Sunday, February 10, 2013

Aussie baseball not up to snuff

I watched the first game of the Australian Baseball Championship Series. The Canberra Cavalry vs. Perth Heat. Sorry to say, they aren't quite up to US standards. The stands were small and sparse, like you might see at your son's high school baseball game. They didn't even connect; there were spaces between them. I guess baseball's not very big there. (Feel free to correct me, Aussie readers.)

But as always, I was happy to listen to unscripted language. It's the love of my life. (I even watch true crime shows on TV, just to hear how people phrase things.) So it was fun to hear these two Australian broadcasters call the game.

At one point, they said the game was one player's "major league d'boo". Apparently this is the way they say "debut" down there. Fun. And when a player hit an inside-the-park home run, they exclaimed (in their wonderful accents): "An inside-the-parker!" Not very different from the way we say it, but fun nonetheless.

Language is always fascinating. And hearing a spontaneous speaker's choice of words and expressions -- well, I just can't get enough of it. But now, could we please get back to real US baseball? I've been a good boy. I even watched football. But nothing is like a baseball game. Nuthin'.