Strine

Strine, also spelled Stryne, is Australian slang for describing a broad accent of Australian English. The noun is not used as frequently in contemporary Australian spoken English, replaced by the term Strayan that has gained traction in more recent years, although it can still be heard among some populations. In written English, Strine is still found more frequently. The term is a syncope, derived from a shortened phonetic rendition of the pronunciation of the word "Australian" in an exaggerated Broad Australian accent, drawing upon the tendency of this accent to run syllables together in a form of liaison.

The term was coined in 1964 when the accent was the subject of humorous columns published in the Sydney Morning Herald from the mid-1960s. Alastair Ardoch Morrison, under the Strine pseudonym of Afferbeck Lauder (a syncope for "Alphabetical Order"), wrote a song "With Air Chew" ("Without You") in 1965 followed by a series of books—Let Stalk Strine (1965), Nose Tone Unturned (1967), Fraffly Well Spoken (1968), and Fraffly Suite (1969). An example from one of the books: "Eye-level arch play devoisters ..." ("I'll have a large plate of oysters").

In 2009, Text Publishing, Melbourne, re-published all four books in an omnibus edition.

The late environmentalist and TV presenter Steve Irwin was once referred to as the person who "talked Strine like no other contemporary personality".