Australian here. Sorry that’s not a thing.
Maybe if you gestured the thumbs up in a particular way? (Usually moving your whole arm up and of towards your shoulder? Honestly hard to explain in text). But that’s kind of a whole new gesture, not a thumbs up.
Don’t be afraid of doing the thumbs up here, we all do it and know what it means.
Admittedly my info is a couple decades old. When my college friends studying in Australia tried to hitchhike with their thumbs, drivers angrily returned the gesture. They were later informed that it meant “up yours” and that the correct way was to point an index finger toward where they wanted to go. Maybe years of Americans visiting have changed this.
Funny thing from an Australian friend who moved to Seattle where I live - we used to have a restaurant called Dag’s that served “Dag-burgers”. She said to her “dags” were little balls of shit clinging to a sheep’s fur. She sent home a photo of herself by the sign that said, “Take home a bag of Dag’s!” and her relatives thought it was hysterical.
Ahh there you go, maybe hitchhiking culture was different down here. Although I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone attempting to hitch-hike in my life tbh. Just not something people do anymore I guess. (Maybe it happens in more rural areas).
You’re not wrong about your culture spreading though. Halloween wasn’t even considered a thing when I was growing up. Now… depending on where you live you get kids attempting it. But it’s still a minority. Many grumpy home-owners saying “this isn’t America!” still exist.
‘Dag’ is certainly some aussie slang. Although I’ve never heard it used like that, I spose that might be its origin (sheep shearers are kind of a historical working class icon here). These days it’s probably be more synonymous with “dork”, or wearing some unfashionable clothing.
Australian here. Sorry that’s not a thing. Maybe if you gestured the thumbs up in a particular way? (Usually moving your whole arm up and of towards your shoulder? Honestly hard to explain in text). But that’s kind of a whole new gesture, not a thumbs up.
Don’t be afraid of doing the thumbs up here, we all do it and know what it means.
Admittedly my info is a couple decades old. When my college friends studying in Australia tried to hitchhike with their thumbs, drivers angrily returned the gesture. They were later informed that it meant “up yours” and that the correct way was to point an index finger toward where they wanted to go. Maybe years of Americans visiting have changed this.
Funny thing from an Australian friend who moved to Seattle where I live - we used to have a restaurant called Dag’s that served “Dag-burgers”. She said to her “dags” were little balls of shit clinging to a sheep’s fur. She sent home a photo of herself by the sign that said, “Take home a bag of Dag’s!” and her relatives thought it was hysterical.
Ahh there you go, maybe hitchhiking culture was different down here. Although I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone attempting to hitch-hike in my life tbh. Just not something people do anymore I guess. (Maybe it happens in more rural areas).
You’re not wrong about your culture spreading though. Halloween wasn’t even considered a thing when I was growing up. Now… depending on where you live you get kids attempting it. But it’s still a minority. Many grumpy home-owners saying “this isn’t America!” still exist.
‘Dag’ is certainly some aussie slang. Although I’ve never heard it used like that, I spose that might be its origin (sheep shearers are kind of a historical working class icon here). These days it’s probably be more synonymous with “dork”, or wearing some unfashionable clothing.
What about “rattle your dags”? Meaning to get going, often when late.
It was explained to me that dags were dried balls of shit stuck to hair
hahaha, I’ve never heard that before but It sure sounds amusing.
Like I said before, I think that very well may be the origin of the term. But it’s certainly not commonly use in the city like that these days.