This Video Will Teach You How To Say Names Properly In Australia

If all else fails, just call them "mate".

Last year, two mates Josh and Rhys went viral with their video "How To Speak Australian”. Now they're back with part two, and this time around they’ve taken on names.

The two-and-a-half minute clip takes us through some of the most popular names Aussies abbreviate, and there is a common trend with a lot of them.

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"If a name is more than two syllables, it’s way too long." Josh told BuzzFeed. "You’ll notice most names hit that sweet two syllable mark. Then you’ve got a few options for endings, ZZA, O, IE or Z. For example, Shazza, Davo, Paulie or Julez."

Josh believes the reason Aussies tend to abbreviate names like this is simply because we don't take ourselves too seriously.

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"I reckon we achieve that by giving nicknames, it’s kind of hard to take yourself seriously when your mate refers to you as SCHMITTYYYY or DAMMO or MAD DOGG!"

The boys also gave examples of how Aussies shorten last names too, including the many variants of "Macca".

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"At my previous job, there were five people named Josh, but no-one was actually called Josh, it was Hawko, Shieldy, Sharkie, Hendo and Jenny, so yeh, I find myself not calling people by their proper names." Josh says.

Just remember kids, if you don't know someone's name, just call them...

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