Newcomer / Intro What is "po-po"?

A street term for police. Originally from Southern California, where bicycle police, beginning in the 1980s, wore T-shirts marked with 'PO', for 'police officer', in block letters. As these officers rode in pairs, their shirts would read 'POPO' when side by side.
 
Yeah, police. It's very commonly used here in the US. We use a lot of strange combinations of shortened words for stuff. Cra-Cra is used for crazy. There are many others. We've all become wanna be gangstas... If you see a police officer loose his cool over a situation you'd prolly hear someone say "Dat po po be cra cra!" It's becoming a foreign language to a lot of us.
 
...... It's becoming a foreign language to a lot of us.

Get off my lawn! ;)

I think that the Police must have attracted more slang descriptors than any organisation in history!
(Yes po-po is definitely Police)


You got to love Norwegian / Swedish - "snut"

1024px-Swedish_Blonde_Police.jpg
 
You got to love Norwegian / Swedish - "snut"

Is that the same in both Bokmål and Nynorsk? First thing I learned in Norwegian was "Hei på deg" but I'm still confused to it's proper use. Is this a greeting or something you say when you are leaving?
 
Is that the same in both Bokmål and Nynorsk? First thing I learned in Norwegian was "Hei på deg" but I'm still confused to it's proper use. Is this a greeting or something you say when you are leaving?

... both

I use Ha det bra or just Ha det for goodbye and just Hei! for hello - but I am not Norwegian I just have Norwegian links.

https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/norwegian-for-beginners


I remember when a cousin started dating a girl from Uist and he wanted to learn a bit of the Gaelic so he was taught a phrase which he was told was "you are beautiful" but it really was "go and {a word for jobbie that starts with s}" (I paraphrase). So I hope my Norwegian friends have not been laughing at me Saying Hei Hei and Ha det bra all these years. :)
 
Last edited:
I'm about to embark on a whole new language already.... Australian English and all the Bogan slang involved. Spent 5 months over there last year and it took me a while to get used to the shortened words with O added to it: Avo, Arvo, Bottle-o. And the ie added to so many words: brekkie, bikie, etc. Then there is the accent and emphasis put in sentences. It's almost like every sentence spoken is asking a question and the accent is sort of English but with a hint of maybe old sailing slang. Sometimes when the missus talks to me I struggle to understand what she says. Getting better at it though. Oh, and I dunno if it is nation wide but within my wife's circle of friends... swearing. Oh my the words they use in everyday conversation. I'm a retired coast to coast truck driver and sometimes they actually shock me. Exciting times they are...
 
Aussies are well known for their swears, but a kiwi girl I knew was the sweariest person I have ever met.

“Eff me dead, it’s hot” she said after a long car journey and getting out get some lunch in the rare British sun, in front of both her boss and some clients. We all micturated ourselves laughing.
 
I'm about to embark on a whole new language already.... Australian English and all the Bogan slang involved. Spent 5 months over there last year and it took me a while to get used to the shortened words with O added to it: Avo, Arvo, Bottle-o. And the ie added to so many words: brekkie, bikie, etc. Then there is the accent and emphasis put in sentences. It's almost like every sentence spoken is asking a question and the accent is sort of English but with a hint of maybe old sailing slang. Sometimes when the missus talks to me I struggle to understand what she says. Getting better at it though. Oh, and I dunno if it is nation wide but within my wife's circle of friends... swearing. Oh my the words they use in everyday conversation. I'm a retired coast to coast truck driver and sometimes they actually shock me. Exciting times they are...

Tell me, it is hard getting used to it - even McDonalds is rebranded to Macca's there, because people shortened it's name so McDonalds decided to rebrand themselves. Like "gettin' a Macca's sando this arvo" - getting a McDonald's burger in the afternoon. As far as the emphasis goes, it is not unlike people speak in London in certain boroughs, so it sounds pretty familiar to me, because I lived for over a year in London in the past. It's harder to understand though, if you go to the country side, where people speak through their teeth hardly moving their lips. Btw, for those not knowing what a bottle-o is, it's a liquor store.

As far as swearing goes, I don't think that it is a nation wide habit. We've been to Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth and ended up now in Hobart, and people are really friendly and into small talk - well, one has to do a little small talk, even to waiters and other service personal or they will consider you to be rude. Furthermore you have to speak in a moderate tone, they do not like loud and noisy people. From my experience, being in the country for 7 months, I didn't come across a lot of swearing.
 
Last edited:
Aussies are well known for their swears, but a kiwi girl I knew was the sweariest person I have ever met.

“Eff me dead, it’s hot” she said after a long car journey and getting out get some lunch in the rare British sun, in front of both her boss and some clients. We all micturated ourselves laughing.

That is like saying americans are talking with f-bombs in every other sentence - some do, but it is not a general attitude to use f-bombs. And so it is with aussies as well, I guess, some might be swearing, but those we came across didn't do it.
 
Back
Top Bottom