Straya's Slang Legend Release
For images, celebrity clips and material – Click Here
The Australia Day Council of NSW is calling on all Australians to get creative with the lingo of the land Down Under and enter the new Straya’s Slang Legend competition, a chance to showcase Aussie creativity and larrikinism via a national video campaign.
With Australia Day 2022 just around the corner, the campaign encourages people to have some fun with the Aussie jocular sense of humour and unique dialect.
The campaign builds on the success of The Aussie Slang Dictionary, the most visited section of the Australia Day website. The unique dictionary has been populated by the public over many years and includes more than 430 Aussie slang words and phrases.
Aussie slang is as diverse as the country itself. It’s a shared way of speaking that unites us in solidarity, forges new friendships, brings forth the larrikin spirit and helps shape what it means to be Australian.
Everyone is encouraged to have a crack at the competition. It doesn’t matter if you’ve lived in Australia your whole life (in the big smoke or the middle of woop woop) - or just landed on these sunny shores, you’re invited to get creative with the droll and often off-beat Aussie slang, which is seriously confusing to foreigners but an important part of our knockabout ways.
Shortlisted 60-second video performances of an original song, poem or rap using Aussie slang from the Aussie Slang Dictionary will be judged by a celebrity panel including Australia Day Creative Director John Foreman OAM, Aussie singer-songwriter Dami Im, TV personality and Australia Day Ambassador Catriona Rowntree and Australia Day Live broadcast host Jeremy Fernandez. The overall winner’s prize is a fabulous four-night P&O cruise for four people, departing from any Australian port (can be used in 2022 or 2023).
John Foreman said Straya’s Slang Legend is a chance to have some fun after a tough year of lockdowns and to get creative with the nation’s unique lingo, while uniting people through the celebration of our Australian identity and culture.
“We invite you to write and perform your own Aussie Slang piece that will feature on the Australia Day website and social media. If your clip is a pearler, it may even make it into our Australia Day national broadcast,” Mr Foreman said.
“Aussie humour helps us navigate challenging times and our unique lingo most certainly sets us apart from the rest of the world. Have a look at the Aussie Dictionary and have a laugh. Now is the perfect time to create your linguistic masterpiece and make the judges sit up and take notice of your talent and sense of humour in the lead up to Australia Day 2022.”
For Dami Im, who came to Australia from Korea at the age of seven, she says she is still learning and laughing at Aussie Slang phrases.
“To think ‘Bee’s Knees’ means something of high quality, is hilarious. And driving to ‘woop woop’ means a long way away.It’s true, Aussie slang can be seriously confusing to foreigners or newbies, but it’s a fun learning curve getting your head around our unique dialect and bonding with others over a laugh,” Dami said.
Much-loved Australia Day Ambassador Catriona Rowntree says after 25 years’ travelling the world with Getaway and marrying a true-blue Aussie farmer, she’s learnt a lot of Aussie phrases and appreciates the unique role of slang in the local vernacular.
“Australian lingo is fantastic and funny – and the more rural you go, the stronger the slang gets. As a city chick who married a country boy, I needed a whole new dictionary when we first started dating.
“No matter where I’ve travelled around Australia and the world, our Aussie lingo always gets a giggle. It’s time to have a good belly laugh - so get cracking on your masterpiece,” Catriona said.
TV presenter and Australia Day Live broadcast host, Jeremy Ferandez is looking forward to seeing the slang creations entered.
“To me, Aussie slang is like an embrace, an unadorned truth, or verbal shortcut – wrapped in a mysterious code,” Jeremy said.
“I was a child when my family moved to Australia, and I remember wondering if I’d ever get the hang of ‘sounding’ Australian - if I could never grasp Aussie slang.”
How it works:
For images, celebrity clips and material – Click Here
- Visit www.australiaday/StrayaSlangLegend Choose a few “choice” words and phrases from the Aussie Slang Dictionary
- Turn them into an original song, rap or poem that’s 60 seconds or less and film yourself performing it. Make sure it’s a solo effort as group entries are not permitted. Feel free to dress up or pull in a few props to liven up your entry.
- Make sure your song, poem or rap is your own work and only contains your own original non-copyright music or no music at all. (Keep it family friendly)
- If you’re struggling to carry a tune, you can always strum on a guitar or tinker on a keyboard for some background original/non copyright music to the awesome lyrics you’ve written.
- Can’t sing or write a song? Don’t worry. You can perform a poem or an ode. It’s how you use the slang from the Australia Day Aussie Slang Dictionary that really matters.
- Once you’ve created your video entry, upload it to the website and fill out the entry form (read the Terms and Conditions). As long as your video is within our guidelines your video should appear in the competition gallery within two working days for all to view and share.
- The competition kicks off 1 December 2021 to 5 January 2022. Up to 15 of the most creative entries that use original content, words from the Aussie Slang Dictionary and tie it all together in a “dinky-di” Aussie way, will be shortlisted for our judging panel to select the winning entry.
- One overall winner will be announced at www.australiaday.com.au and on the Australia Day Facebook page on Friday, 21 January 2022 at 5pm and the winner will be awarded a “cracker” of a prize - P&O cruise (4 nights for 4 people) – more information on the website and T&Cs.
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