I'm American, but it seems to me that when I’ve encountered Australian speech or writing, I didn’t have much trouble understanding it. The words are mostly familiar to me. So what’s going on in the song Waltzing Matilda?
An excerpt:
Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong
Under the shade of a coolibah tree,
And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled:
"Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me?"
Chorus snippet
Down came a jumbuck to drink at that billabong.
Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee.
And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tucker bag:
"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me."
I think that a typical American reader or listener will understand almost nothing of the story without discussion due to the strange vocabulary. For example, did the average British speaker know the Australian meanings of waltzing (an itinerant worker on foot) and Matilda (an affectionate term for a swag) back in 1895?
For that matter, do modern Australians understand this vocabulary easily and is the wording natural?
In addition, does the use of a lot of Australianisms reflect something about social class, the way Cockney English would?
My question is whether anyone ever naturally phrases his thoughts the way the singer does.
Best Answer
It was written in 1895, so much of the language which would have been current then would have developed. For example, Robert Burns' poetry is hard to understand now if you haven't had it explained (note it was written about 100 years before Waltzing Matilda). This will inhibit the average British speaker from understanding, but also Australia was (in part) colonised by British convicts, so the language will be that of the lower classes (class distinction was much more prevalent at this time) which makes it even harder to understand nowadays.
Also, since it has since become part of Australia's heritage (regarded as the 'unofficial National Anthem'), Australians are more likely to understand the lyrics since they would have been explained on their mother's knee, so to speak.
As to whether "anyone ever naturally phrases his thoughts the way the singer does," one must ask whether songs today accurately reflect the way people think currently.