The History of Strine (the way I see it)

This site is an epitaph to the work of the late Alistair Morrison (alias Afferbeck Lauder - 21-Sep-1911 to 15-Mar-1998), who's light-hearted approach to the Australian way, has brought joy and entertainment to many people the world over. Unless you crave a little background info. on this, you may want to skip this section too.

I first discovered Strine in my late teens (some thirty years ago), when by chance I was loaned a paperback entitled Let Stalk Strine (Lets' Talk Australian?), penned by one Afferbeck Lauder (Alphabetical Order?). For years I searched the bookstores in vain for a copy of my own, but the closest I ever came was another work by the same author, entitled Fraffly Suite (Frightfully Sweet?), which described itself as:-
'A Maahvelus Werk of Grey Chooma' (you work it out!) but was (sadly) in my opinion a poor alternative.

A little more information about Alistair Morrison can be gleaned from this extract, taken from an old issue of the Web-based Newsletter of Scotch College, located in Sinny, Australia. But by far the best way to learn about the man and his humour, is to read some of his work.


The original title Let Stalk Strine, is a sort of Dictionary-cum-Phrase book of Australian terms and expressions, being both mildly informative and hilariously funny (well I think so anyway!) , with definitions like:-
Aorta - Something which is needed, or should happen:
Example 'Aorta do summing abaht alleese peepl onna bussis. A bloke caan gedda seet 'ese daze!' ....
and....
Rise-Up Lides - Small sharpened wafers of steel - used for 'Shiving'
(Well - it was a long time ago!).
and - another favorite of mine....
Uppendaan - To and Fro, Backwards and Forwards:
Example 'She wen Uppendaan the road ferrairs. Irekn shewuz lawst!'

These are not direct extracts from the Strine book - but simply examples, included here to demonstrate the idea.


The Strine Book - Click to Enlarge
Let Stalk Strine was published in 1965, and was out of print by 1970 (by the time I had discovered it). Some thirty years later, aided by the development of the Internet (or more accurately the World Wide Web) shrinking the world the way it has, I renewed my search.

This time I had more success, and after a couple of dead leads, I tracked down a copy of the book in it's new form, in a Second-Hand bookstore in Canada - called Book Stack Online (see the Links Page). Online transactions ensued, and two weeks later I was the proud owner of the item you see here!



There are many sites to be found on the Web today, which mimic the concept of Strine, portraying instead dialects such as Cockney, Scots, Irish, etc., but the original remains my all-time favorite.

However, one site which I did find some time ago, called Strine Online and which now appears to have moved (or has been deleted?), comes a very close second. I have taken the liberty to reproduce some of it in my Dictionary Page, in an effort to preserve it.

If you care to see the work, please click on the Next Page button below.

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