Linguist explains Strine's subtle expletives

'NOW, mates, repeat after me: 'G'day, you old bastard.' No, not like that. Smile when you say it.'

Professor Brian Taylor, a language expert at Sydney University, thinks lessons like these should be given to migrants arriving in Australia. If they were taught how to swear, he says, they would adjust better to the local culture. Migrants, known as 'reffos' - short for refugees - in the immediate postwar years, but now dubbed 'new Australians', would know when they are being abused and when to deliver a few appropriate expletives themselves.

Do you laugh if someone calls you 'a drongo' (an oaf)? Do you slap your mate's back if he likens you to 'a galah' (a noisy bird, used of someone who talks too much)? If migrants were taught to give a XXXX, feels Professor Taylor, they would know how to react. 'There have been documented cases of new Australians getting into trouble for using swear words in inappropriate situations,' he said. The word 'bastard' is a particular problem, because it can be used as either a term of affection or an insult, depending on tone or context.

Those unused to local linguistic subtleties risk being beaten up or getting into trouble with the law unless they understand exactly what they are saying, according to Professor Taylor. He has been researching swearing and the law for 20 years, which presumably allows him to spend a lot of time in the pub.

He says the problem of understanding swear words has grown in the past 10 years, because they are used more often: 'Virtually everybody swears now.'

However, while Australians are enthusiastic swearers, they are uncreative. 'We tend to use the same words over and over, without much imagination,' says Professor Taylor. 'English swearing is much weaker than Hungarian, Russian or Spanish.'