r/AskAnAustralian • u/Dirty_Diesel_6432 • 1d ago
Trying to keep up with Aussie idioms.
I've recently just moved to Australia for work and have been doing FIFO in the Pilbara Region for the past 9 months and been loving every bit of it.
One thing I love is how my Aussie workmates use idioms very so often often at work. I catch on to some of them pretty quick and others I have to ask what they actually mean.
So I met this Aussie girl at Perth Airport a few days ago and we were having a lil bit of a chat about what we do for work and everything in between. As I got up to leave coz my flight was being called she said, "Hey, they have on the sausage sizzle on site." Not wanting to make it awkward and ask what she meant coz I only just met her, I just chuckled and said goodbye.
What she said has been picking at my brain for the few days now and thought I'd ask if any of you legends on here could help me get a fair idea of what she actually meant.
Cheers!
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u/okraspberryok 1d ago edited 1d ago
A sausage sizzle is usually when people cook sausages on a bbq and the money made goes towards a charity or group (like the scouts/a school/local sports club etc).
No idea what this girl meant, something about do they have sausage sizzles on your work site?
EDIT: someone else mentioned she probably was trying to say sausage fest, as in a lot of men (sausage being slang for penis), this makes sense.
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u/shonamanik0905 Melbourne 🇦🇺 1d ago
Like at Bunnings!
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u/wretchedRing 1d ago
Fuck Bunnings.
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u/prexton 1d ago
Lots of bunnings simps in here haha yea fuck the glorified $2 shop
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u/wretchedRing 1d ago
Has to be one of the worst retail places in the country. There is quite literally nothing at all special about Bunnings. If cunts could stop tryingng to make it some lame-o icon, it'd be great...
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u/0kiedoky 1d ago edited 1d ago
What’s “special” about them is their size/range of products available, number of locations, and marketing that positions itself as an entry-level hardware place for DIYers.
It’s a similar value proposition to a supermarket. The supermarket has worse quality than a deli or fruiterer, often at higher prices, and worse customer service. But it’s got all the things I need in one shop, which is five minutes away. And I’m not a chef so I don’t know or care about which cut of meat really best suits my needs. So I’m just going to take the easy route and go to the supermarket.
Which is to say, it isn’t special, it’s aggressively mediocre by design. But it’s very much made to capture a large share of the market and does that well.
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u/prexton 1d ago
I just don't think people know actual hardware shops exist.
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u/wretchedRing 1d ago
I think they think Bunnings sells the good stuff. They don't.
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u/shonamanik0905 Melbourne 🇦🇺 1d ago
Bunnings almost never has anything we need when trying to replace a damage item around the house, so I agree lol I'm there for the cheap snags
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u/luxsatanas 1d ago edited 1d ago
Did you mishear it? That sentence doesn't make sense. "Hey, they have on the sausage sizzle on site"
If it's someone who works the same site, it's probably 'having' not 'have on'. Sounds like 'have'n' in Au EN. "Hey, they havin' the sausage sizzle on site" Probably a question from the use of 'they' not 'they're' but it really depends on the tone. It's a common grammar shortcut
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u/seb66666 1d ago
It means too many dicks on the dance floor
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u/shonamanik0905 Melbourne 🇦🇺 1d ago
Isn't that a "sausage fest"?
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u/seb66666 1d ago
Yes.
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u/Fun-Exit7308 1d ago
All the above are correct. Everyone's a winner
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u/Psycle_Panda 1d ago
And "it was a bit of an Oktoberfest" if it was a house party, rather than a worksite. All beer and sausages.
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u/Otherwise_Team5663 1d ago
It's a barbecue with sausages usually served with onion on white bread and tomato sauce.
Sizzle refers to the sound the food makes as it cooks on a bbq.
Standard cheap way to feed a lot of people and socialise. Often there are tins of ice cold soft drink or beer if it's not a work/charity function.
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u/Lragce 1d ago
Sorry to be pedantic but her question, as written here, doesn’t make sense grammatically.
Couple of words too many, right?
So, remove “on the” and replace with “a”.
She’s telling him there’s a sausage sizzle on site, that’s all. And if they’re a regular (say weekly) event, then they are an excellent socialising/get-together for everyone on site. Great idea 😊.
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u/CottMain 1d ago
Sausage fest. Not food. Sex.
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u/Lragce 1d ago
The word “fest” was not used at all during that conversation. Unless you’re under 8 years old, why must the word ‘sausage’ elicit a sexual take on things. Grubby.
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u/CottMain 1d ago
Woooooooosh. Totally missed the point. Hang in there champ.
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u/littlereddingo 1d ago
Also just chiming in to add: in English, picking your brain means to find out your thoughts on something. So if someone in Australia says they want to pick your brain, they mean to ask your opinion on a subject. I know this isn’t what you asked, but your usage of it is incorrect for English. Just an FYI!
And yes, we have loads of weird little idioms that can be incredibly region-specific! I’m from Adelaide and have lived in Tas for 7 years and still hear things I haven’t heard before 😅
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u/ExaminationNo9186 1d ago
Shortest technically correct answer: Sausage Sizzle = BBQ.
However, a longer answer, don't expect a BBQ like you would expect in the U.S. or anywhere else.
To us, a Sausage sizzle is a bread bun (typically a hotdog roll, that is long and thin) a sausage or two, some cooked onion, tomato sauce and that is about it.
Sometimes there maybe lamb chops or something else fairly basic that goes well being cooked on the BBQ
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u/SammyGeorge 1d ago
a bread bun (typically a hotdog roll, that is long and thin)
Not that this doesn't happen but surely plain white bread is more typical
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u/kernpanic 1d ago
Not in wa - where the original post is based.
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u/SammyGeorge 1d ago
Really? I didn't know it varied between states. I mean, I know lots of cultural things do, just this in particular I didn't know
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u/Equal-Environment263 1d ago
Shows that people in WA are rich. Anywhere else it’s just a slice of the cheapest white bread one can find between here and Texas.
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u/ExaminationNo9186 1d ago
In W.A. our Bunning sausages come in hot dog buns as well, it is the rest of Australia that aren't keeping up on this.
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u/Sprinkles--Positive 1d ago
You can keep the buns. Hot dog buns tend to taste a bit sweeter to me which tastes Not Quite Right with a normal barbecued sausage. More importantly, however, unless you're getting two sausages in your bun, the meat:bread ratio is completely out of whack.
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u/Ok-Fun8831 1d ago
What, you couldn't just Google sausage sizzles in Australia? You wondered for days. Load of crap. Takes 1 minute. 😂
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u/Vindepomarus 1d ago
Even if he did, the answer still wouldn't make any sense in this context, he'd still need to ask us. I know what a sausage sizzle is but I have no idea what that girl was talking about.
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u/Elly_Fant628 1d ago
Just sausages, almost compulsory onion, and sauce on a slice of bread. Funds raised usually go to a charity, and the helpers will be members of that group, or their parents. Sometimes businesses might do one too, as a reward etc.
They've gotten really progressive. Not only BBQ sauce as well as tomato sauce but mustard and sweet chilli sauces are often available.
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u/BobbyThrowaway6969 1d ago edited 1d ago
They're just bbq with sausages/snags, onion (sometimes), bread, tomato/bbq sauce on top. Cheap and quick way to feed tonnes of people. Usually for charities
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u/TypicalLolcow City Name Here :) 1d ago
Don’t feel bad for not getting it on the first go. I use idioms far too much the Americans think i’m insane
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u/ColeAppreciationV2 1d ago
Idk who all these other Aussies are but I’ve never heard a sausage fest (event with much more men than women) called a sausage sizzle (traditional low budget Aussie barbecue with plain sausages in plain bread).
On another note, most mining sites are going to skew male massively, so being a sausage fest isn’t exactly noteworthy.
Meanwhile, a sausage sizzle is often done for a cause, organised by the people, eg democracy sausage, bunnings sausage, free dress day sausage and would be more inclined to tell others about it to get around the cause.
Most FIFO sites I’ve seen have food supplied but thats usually buffet style, under a hot lamp type food, while there’s something a bit more amateur about a sausage sizzle.
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u/Creation_of_Bile 1d ago
Here's a nice bit of Aussie for you to share with her next time she asks if you want to do something.
"Well I'm not here to fuck spiders"
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u/Monotask_Servitor 1d ago
Maybe she got confused with a sausage fest as that’s what most mining and construction sites are?