The Case of the Doubles

I tend to think Americans are more formal with language. Australians abbreviate everything, which makes for some interesting interpretations on my part. There is a wide array of examples, which I will post about at another time, but Australians will really do anything to shorten and simplify speech.

Another thing to add to the confusion of understanding the Aussie accent is their way of saying groups of numbers. Let’s start with a phone number. In the States when you say a phone number it is grouped in digits of three, three, and four (e.g. 917.555.5555). In Australia the grouping is done by digits of four, three, and three (e.g. 0455.555.555). Trying to get the rhythm correct is tougher than you may think.

In addition, Australians refer to groups of numbers, as doubles or even triples. The number above (0455.555.555) would be said as “zero, four, double five, triple five, triple five”. Sounds simple but is definitely taking some getting used to, especially when spoken at a rapid pace. I made sure to select a phone number without doubles or triples to avoid any issues.  I guess it works both ways; I tend to confuse Australians when I don’t say double or triple.

While phone numbers are tough, a longer grouping of numbers, such as a reference number, is truly overwhelming.  I seriously had a message on our answering machine last week that ended with “please ring us back and quote reference number two, zero, one, zero, double one, double one, double four, double zero, three, x for x-ray, c for Charlie...”  Click here to have a listen (seriously out of control).

I had to repeat the message about seven times before I had it down on paper! Just another part of the assimilation process, I guess.