Chicken parmi and potato scallop: The terms (and foods) Aussies can't decide on

What may be the norm in one state or territory, is completely foreign to another.

Take April 25 in Canberra - sure it's Anzac Day and the city is home to the Australian War Memorial, but it's also when the city as a collective puts its heaters on for the first time for the year. That is if they didn't break the unofficial rule by that point. Either way, there will be a discussion about it.

If you're new to Canberra, it's a confusing conversation. Why do you need to wait to put on your heater? It's an unwritten rule that Canberrans will enforce, whether they know the origin story or not.

So what else divides us? Or rather, unites us in our differences, because all of these things will create discussion and in some cases debate.

Of all the things that Aussies differ on, food names are at the top of the list. The most obvious of which is the chicken parmigiana.

According to a 2020 market research study by Arnott's, 45 per cent of Australians use parmi or parmy, while 34 per cent use parma. On a state-by-state basis, Victoria is the only one that uses parma, but interestingly in the Northern Territory, it was a 50/50 split between parmi/parmy and parmigiana. The research also showed that 50 per cent of people in the Northern Territory believed putting an egg on their chicken parmigiana was the "right way to do it".

Then there is the potato cake/scallop/fritter debate. It's so contentious that it made news last year when fast-food giant McDonald's added potato scallops to its menu.

Victorians are adamant it's a "potato cake", in NSW and Queensland it's a "scallop". In South Australia things get fancy and it's a "potato fritter".

South Australia also likes to be a little different when it comes to beer. While a middy (or pot in Queensland and Victoria, and a 10 in Hobart) is 285ml, that's a South Australian schooner.

What is a schooner (425ml) almost everywhere else, is a pint in South Australia. Western Australia skips the schooner entirely and goes straight to the pint (570ml), and while everyone else agrees with this, it's an imperial pint in South Australia.

When it comes to the frozen treat, ice block and icy pole go head to head with NSW, Queensland and South Australia using the former. The latter is popular in Victoria and Western Australia and comes from a Peter's brand name.

And it's not the only brand name being used with Zooper Dooper becoming more popular in recent years and by jingo - a brand from the 1960s to 80s - being used in parts of northern Queensland.

But it's a certain lunch meat that has the most variations in name. It's "polony" in Western Australia, "luncheon" in Queensland, "fritz" in South Australia, "stras", "Belgium" or "devon" in Victoria and devon in NSW.

Whatever you call it though, there's a chance you had it in your school lunchbox alongside a popper (NSW and Queensland), fruit box (SA), prima (Victoria) or juice box (WA).

And at a birthday party? Those little red sausages were a must, whether you called them footy franks (NSW and WA), cheerios (Queensland), cocktail sausages (Victoria) and savs (SA). Little boys is also used because it's the cockney rhyme for saveloy (the actual name for the sausage).

Aussies don't just have different names for different foods, there are different foods full stop. Arnott's Gingernuts, for example, have four different recipes for four different regions - NSW and ACT; Queensland; Victoria and Tasmania; and SA, WA and NT.

But it doesn't stop there.

Take Western Australia. Instead of the lime-flavoured milk and milkshakes you get elsewhere, they have spearmint flavour. In fact, West Australians struggle to get their head around lime milk to begin with.

"Doesn't it curdle the milk?" they ask.

Then there is Kirks Kole Beer (pronounced cola beer). It's non-alcoholic and the best way to describe it is like traditional creaming soda and cola had a love child.

You will also find a continental roll in most Perth cafes. Also known as a conti coll, it is a mix of deli meats (usually ham and salami), with Swiss cheese, and pickled vegetables including eggplant, olives, artichoke and sundried tomato, on a crusty white roll.

Sound Italian? That's because it originated during a wave of Italian immigration post World War II.

Something a little less obvious in its origins is one that was recognised as a South Australian heritage icon in 2003 - the pie floater. A meat pie served in a thick pea soup with a dollop of tomato sauce - it is a sight to behold but by all accounts delectable. And considering they've been a South Australian speciality since the late 1800s, they must be right.

And the pie floater is not alone. South Australia's kitchener bun has been around since 1915, which is made from fried sweet dough that is then split and filled with jam and cream.

There is also the frog cake, which is a sponge and cream cake, covered in green fondant and made to look like a frog. First created in the 1920s, it too has been listed as a South Australian heritage icon.

FruChocs are also a South Australian favourite. Originally made with dried apricot and peach paste covered in chocolate (but now also come in strawberry and orange flavours), they were originally introduced to use the excess fruit in the Riverland and Barossa Valley.

From sweet treats to unusual meats, the Northern Territory is the place where camel burgers can be just as popular as beef burgers. Particularly in central Australia, where camel meat is used to help keep the number of feral camels down.

Buffalo burgers are also popular for the same reason. There's even an annual Kakadu Buffalo Burger Eating Competition held on Australia Day each year.

It's also not unusual to find crocodile meat used in everything from dumplings to curry pies, and Emu sausages, patties or steaks.

Meanwhile, in Tasmania, savoury toast is where it's at. This snack food is a piece of bread covered with a mixture of beaten egg, bacon pieces, diced onion, cheese, ketchup and Worcestershire sauce that is then baked. It's been around since the 1800s and surprisingly hasn't made it to the mainland yet. We are a nation that loves a good savoury scroll and this feels like it's in the same vein.

When it comes to everywhere else, they're not as loud as their culinary feats. Sure, there are popular brands, whether it be alcohol, fried chicken, burgers - you name it. But nothing that seems to be region-specific in a known way.

However, you can order a magic coffee in Melbourne. The order itself is a double shot ristretto (which is stronger than an espresso) with a three-quarter filled flat white. But it's all about being in the know for this one because it won't be on any menu.

The great divide doesn't stop there. The names of our foods may be different but where we buy it can differ as well.

What is a corner store in NSW, is a milk bar in Victoria and a deli in South Australia and Western Australia. At school, you will either go to the tuck shop (in Queensland and NSW) or the canteen (Victoria, WA and SA).

You may then grab a drink of water from a drink fountain (SA and WA), bubbler (NSW and Queensland) or bubble tap (Victoria), then head out onto the playground to go on the slide (WA and Victoria) or slippery dip (QLD, NSW and SA). And for the girls doing cartwheels in their school skirts, they're probably wearing netball shorts (SA), scungies (NSW and ACT), chunders (Victoria) or bloomers (WA).

And when you're at the beach or swimming pool, you're wearing bathers (WA and Victoria), swimmers or cozzies (NSW and ACT) or togs (Queensland).

There is no denying that language and property have one thing in common - location, location, location.

But there is one state that seems to have a whole different dictionary to the rest - Western Australia. Instead of hair elastic, it's hair lacky. Instead of going to an open home, you go to a home open. And instead of gum nut, it's honky nut.