History of Australian English

	Revision 18 . . November 16, 2001 6:59 am by ManningBartlett [minor copyedits, deleted "subway" reference, added "freeway"]
	Revision 17 . . (edit) November 16, 2001 5:14 am by Derek Ross [fixed spelling]
	Revision 16 . . November 15, 2001 7:16 pm by (logged).9.128.xxx [mention aboriginal names used for local flora, fauna, and localities]
	Revision 15 . . (edit) October 4, 2001 10:05 pm by Rmhermen

---

Difference (from prior major revision) (no other diffs)

Changed: 3c3

Australian English is similar in many respects to British English, but there are a few cases were Australian English is closer to American English. For example: Australian English uses the American English truck instead of the British English lorry and the American English subway instead of British English underground.

Australian English is similar in many respects to British English, but there are a few cases were Australian English is closer to American English. For example: Australian English uses the American English truck instead of the British English lorry and the American English freeway instead of British English motorway.

Changed: 5c5

Another area where Australian English is closer to American English than British English is with singular collective nouns: British English permits the use of plural verbs with these, e.g. "The Government are committed", while to an Australian ear (like to an American) this sounds quite odd and incorrect.

Another area where Australian English is closer to American English than British English is with singular collective nouns: British English tends to use plural verbs with these, e.g. "The Government are committed". To an Australian (or American) ear this sounds quite odd.

Changed: 7c7

With foodstuffs Australian English tends to be more closely related to the British vocabulary, eg. biscuit for the American cookie. However in a few cases such as zucchini and eggplant Australian English uses the same terms as the Americans, whereas the British use the equivalent French terms courgette and aubergine. This is possibly due to a fashion that emerged in mid-19th Century Britain of using French nouns for foodstuffs, and hence the usage changed in Britain while the original terms were preserved in the colonies. Australia, for some uncertain reason, also uses the botanical name capsicum for what both British and Americans would call (red or green) peppers.

With foodstuffs Australian English tends to be more closely related to the British vocabulary, eg. biscuit for the American cookie. However in a few cases such as zucchini and eggplant Australian English uses the same terms as the Americans, whereas the British use the equivalent French terms courgette and aubergine. This is possibly due to a fashion that emerged in mid-19th Century Britain of adopting French nouns for foodstuffs, and hence the usage changed in Britain while the original terms were preserved in the (ex-)colonies. Australia, for some uncertain reason, also uses the botanical name capsicum for what both British and Americans would call (red or green) peppers.