An Aussie saying that stirs us to thanksgiving …

People in America and the U.K. (United Kingdom) both speak English, but we don’t always mean the same thing when using the same words.

The website, Culture Trip, provides several examples of words that mean one thing to Americans, but something quite different to people in the U.K. For example:

• • In American English, “purse” is a term used to describe a woman’s handbag. In England, however, you’d typically find a purse in a woman’s handbag, as it refers to a wallet.
  • A somewhat derogatory term, “geezer” is used in the U.S. to refer to an older man. One wouldn’t be so quick to criticize a geezer in the U.K., however, where the word is somewhat synonymous with “lad” – a hyper-masculine sort of man who enjoys beer, football, and the occasional scrap.
  • U.S. speakers call door-to-door salespeople “solicitors,” while U.K. locals use the same term to refer to lawyers. Both places can agree that more often than not a visit from either of these is unwanted.

You can check out the rest of the list of same word/different meanings by clicking here.

I’ve had the privilege of traveling to Australia twice, another place where people also speak English but you’re still likely to find them attaching different meanings to words, or even phrases. For example, during my travels, and also while viewing some of the Australian television programs, on multiple occasions I was immediately taken by the phrase, “Good on you!”

Upon hearing the phrase, I thought, “They must mean, ‘Good for you’ even though they say ‘Good on you.'”

But after contemplating the difference, I’ve really come to like the Aussie saying of “Good on you!” You see, we Americans might identify something that is good for us, and say “Good for you!” But we also tend to think many things that aren’t so good for us are.

But the Aussie saying brings an entirely different thought to mind.

Good “on” you reminds me of a couple scriptures. The first is Jesus helping us understand that we really aren’t, at the core, “good” …

“As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ ‘Why do you call me good?’ Jesus asked. ‘Only God is truly good,'” Mark 10:17-18.

But here’s how the Aussie turn of the phrase connected me to scripture:

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows,” James 1:17 (NIV).

Every time I hear that Aussie phrase, “Good on you!” I think of this passage from James 1. All that is truly good in our lives is a gift of God’s goodness coming down on us — it really is God’s good on us!

This Thanksgiving season, I encourage you to think of how God has been “good on you” and to sincerely give thanks for it.

Scotty