The most significant linguistic feature of “Waltzing Matilda” is the colloquial language. We observe repetition of Australian slang words and idioms especially the title, “Waltzing Matilda”. The often repetition of Waltzing Matilda in the chorus make the lines of the song easier to sing, understand, and remember.
Waltzing Matilda is an example of an Australian bush ballad. It is composed of 32 lines in 8 verses. It uses an ABCB rhyming scheme with a 'back and forth' dialogue and a refrain to generate a melody that helps you remember the words of the song easily.
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"Waltzing Matilda" is a song developed in the Australian style of poetry and folk music called a bush ballad. It has been described as the country's "unofficial national anthem".
'Waltzing Matilda', a poem by Banjo Paterson, was first recorded 30 years after it was written in 1895. The melody of the song is attributed to Christina Macpherson, whose family owned the property Dagworth Station near Winton in Queensland, where Paterson was staying when he composed the poem.
A jumbuck is a name for a sheep. Formerly quite common, now virtually obsolete except for its prominent placement in the national song Waltzing Matilda, jumbuck originated from Aboriginal Pidgin English, where it seems as though it might have related to the phrase jump up.
Waltzing Matilda has been labelled Australia's 'unofficial' national anthem. The song (originally a poem) was written by Australian poet, Banjo Paterson in the late 19th Century while he was staying at Dagworth Station, a cattle station near Winton in Central West Queensland.
jumbuck. Jumbuck is an Australian word for a 'sheep'. It is best known from Banjo Paterson's use of it in Waltzing Matilda.
waltzing Matilda: to waltz Matilda
To carry a swag; to travel the road. A matilda is a swag, the roll or bundle of possessions carried by an itinerant worker or swagman.
Combo Waterhole is a waterhole (billabong) on the Diamantina River at Kynuna, Queensland, Australia. The song "Waltzing Matilda" is probably based on a real incident that happened there in the 1890s.
To boil the billy most often means to make tea. This expression dates from the Australian gold rushes and probably earlier. "Billy Tea" was the name of a popular brand of tea long sold by Australian grocers and supermarkets. Billies feature in many of Henry Lawson's stories and poems.
The billy is an Australian term for a metal container used for boiling water, making tea or cooking over a fire. By the end of the 19th century the billy had become as natural, widespread and symbolic of bush life as the gum tree, the kangaroo and the wattle. Billy cans used by Myles Dunphy.
Billabong is a term that derives from the language of the Wiradjuri people in south western New South Wales, and describes a pond or pool of water that is left behind when a river alters course or after floodwaters recede3.
The majority of Australians speak English as a first or other language, however a significant number of people also speak languages other than English. About 76% of Australians reported speaking only English at home in the 2021 Census.
The term 'Waltzing' is slang for travelling on foot, and often you will be travelling with your belongings in a 'Matilda'. According to the National Library of Australia: 'Matilda is an old Teutonic female name meaning 'mighty battle maid'.
English speakers often mistook Aboriginal English as “broken” or incorrect English, but research in the 20th century showed that Aboriginal English, Australian Kriol and Torres Strait Islander Yumplatok are all fully-fledged dialects, now recognised in language programs, on the radio, in publishing and policy work.
Woop Woop. Woop Woop is used to refer to a place in the middle of nowhere. People use it to signify that a location is far away, unfamiliar to them, and difficult to get to. For example, “My parents place is so far, out near whoop whoop”
Amanda Thripp : Miss Honey taught us how to spell a long word yesterday. We can spell "difficulty". Agatha Trunchbull : You couldn't spell "difficulty" if your life depended on it.
Aussie Word of the Week
This week, our word is tucker. This is some great Aussie slang for food that has been in constant use since the 1850s. The original meaning is of a meal, that is, something to be tucked away (in the stomach).
dunny – a toilet, the appliance or the room – especially one in a separate outside building. This word has the distinction of being the only word for a toilet which is not a euphemism of some kind. It is from the old English dunnykin: a container for dung. However Australians use the term toilet more often than dunny.
(Australian slang) Genuine, true. quotations ▼
Bum nut noun: an egg.
Thongs. This one really baffles visitors, especially those from the United States. In the USA a thong is a piece of underwear. In Australia, it's what they call flip-flops. Sometimes they also call them "double-pluggers".
5. Sheila = Girl. Yes, that is the Australian slang for girl.
In some cultures, including Australia, Greece, and the Middle East, the thumbs-up gesture can be considered obscene, equivalent to “Up yours!” In many Western cultures, the thumbs-up emoji enjoys a wide range of use in text messages, social-media posts, and other forms of digital communication.