Fun article about Australian English. @slevelt should find this informative. :)

'For a start, there are the many varieties of the word “mate”, ranging from the convivial to the downright threatening. There’s the ALP “mate”, for example, which has several repeats of the letter ‘a’, as in “maaaaaate”. It means you are about to lose preselection or be dumped from the Prime Ministership. There’s the terse “excuse me, mate” when someone’s blocking the entrance to a building, and the sunny “thanks, mate” when they finally make way. Meanwhile, “mate”, when used by a mechanic, means: “I’ve judged that you are the sort of chap who knows nothing about motor vehicles and so have elected to charge you double.”'

#language#Australiahttps://www.smh.com.au/culture/books/do-australians-have-the-best-possible-version-of-english-20250714-p5met7.html