Aussie Nicknames

No matter how old you are, it seems that if you're a proper Aussie, you've got a nickname.

Indeed, some babies acquire nicknames even before they're born, and sometimes those nicknames stick with them for life (how many 'grubs' or 'beanies' do you know?)!

Language Professor Roly Sussex was interested in finding out more about nicknames in Queensland, after taking a biking tour that inspired such nicknames as 'blowout' and 'wheelbarrow' and new language like 'notcha' (as in the bit around your seat that hurts when you ride a bit - it's notcha this, it's notcha that, it's just notcha.)
Roly says nicknames can have a number of different derivations. "We used to have nicknames when we were at school quite a bit," he remembers. "I was called ‘Prof’ [because] I was a very studious and dull child!

"Families generate nicknames," he continues, "often when the children mispronounce the names of various relatives or animals."

Roly asked Queenslanders for their best nicknames, and here are some they came up with:

SHOWBAGS: only worth two bob, full of rubbish and you have to carry him everywhere.
THE SHAH: been everywhere but nobody wants him.
MILKBOTTLES: you always find him full on the front doorstep in the morning.
HARPIC: clean round the bend.
BLISTERS: shows up after the work is done.
THE JUDGE: always sitting on a case.
CYCLONE: a slow moving depression.
LONDON FOG: never lifts.
MIRROR: always saying "I'll look into it".
JUNGLE: thick, green and dense.
THROMBOSIS: a bloody clot who interferes with the functioning of the system.