Afferbeck Lauder was the
pseudonym
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
used by Alastair Ardoch Morrison (21 September 1911 – 15 March 1998), an
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
n graphic artist and author who in the 1960s documented
Strine Strine, also spelled Stryne , describes a broad accent of Australian English. The term is a syncope, derived from a shortened phonetic rendition of the pronunciation of the word "Australian" in an exaggerated Broad Australian accent, drawing upon ...
in the song ''With Air Chew'' and a series of books beginning with ''Let Stalk Strine'' (Ure Smith, Sydney, Australia, 1965). Morrison illustrated the books and also used the pseudonym Al Terego.
''Let Stalk Strine'' was followed by ''Nose Tone Unturned'' (1967), ''Fraffly Well Spoken'' (1968), and ''Fraffly Suite'' (1969). The first two presented Australian written phonetically to appear as another language, the next two lampooned the clipped, almost strangled variety of upper-class English speech in the same way. The titles, and the author pseudonym, are all examples in themselves (Afferbeck Lauder = alphabetical order). Some further examples are:
*Strine - ''Australian''
*"Spewffle climber treely" - ''It's a beautiful climate, really''
*"Emma chisit" - ''How much is it ?''
*"Egg nishner" - ''air-conditioner''
*Fraffly - ''Frightfully''
*"Egg wetter gree" - ''I quite agree''
*"Gray chooma" - ''Great humour''
The books themselves contained no clues as to the identity of the author.
In October 2009
Text Publishing
Text Publishing is an independent Australian publisher of fiction and non-fiction, based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria.
Company background
Text Media was founded in Melbourne in 1990 by Diana Gribble and Eric Beecher, along wit ...
,
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
, re-published all four books in the series in an omnibus edition, ''Strine: The complete works of Professor Afferbeck Lauder''.
In the early 1960s Morrison was appointed chairman of the Currency Note Design Group, an advisory committee which assisted with the design of new banknotes which were issued when Australia replaced its pounds, shillings, and pence with "dismal guernsey" (
decimal currency
Decimalisation or decimalization (see spelling differences) is the conversion of a system of currency or of weights and measures to units related by powers of 10.
Most countries have decimalised their currencies, converting them from non-decimal ...
) on 14 February 1966. He was the brother of the journalist and playwright
Guy Morrison.
References
Aust Lit
External links
'With Air Chew'- Copyright registration copy of the song in the
National Archives of Australia
The National Archives of Australia (NAA), formerly known as the Commonwealth Archives Office and Australian Archives, is an Australian Government agency that serves as the national archives of the nation. It collects, preserves and encourages ...
.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lauder, Afferbeck
1911 births
1998 deaths
Australian humorists
20th-century pseudonymous writers
Australian illustrators