Australian Culture: Are We Crazy Or Is It Just Me

[3stan]

I've noticed a few things about my country, and at this stage in my life I figure I should just clarify a few things about where I come from and exactly where it sits in the grand scheme of things.

Do American news reporters and politicians drop semi-archaic American slang into random sentences in an attempt to seem like common people? Like, this current affairs program just did a story on how drunk people are violent, and all through the story the reporter was referring to the drunks as 'yobbos'. It's like reporters and speechwriters take their formally written speeches and runs it through a filter changing random words into slang.

Is 'fuckwit' a common term outside of Australia? I've heard Americans in particular prefer 'fucktard', but I could have sworn I picked it up from the internet, but then I heard people on TV say it and now I don't know what to think.

Finally, does anyone at all refer to something bad as 'shithouse'? If not, you should, it's great.