What's the weirdest thing you've learnt about Australia via our media?

Posted by themoobster@reddit | AskAnAmerican | View on Reddit | 36 comments

Australian here! We bat above our weight in the media world, I know you guys get Aussie shows and movies... Bluey being the big one! It's such a uniquely Australian show and some of it must seem so weird to foreigners... which got me thinking in general what are some weird things you guys have learnt about us by our media exports?

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BankManager69420@reddit

You abbreviate random words for no reason.

You mandate voting, subject to fines, which to me and most Americans is very concerning.

You seem to have the most insane animals.

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Bob_12_Pack@reddit

“Avo” means afternoon or avocado. I learned this from visiting.

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reyadeyat@reddit

Wait, I thought afternoon was "arvo"?

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MrLongWalk@reddit

We’re way less shocked and intrigued by you lot than you think. Source: worked with Aussies for years.

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Bob_12_Pack@reddit

I’ve spent about 5 weeks there over the course of 2 trips within the last year. One of the biggest things that struck me was how similar life is to here in the US. They drive on the other side of the road and have a cool selection of cars that we don’t get. Who knew that VW makes a pickup truck? Love the variety of Toyotas.

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CuriosThinker@reddit

I saw somewhere that you have some kind of snails that are so hard that if you run over them with a car tire, it will puncture the tire. I need to do a google search and find out if this is really true because it’s made me really not want to do a car trip there over the very long barren distances between cities. Maybe I’m wrong about all of it.

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huazzy@reddit

I didn't realize Australian had such a large Asian population until I started looking into why so many famous Kpop artists were from Australia. 1 in 5 (or 1 in 4 depending on the study) Australian being of Asian descent is wild to me.

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newbris@reddit

You may be surprised to know one in two Australian families have at least one foreign born parent. A full 30% of Australians are foreign born. Twice the US rate.

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MrLongWalk@reddit

And if it were the other way around you lot would be flexing that instead.

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OldRaj@reddit

The Wiggles are billionaires.

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SnapHackelPop@reddit

The ol’ shoey. I think only in my alcoholic state of Wisconsin would that have a chance of being received well

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Subvet98@reddit

This biggest thing that comes to mind for me is the flora and fauna only exists in an attempt to kill you.

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reyadeyat@reddit

Democracy sausage is very funny to me.

I watched a compilation of news clips from when Harold Holt disappeared and I was really struck by how - I don't know - unperturbed the presenters seemed to be? I'm sure that there was more of a public reaction than was captured in that compilation, but it very much gave the impression that Australia basically shrugged after a few days, named a pool after him, and then proceeded with the business of figuring out a replacement. Does his disappearance have anything to do with why most Australian kids learn to swim in school or did that precede his death (as just good common sense because so many of you live near beaches)?

I also watched a bunch of ABC News crime documentaries - they're pretty good background for folding laundry or cooking or whatever - but I guess every country has crime and missing people, so I don't have any particularly "weird" takeaways from that.

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themoobster@reddit (OP)

If you watched a documentary about cane toads it would have included people from rural Queensland which is basically our Florida. Not everyone here is like that haha

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reyadeyat@reddit

Haha, I didn't take it as the general Australian attitude towards cane toads. But it made quite a big impression on my middle school when we saw it for the first time. (This would be kids around 11-12 years old)

I found the clip of the guy who liked to watch them mate, which got the biggest laugh.

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Yankee_chef_nen@reddit

That you guys lost a war to emus.

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Weightmonster@reddit

A crazy lady dumped a cat in the water at Bondi Beach. He was rescued, recovered, and adopted by the Bondi Vet. (I watched a lot of Bondi Vet)

https://www.smh.com.au/national/woman-guilty-of-cat-cruelty-20080409-gds8pw.html?js-chunk-not-found-refresh=true

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=d5mq0w61v1c

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Weightmonster@reddit

You do “bootings” with a giant boot.

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shibby3388@reddit

Compulsory voting.

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ChessedGamon@reddit

That dogs can talk and have nuclear families with each other. That sort of thing is rare here, but it varies state to state.

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TehLoneWanderer101@reddit

You guys freak out when video games contain weird content and refuse to sell them until they're removed.

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tangouniform2020@reddit

Cubic poop!

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justwatchingsports@reddit

I can’t say I’ve interacted with any Australian media that doesn’t involve Mad Max or cricket. And I’m the only American I’ve ever interacted with who isn’t Indian and watches cricket

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the_hucumber@reddit

I grew up with Neighbours and Home and Away.

I'm pretty sure those shows are Australia's official pop star factories! I remember Jason Donovan and Kyle getting married on the show and next thing they were both on top of the pops.

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MyUsername2459@reddit

I'd say the strangest things I could think of about Australia I have learned from the media could think of are the strange abbreviations for things (like calling McDonald's "Maccas", which just seems strange and nonsensical to us), and the compulsive voting thing (which seems downright totalitarian to American sensibilities).

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newbris@reddit

Voting in Australia is tier one. Perfect experience.

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SavannahInChicago@reddit

What the fuck are kangaroos? They drown people and dog for the hell of it?

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fernincornwall@reddit

Judging from Mad Max:

Your post apocalyptic fashion sense is the tits, Australia!

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SavannahInChicago@reddit

Def something to be proud of

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jackfaire@reddit

That your electrical grid can rip holes into alternate versions of Earth where science is considered magic but I'm pretty sure that's not true.

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wormbreath@reddit

I do love Bluey.

I don’t think anything I’ve heard of or seen about Australia is particularly weird.

Burger King is hungry jacks. That’s something.

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NoTomatillo@reddit

Ever since Robert Irwin passed I don't think I've really watched any Australian content. Recently I have watched a decent about of clips in youtube from the show "Mr. Inbetween" and they're always interesting. But i don't think I'll watch the entire show

Idk if Margot Robbie counts but I could watch her in anything

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