Strewth! Get a load of this, cobber

Fair crack of the whip mate, what’s the John Dory with that?

If you speak good ‘Aussie’, you’re more likely to be thought of as trustworthy — in this country at least.

But forget using the word mate — it won’t help you.

That’s the finding of a new study published in Human Ethology by researchers at The University of Western Australia, which found people were more likely to trust someone who spoke in the same accent.

On the flipside, if you speak with a different accent, your trustworthiness rating is likely to be lower.

Study author Dr Cyril Grueter said his research team wanted to know if Aussies discriminated against speakers with accents other than Australian English.

They were also keen to address why Australians often used the salutation ‘mate’ and whether use of the cultural idiom strengthened bonds between people.

Dr Grueter said researchers recorded six speeches by three male speakers (portrayed as bungee jump instructors) that differed in two ways.

The first was accent — with Australian English, British English and English with a foreign (Swedish) accent used and the second was the inclusion of the word ‘mate’.

Listeners then rated each speech in terms of trustworthiness.

“Our results show that Australian listeners regard speakers with their own accent as having higher trustworthiness,” Dr Grueter said.

“Interestingly, both British and Swedish English speakers received lower trustworthiness ratings.

So the boundary isn’t drawn between native speakers and non-native speakers, but between Australian English speakers and other English speakers.

“And, contrary to our prediction, using the word ‘mate’ did not improve trustworthiness ratings.”

Trolley talk

While Aussies may favour the local idiom, it seems as though our palates prefer a more global flavour.

Aldi’s The People’s Picks survey found Victorians’ top three Aldi products for 2021 were:

• pre-wash stain remover;

• Brioche buns; and

• blue cheese.

All of which points to us being a messy bunch with good taste.