"Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi" is a

cheer Cheering involves the uttering or making of sounds and may be used to encourage, excite to action, indicate approval or welcome. The word cheer originally meant face, countenance, or expression, and came through Old French into Middle Engli ...

or chant often performed at Australian sport events. It is a variation of the

Oggy Oggy Oggy The Oggy Oggy Oggy chant (alternatively spelt Oggie Oggie Oggie), and its variations, are often heard at sporting events, political rallies and around numerous Scout and Guide campfires, primarily in Britain, Ireland and some Commonwealth nat ...

chant used by both soccer and

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

fans in Great Britain from the 1960s onwards. It is usually performed by a

crowd Generally speaking, a crowd is defined as a group of people that have gathered for a common purpose or intent such as at a demonstration, a sports event, or during looting (this is known as an acting crowd), or may simply be made up of many ...

uniting to support a sports team or athlete. The alternate is for an individual to chant the line "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!" and the crowd to respond with "

Oi! Oi! is a subgenre of punk rock that originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The music and its associated subculture had the goal of bringing together punks, skinheads, and other disaffected working-class youth. The movement was ...

Oi! Oi!".

Definition

The full version of the chant, as heard prior to a free outdoor concert at the time of the

Sydney 2000 Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

and quoted by Luba Vangelova of CNNSI, is as follows: :Individual: ''"Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!"'' ::Crowd: ''"Oi! Oi! Oi!"'' :Individual: ''"Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!"'' ::Crowd: ''"Oi! Oi! Oi!"'' :Individual: ''"Aussie!"'' ::Crowd: ''"Oi!"'' :Individual: ''"Aussie!"'' ::Crowd: ''"Oi!"'' :Individual (faster): ''"Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!"'' ::Crowd (equally fast): ''"Oi! Oi! Oi!"'' The chant was widely used during the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, being heard at many public entertainment venues and also on public transport. The chant came to be commonly heard at international sporting events where an Australian team was competing.

Origins and explanation

A chant of similar form, "

", has been used for decades by football and rugby crowds in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

. "Oggy" is believed to be short for " hoggan", a Cornish word for a pasty, and the chant was used by Cornish miners to celebrate the Cornish pasty. Members of the British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

claim to have used the Oggy Oggy Oggy chant, or a version of it, since the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. Englishman Ron Knox claims to have used the "Oggy" chant while playing for the Box Hill Rugby Club in

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 ...

in the late 1960s. Various conflicting stories of how it was introduced from Britain to Australia can be found. According to Stephen Alomes, a professor of Australian studies at

Deakin University Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia. Its main campuses are in Melbourne's Burwood suburb, Geelong Waurn Ponds, ...

, the chant represents "enthusiasm for the tribe" and a "celebration of 'us' ", but at the extreme may act as a symbol of aggressive nationalism and

xenophobia Xenophobia () is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an in-group and out-group and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, a ...

. In 2012, after Foxtel offered a $10,000 prize in a competition for coming up with a new phrase to cheer on athletes,

Germaine Greer Germaine Greer (; born 29 January 1939) is an Australian writer and public intellectual, regarded as one of the major voices of the radical feminist movement in the latter half of the 20th century. Specializing in English and women's literat ...

argued: "The cry is catchy. Any crowd can pick it up and it cuts through the surrounding white noise like a military tattoo. It is as jingoistic to reject it because it was originally British as it would be to prize it for the same reason ... There will be no silencing Australian fans at the Olympics and they won't be bullied by Foxtel, either."

Commercial and publicity uses

At the closing ceremony of the

, the IOC President,

Juan Antonio Samaranch Juan Antonio Samaranch y Torelló, 1st Marquess of Samaranch (Catalan: ''Joan Antoni Samaranch i Torelló'', ; 17 July 1920 – 21 April 2010) was a Spanish sports administrator under the Franco regime (1973–1977) who served as the seventh P ...

reflected the spirit of the whole affair when, during his formal speech, he said, "What can I say? Maybe, with my Spanish accent, Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!". The response to these words came from all around the stadium, "Oi! Oi! Oi!". In 2004, a

couple, inspired by a Dick Smith campaign supporting Australian-made products, and following publicity surrounding the ownership of the trademark for the Australian-developed

Ugg boots Ugg boots are a unisex style of sheepskin boot originating in Australia. The boots are typically made of twin-faced sheepskin with fleece on the inside, a tanned outer surface and a synthetic sole. The term "ugg boots" originated in Australia ...

being owned by a United States company, registered the phrase as an official trademark in an effort to protect it from overseas exploitation. At the conclusion of winning the main event of the

2005 World Series of Poker The 2005 World Series of Poker opened play on June 2nd, continuing through the Main Event No Limit World Championship starting on July 7th. The conclusion of the Main Event on July 15th marked the close of play, and the largest prize in sports an ...

, Australian supporters of winner Joe Hachem chanted this victoriously during the primetime viewing of the poker event on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

. At the conclusion of the Prize giving ceremony for the 2008 Super 14 final at AMI Stadium in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

, New Zealand, the winning team, the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

, chanted "Robbie Robbie Robbie Oi Oi Oi" to farewell their Coach

Robbie Deans Robert Maxwell Deans (born 4 September 1959) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player, currently the head coach of Japanese club Panasonic Wild Knights. He was head coach of the Australian national team between 2008 and 2013. Deans h ...

, who was leaving to coach the Australian national team, the Wallabies. In a promotional video for the American

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

company

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vari ...

, Australian wrestler Emma chanted the song in support of the Australia national soccer team during the 2014 FIFA World Cup. It is also a popular chant during

Australian Cricket Team The Australia men's national cricket team represents Australia in men's international cricket. As the joint oldest team in Test cricket history, playing in the first ever Test match in 1877, the team also plays One-Day International (ODI) a ...

's matches. The chant is also a fixture at men's basketball games at

Saint Mary's College of California Saint Mary's College of California is a private Catholic college in Moraga, California. Established in 1863, it is affiliated with the Catholic Church and administered by the De La Salle Brothers. The college offers undergraduate and graduate ...

, a school that has regularly featured Australian players in the 21st century. It is chanted by the Australian band

Chase Atlantic Chase Atlantic (occasionally stylized as CHASE ATLANTIC) is an Australian alternative R&B band and production trio from Cairns, Queensland, formed in 2014. The group consists of three members: Christian Anthony, Clinton Cave and Mitchel Cave. Ch ...

on backstage before their concerts.

References

{{Reflist Chants Football songs and chants Australian nationalism Sport in Australia Sports culture in Australia Australian slang

Definition

Origins and explanation

Commercial and publicity uses

See also

References