TESSA CHONG

ankle-biter

The term ‘ankle-biter’ brings to mind evil, toothy kids latching onto your ankles. It’s a very evocative piece of slang for a young child. To be honest, little kids can be annoying, so it really encapsulates a lot without saying very much. Imagine some creature biting your ankles all day! It would be horrible. That’s what I imagine having kids is like. In my drawing, I’ve shown three little kids all latching onto a giant foot, like evil parasites that are never satisfied until they get what they want. (Can you tell I don’t have kids?) I liked playing with scale here. I could’ve drawn some children tucking into an ankle on a plate, but I thought that was too dark. I prefer that this has a loose and chaotic style – it suits the vibe of what ‘ankle-biters’ is all about. As for other Aussie slang I like, the term ‘stunned mullet’ comes to mind. It’s said a lot in my family and perfectly describes the look of someone in dumb shock or surprise. My own creation would be ‘as mad as a tradie in peak hour’. It doesn’t really need much explaining – it could be used instead of the classic ‘as mad as a cut snake’. Have you seen the type of road rage tradies often dole out? It’s on another level.