Sydney Spy Classic
University Vocabulary
At university, you’ll hear words you’d never expected to hear in such volume. Here are a few
“Spieling” - Yes, this is already a word but at Sydney Uni you’ll hear it more times than you can count, assuming you’re like 2. Students on the campaign trail use it to be ironic at the end of their tiresome speeches.
“VOTE FOR _______.. Student rights.. Vsu.. Activism.. gender studies department. Do I need to keep spieling?"
“JOIN THE _____ SOCIETY… only $10… Great opportunities… lamination… Do you need to hear more spiel?"
“Psyc” - Half the university takes psychology, 1 200 is about half of 45 000 right? It just seems like everyone does Psychology, and to save valuable time between asserting their authority to be able to analyse behaviour, psychology students must say “Psyc”. Those extra syllables must be like a.. defense mechanism or The Id or something. Or maybe they’re just quoting the course code: PSYC1001
“George Bush/Desperate Housewives” - Lecturers who are trying to spark up their drab content will take cheap shots at George Bush or they’ll mention Desperate Housewives in order to relate to the audience.
“Manning” - Refers to Manning Bar but actually saying the ‘Bar’ part will make heads tilt and intonations rise.
“ ‘Fern/Hols” -The absolutely hideous abbreviations of the words “Redfern Station” and “Holidays”. In all fairness I’ve only heard these said once but the massive rage that bubbled within me in response has drastically shortened my life expectancy.
“Are you going to City Road or FERN?”
“Mature Age Student” - Quite the euphemism. Most of the “Mature Age Students” in my tutorials are 30+ but they disguise themselves with shoulder bags and Converse All Stars. It’s not until they mention their grandchildren and previous eye operations that you realise that they must be getting a senior citizens discount on top of their student discount.
“International Fee-Paying Student” - “Asian”
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