The term "ocker" is used both as a

noun A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for: * Living creatures (including people, alive, d ...

and

adjective In linguistics, an adjective (list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated ) is a word that generally grammatical modifier, modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes its referent. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun. Tra ...

for an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

who speaks and acts in a rough and uncultivated manner, using

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 ...

, a broad Australian accent.

Definition

Richard Neville defined ockerism as being "about conviviality: comradeship with a touch of good-hearted

sexism Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers primari ...

". Although Australians would say thongs, and not flip-flops. It is mostly fairly neutral, even affectionate—although it can be used in a pejorative sense, especially by Australians who consider themselves cultured or enlightened, or "up themselves" as an "ocker" would say.

History

"Ocker" was recorded from 1916 as a nickname for anyone called Oscar. The 1920s Australian comic strip ''

Ginger Meggs ''Ginger Meggs'', Australia's most popular and longest-running comic strip, was created in the early 1920s by Jimmy Bancks. The strip follows the escapades of a red-haired prepubescent mischief-maker who lives in an inner suburban working-class ...

'' contained a character called Oscar ("Ocker") Stevens. The term "ocker" for a

stereotypically In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can be, for example ...

uncouth Australian came into use when a character of that name, played by

Ron Frazer Ron Frazer (7 December 1928 – 8 January 1983) alternatively Ron Fraser, was an Australian actor, comedian and screenwriter, he was known for roles in theatre and television, primarily as a character actor. Career Fraser started his career i ...

, appeared in the satirical television comedy series ''

The Mavis Bramston Show ''The Mavis Bramston Show'' was a weekly Australian television satirical sketch comedy revue series which aired on the Seven Network from 1964 to 1968. Inspired by the British TV satirical revue TV shows of the period (notably ''That Was The Week ...

''.Australian National Museum
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Uses

Politicians, including former

Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the Australian Government, federal government of Australia and is also accountable to Parliament of A ...

Kevin Rudd Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and again from June 2013 to September 2013, holding office as the leader of the ...

, will often take on "ocker" cultural elements such as slang to appeal to various audiences.

Films

Many films made during the Australian film renaissance of the 1970s were marketed as "ocker comedies", representing a "masculine, populist, and cheerfully vulgar view of Australian society". These films were latterly described as "

Ozploitation Ozploitation films are exploitation films – a category of low-budget horror, comedy, sexploitation and action films – made in Australia after the introduction of the R rating in 1971. The year also marked the beginnings of the Australian ...

". While popular with audiences, most ocker films were loathed by critics. Among the best known are ''

Stork Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family called Ciconiidae, and make up the order Ciconiiformes . Ciconiiformes previously included a number of other families, such as herons an ...

'' (1971), ''

The Adventures of Barry McKenzie ''The Adventures of Barry McKenzie'' is a 1972 Australian comedy film directed by Bruce Beresford and starring Barry Crocker, telling the story of an Australian 'yobbo' on his travels to the United Kingdom. Barry McKenzie was originally a chara ...

'' (1972), and ''

Alvin Purple ''Alvin Purple'' is a 1973 Australian sex comedy film starring Graeme Blundell in the title role; the screenplay was written by Alan Hopgood and directed by Tim Burstall, through his production company Hexagon Productions and Village Roadshow ...

'' (1973). The hugely successful 1997 film '' The Castle'' is regarded as an updated variation on the ocker genre.

References

Australian culture Australian slang New Zealand culture New Zealand slang Pejorative terms for white people Social class subcultures Stereotypes {{australia-stub

Definition

History

Uses

Films

See also

References