Barry McKenzie, Carry On, and vocabulary

[Eric]

The input of comedy films should not be underrated, when it comes to national vocabulary input.

I saw the humorous film "The Adventures of Barry McKenzie" for the first time again in about 35 (!) years. It is still, as with the British "Carry On ..." films, a milestone in puns, innuendo, metaphors, associations, etc.

The film is about a Pom-hating Aussie in Britain. It is funny, and the expressions are gems:

* The bearded clam
* Point Percy at the porcelain
* Syphon the python
* Come the raw prawn
* A tube of Foster's
* A knuckle sandwich
* Copped a steaming eyeful
* Chunder [in the old Pacific Sea]
* Technicolour yawn
* Sheila
* Shaking hands with the wife's best friend
* Skid marks on your Y-fronts

Etc. Maybe no film ever brought Aussie slang over to Britain so swiftly. This all happened in 1972. The film was full of cross-dressing (Dame Edna Everage) and naughty innuendo. There was even a villa called Radclyffe Hall. (Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more.) The dunny door was much in evidence.

Isn't it remarkable how one film can introduce so many expressions to Britain? A seminal film, so to speak.

[nnyhav]

Just out in the States:
Uglier than a Monkey's Armpit: The Best Curses, Put-downs and Invectives From Around the World.
(Commonwealth got it first tho)