Face it...for most of us the only Australia Slang we've encountered was from
Steve "Crikey" Irwin or Crocodile "Thas not a knife" Dundee.
Here of some of the more often used words and phrases.
- A Cold One – Beer
- Arvo – Afternoon
- Aussie Salute – Wave to scare the flies off
- Bail – To cancel plans. ‘Bruce bailed’ = he/guy isn’t going to turn up.
- Barbie – Barbecue
- Bathers – Swimsuit
- Beauty! – Great!
- Billabong – A pond in a dry riverbed
- Billy – Teapot (In the Outback on the fire) cooking pot
- Bloody – Very. Used to extenuate a point
- Bloody oath – yes or it's true. “You right mate?” “Bloody Oath”
- Bludger – Someone who’s lazy, generally also who relies on others (when it’s someone who relies on the state they’re often called a ‘dole bludger’)
- Bogan – This word is used for people who are, well let’s say, rednecks. Or, if you like, just call your friends a bogan when they are acting weird.
- Booze Bus – Police vehicle used to catch drunk drivers
- Bottle-O – Bottle Shop, basically a place to buy alcohol
- Brekky – Breakfast
- Brolly – Umbrella
- Bruce – An Aussie Bloke (guy)
- Budgie Smugglers – Speedos (lol! I love this one)
- Bush – The Outback.
- Cab Sav – Cabernet Sauvignon
- Cactus – Dead, Broken
- Choc A Bloc – Full
- Choccy Biccy – Chocolate Biscuit
- Chook – Chicken
- Chrissie – Christmas
- Ciggy – a Cigarette
- Clucky – feeling maternal
- Cobber – Very good friend. ‘Alright me ‘ol cobber’.
- Coldie – Beer. ‘Come over for a few coldie’s mate.’
- Coppers – Policemen
- Crikey – an expression of surprise
- Crook – Being ill or angry; ‘Don’t go crook on me for getting crook’
- Cunt – Used when exchanging pleasantries between close friends or family member. If someone calls you the “C” word in Australia, breathe a sigh of relief… it means you have entered the mate zone.
- Dag – Someone who’s a bit of a nerd or geek.
- Daks – Trousers. ‘Tracky daks’ = sweatpants (tracksuit pants)
- Deadset – True
- Devo – Devastated
- Drongo – a Fool, ‘Don’t be a drongo mate’
- Dunny – Toilet
- Esky – An insulated container that keeps things cold (usually beers)
- Fuck Me Dead – that surprises me...often shortened to "fuck me""
- Fair Dinkum – ‘Fair Dinkum?’ … ‘Fair Dinkum!’ = Honestly? … Yeah honestly! Can also mean a fair deal
- Flannie / Flanno – flannelette shirt
- Frothy – Beer
- G’day – Hello
- Galah – an Australian cockatoo with a reputation for not being bright, hence a galah is also a stupid person.
- Going off – busy, lots of people
- Good On Ya – Good work
- Goon – the best invention ever produced by mankind. Goon is a cheap, boxed wine that will inevitably become an integral part of your Australian backpacking experience.
- Hard yakka – Hard work
- Heaps – loads, lots, many
- Hoon – Hooligan (normally driving badly!)
- Knickers – female underwear
- Larrikin – Someone who’s always up for a laugh, bit of a harmless prankster
- Legless – Someone who is really drunk
- Lollies – Sweets
- Maccas – McDonalds
- Manchester – Sheets / Linen
- Mongrel – Someone who’s a bit of a dick
- Mozzie – Mosquito
- No Drama – No problem / it’s ok
- No Worries -No problem / it’s ok
- Nuddy – Naked
- Pash – to kiss
- Piece of Piss – easy
- Piss Off – go away, get lost
- Piss Up – a party, a get together and in Australia – most social occasions
- Piss – (To Piss) to urinate
- Pissed – Intoxicated, Drunk
- Pissed Off – Annoyed
- Rack Off – The less offensive way to tell someone to ‘F Off’!
- Rapt – Very happy
- Reckon – for sure. ‘You Reckon?’… ‘I reckon!’
- Rellie / Rello – Relatives
- Ripper – ‘You little ripper’ = That’s fantastic mate!
- Root Rat – someone who enjoys sex
- Rooted – Tired
- Runners – Trainers, Sneakers
- Servo – Service Station / Garage (...the Aussies do this with many words. Shorten it and add an O at the end...)
- Sheila – A woman
- Shoot Through – To leave
- Sickie – a sick day off work, or ‘to pull a sickie’ would be to take a day off when you aren’t actually sick
- Skull – To down a beer
- Slab – A carton of beers
- Snag – Sausage
- Stiffy – Erection
- Stoked – Happy, Pleased
- Straya – Australia
- Strewth – An exclamation of surprise
- Stubby – a bottle of beer
- Stubby Holder – Used so your hands don’t get cold when holding your beer!
- Stuffed – Tired
- Sunnies – Sunglasses
- Swag – Single bed you can roll up, a bit like a sleeping bag.
- Tea – Dinner
- Tinny – Can of beer or small boat
- Thongs – Flip Flops. Do not be alarmed if your new found Australian friend asks you to wear thongs to the beach. They are most likely expressing their concern of the hot sand on your delicate feet.
- Tucker – Food. ‘Bush Tucker’ tends to be food found in the Outback such as witchety grubs.
- U-IE- Make a U-Turn while driving.
- YA- you
- Youse- plural of you.
So...there you have it.
Soon we will begin our trek into The "Straya" Outback!
