Australian English: deffo, devo, defo...

"She's deffo devo over the defo case" 😒

Do you get what this very modern Australian tongue twister is saying?

Australian English is defined by its extensive use of diminutives, i.e. shortened words. Hey, we're just too scared that all those flies are going to buzz into our mouths so we just let go of those extra syllables 🪰😁

There's a misconception that diminutives are just an Australian English thing – all variants of English actually have them.

And it's not always a case of taking the first syllable and just adding -"ie" to it (e.g. "Aussie" for "Australian", "Chrissie" for "Christmas"). Aussie English have a number that end instead with "-o", "-(a)zza", "-s" or "-ers".

Then you have some words that have two diminutive forms, such as "relative". There can be a difference in meaning though: "rellie" has a more positive connotation while a "rello" not so much.

So what does the above sentence mean? 🤷♀️
Let's dissect it... 🔪

👍 "Deffo" is short for "definitely". This is not exclusively Australian though – Brits use it just as much. Note that Australian English now writes it with a double "f" (you'll see why).

😭 "Devo" (or "devvo") is "devastated" though meaning more like "upset" or "sad". Aussies can be "devo" about anything and everything.

⚖️ "Defo" is a relatively new one – it's short for "defamation". Australia has seen a number of high-profile defamation cases in the past few years, and the Australian media has taken to using "defo" (as in "defo case" or "defo suit") so much that entries can now be found for this diminutive in Australian English dictionaries.

If you want your text and content to be perfect for the lucrative Australian market, I'll be able to help you. You'll deffo won't be devo! Message me at info@nicknasev.com.