia is mate, so we would often say "G’day mate" or "Thanks mate".
• Onya means Well Done, a shortened form of Good On You. The best "Aussieism" in my opinion.
Abbreviations
For some reason Australians shorten words wherever possible, particularly peoples names. They are generally shortened to one syllable if possible, and then have a suffix added to the end. Here are a few examples:-
• "a"
A Cup of Tea or Coffee becomes a Cuppa.
• "ie"
Angela becomes Angie.
Australian becomes Aussie
Barbecue become Barbie
Elizabeth becomes Lizzie
Football becomes Footy, pronounced with a soft "T" somewhere between T & D.
• "o"
Burgess becomes Burgo
Johnathon becomes Johnno
Smoko means a break from work for a smoke, which now means a tea break even if you don’t smoke.
• "zza" or just "z’
Marion become Mazza or Maz
Sharon become Shazza or Shaz
Warwick (me) becomes Wozza (which I hate) or Woz.


Oh, and by the way, what's a drongo?
a stupid, inept, awkward or embarrassing person, a dimwit or slow-witted person

 

Snobo mate -

 

'Slang' or colloquial language is always an interesting study. The term 'snob' for a shoemaker is an old English expression which originally indicated someone of lowly social standing. The shoemakers did not enjoy elevated regard and were looked down on more than the cordwainers who also made shoes but were regarded as skilled leatherworkers. According to the fearsomely accurate Michael Quinnion (Port Out Starboard Home, or Posh), by the 1830s snob referred to a person who lacked the breeding and good taste to be accepted by 'society'. He also suggests that the close resemblance between 'nob' (noble) and 'snob' may be an example of 'double derived wordplay' which is often found in slang expressions. William Makepeace Thackeray invented the current useage of a person of lowly origin who slavishly copies those of higher rank. He popularized the term in the late lamented 'Punch' magazine between 28-02-1846 and 27-02-1847. Later snob was applied to a person who despised others perceived as of lower rank.

A truly exclusive Aussie usage is the application of the term to the last and most awkward sheep in the pen awaiting shearing. This again is double derived word play since the original term was 'cobbler' and itself derived from 'cobblers last' - the small anvil used by shoemakers.
I have been unable to find the origin of the term 'cobblers' as in 'what a load of', which like much slang is shared between Pommieland and Down Under.
The terms 'Mate' and 'Bloke' have nautical origins. The former was definitley used as a term for a warrant officer's assistant or deputy eg. the boatswain's mate. The Bloke was commonly used to refer to the commander.

We in Pommieland are delighted to welcome Dame Edna Everage back to our shores, along with her manager Mr Barrie Humphries and her friend, the Australian Cultural Attache, Sir Les Patterson. Prior to his role as the lady's manager, Barrie Humphries wrote an illustrated column in the satirical magazine 'Private Eye'. The story concerned the misadventures of another Aussie ex-pat, Barrie McKenzie. Poor Barrie never managed to find female company - at least, not in the way he wished - but he did have some wonderful expressions such as 'pointing Percy at the porcelain' and 'technicolour yawn'. It has been tentatively suggested that some of these expressions found their way back to Auss and were accepted as genuine original slang. Incidentally, although he popularised the term, he didn't invent 'chunder' which may go back to the first world war.

Whatever, slang is a living, moving part of language and like the so called 'rugby songs' deserve to be recorded for posterity. Keep 'em coming.

All the best

Bill