Meaning of “in the outer”
2nd January 2006
In football (the Aussie variety, aka “Aussie rules” or more affectionately, “footy”) parlance, the phrase “standing in the outer” refers to being situated at the part of the ballpark (or “footy ground” or more popularly, “oval” so called because of the distinctive shape of the playing area) where typically the more passionate spectators stand (or in some grounds, where they used to stand). This is a specific part of the ground, especially in the older venues, for those with general tickets, or inexpensive tickets, where, especially there are no designated seats and spectators stand and watch the game.
Many an Aussie bloke takes pride in being “one of the boys” standing in the outer, “scarfing down” hot meat pies, “barracking” (cheering) their team on. I attended my first Aussie Rules football match roughly ten years ago while I was living in Perth, Western Australia. Having a few years before became an Australian citizen, I was finally immersing into that part of local life and culture. I had scored a couple of tickets to a game, and it was for general admissions, so there I was, with my little bloke, standing in the outer, enjoying our hot meat pies, a bag of hot chips (that’s Aussie-style chips, not French or Las Vegas style, for that matter, complete with chicken salt and vinegar) to share, and joining in with the crowd, thoroughly enjoying the footy match. We were to share many happy moments, barracking for our favorite team in like manner over the next few years.
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