Aussie Phrases and Their Meanings

An introduction to "Aussie Slang"
 
"G'day" and "G’day mate"   
Two local greetings you are likely to hear during your visit to Oz "The Land Downunder". Here  we present some local words and phrases, you are likely to encounter in less formal environments and everyday life, along with their meanings. Australians like most cultures have a unique sense of humour and rarely would an Australian deliberately cause offence or insult to a visitor. So welcome to the "Lucky Country", our way of life and the way we express it.
Before long you'll be speaking 'strine’  like you're a "tru blu", "dinky di" Aussie.
 
Additionally we Aussies sometimes say several words as one for example 'waddayareckon', pronounced "wadda ya reckon" (what do you reckon?), ‘owyagoin’, pronounced "ow ya goin" (how are you going?) etc. Confusing? No worries mate, you’ll soon get used to it.

A - C

 

 

  • Ankle-biter — Small child
  • Arvo — Afternoon.
  • Aussie — An Australian
  • Avos — Avocados.
  • Back o’Bourke — In the middle of nowhere
  • Barrack for – to Cheer. as in barrack for the Blues (a sports team). Warning: Do not use "root" unless you know what it means in Australia.
  • Bash — Party. Also a good time.
  • Battler. - Someone who tries hard despite money problems
  • Beaut, beauty — Great, fantastic, 
  • Big note yourself — talk about yourself and achievements (not considered a good thing to do unless specifically asked)
  • Bloke — Man, guy
  • Bloody— Universal "Great Australian Adjective". Used to emphasise any point or story. Hence "bloody beauty"(bewdy!) or "bloody horrible" or even "absa-bloody-lutely"!
  • Blow in the bag — A breathalyser test
  • Bludger — Lazy person, layabout ( a derogitive term, you do not want to be known as a Bludger !)
  • Bog in — Start eating ravenously
  • Bonnet — Hood of a car.
  • Cask (of wine) -  Boxed wine ready to drink from a spigot.
  • Come good -  Turn out okay.
  • Boot — Trunk of a car.
  • Bottle shop — Liquor shop.
  • Brekkie - Breakfast
  • Buckley's Chance — No chance at all.
  • Bush — The vast Australian countryside. Used as a generalisation
  • Cactus — Dead, not working, broken
  • Chemist shop — Drug store.
  • Chook — Chicken.
  • Chuck a sickie — Call in sick when you’re actually feeling well
  • Chunder — Technicolor yawn — Vomit — Puking or throwing-up
  • Cockie — Farmer.
  • Cooee — A bush yell for when you are lost
  • Crook — Sick, or badly made.
  • Crow eater — A South Australian.

D-H

 

 

  • Dag — A funny person, nerd, goof, loser.
  • Daks — Trousers in Australia, but underpants in New Zealand. Confusion between the two may lead to an embarrassing situation!
  • Digger — A soldier, originally meaning an ANZAC soldier. A highly respected term not to be misused
  • Dill — An idiot.
  • Ding bat — Fool.
  • Dinkum, fair dinkum, dinky di — Genuine, truthful, the real thing
  • Donk— Car or boat engine.
  • Donkey's years— a long time......ages
  • Drink with the flies — To drink alone.
  • Drongo — An unintelligent and worthless person, to do something or act stupid
  • Dunny — The toilet, W.C., or bathroom.
  • Earbash — Talk nonstop
  • Esky — Portable icebox or cooler - it's always a good idea to have one in the boot stocked with some cold ones just in case the party's bar runs dry.
  • Fair Dinkum— Kosher, the real thing - as in "Fair Dinkum Aussie" (true blue Aussie original). Often used by itself as a rhetorical question to express astonishment verging on disbelief ... "Fair Dinkum, mate?" (you've got to be kidding, haven't you?)
  • Fair go, Fair crack of the whip — Give someone a break
  • Footpath — Sidewalk
  • Footy — Aussie Rules
  • Galah — A noisy parrot, used to describe someone who is noisy and nonsensical
  • Game — to be Brave as in "You’re game!"
  • G'arn — Go on, you're kidding!
  • G'day — Universal greeting, used anytime day or night, but never as a farewell. Usually followed by "mate"  or a typically strung-together "howyagoinallright"(= how are you today, feeling pretty good?)
  • Give it away -  Give up. Usually said when someone has had enough of what they are doing or someones point of view.
  • Good as gold — Great!
  • Good Onya — Omnipresent term of approval, sometimes ironic
  • Grizzle — To complain
  • Grog — Liquor, beer. BYOG is "bring your own grog"
  • Grouse — Rhymes with "house" - means outstanding, tremendous. Can be applied universally to all things social ... "grouse birds(women), grouse band
  • Have a yarn — To talk to someone.
  • He’s got tickets on himself — A person who thinks he is the greatest
  • Hoon — Idiot, hooligan
  • Hotel — Often just a pub.

I-L

 

 

  • Jackaroo — A male station hand
  • Jack-in-the-box — Someone who can’t sit still
  • Jillaroo — A female station hand
  • Joey — Baby kangaroo.
  • Journo — Journalist.
  • Jumper — Sweater
  • King hit — A punch delivered without warning
  • Knock — To criticise
  • Knocker — One who criticises
  • Lair — A show-off
  • Lamington -  Sponge cake covered in chocolate and coconut.
  • Larrikin — A ruffian
  • Lift -  Elevator.
  • Lob-in — Drop in to see someone
  • Lollies — Sweets, candies

M-P

 

 

  • Make a crust — Work for a living
  • Newsagent -  Newspaper shop
  • No-hoper — A fool, loser
  • O.S. — Overseas, as in "she's gone O.S."
  • Ocker — Pronounced "ocka" - Typical uncultivated Aussie, similar to Yank "redneck"
  • Offsider — An assistant
  • Oldies — Parents
  • Oz — Term for Australia
  • Paralytic — Extremely drunk
  • Pash — An extremely passionate kiss' or kissing.
  • Perve -  Be a peeping Tom, or to look with lust. From pervert.
  • Pictures -  The movies, cinema, as in Let's go to the pictures.
  • Plonk — Wine. Never used to describe the other main alcoholic beverage at an Australian social occasion - beer
  • Pommie or pom — An English person
  • Pull Your head In — Use sparingingly, since this equates a rather annoyed "shut up & mind your own business".

Q-T

 

 

  • Rafferty's rules — Chaos, disorder
  • Ratbag. - A weirdo or something like that
  • Reckon — Think, as in "Your shout or mine? What' ya reckon?"
  • Right — Okay, as in "she'll be right, mate."
  • Ripper — Pronounced "rippa" means beaut, tippy-tops, grouse
  • Ropable - Extremely angry or bad-tempered
  • Rubbish — To knock something
  • Sandgroper — A Western Australian
  • Schooner — Large beer glass
  • Scratchy — Instant lottery ticket
  • Sheila — A woman now not used much
  • She'll be right — No problem, don't worry, mate
  • Shonky - Dubious, unreliable
  • Shootin' through — Leave, 
  • Shout — To shout means to buy the next round (of drinks usually)
  • Smoko — Smoke or coffee break
  • Snag — A sausage
  • Spit The Dummy — A "dummy" is Australian for a child's pacifier. Lose your cool
  • Spunk — Attractive person (of either sex)
  • Stickybeak — Nosy person
  • Stone the crows — An exclamation of surprise
  • Strewth — Pronounced "sta-ruth" ... general exclamation of disbelief or shock
  • Strine — Australian slang, from "Aus-strine", the way Aussies say Australian
  • Sunbake - Sunbathe
  • Takeaway – To take food or drink away from place of purchase. Take out, to go.
  • Tee-up — To set up an appointment
  • The Lucky Country — Australia, of course
  • Tinny — Can of beer
  • Tomato sauce — Ketchup
  • Too right — Definitely!
  • True blue — Honest, straight
  • Tucker — Food

U-Z

 

 

  • Ute — A pickup truck
  • Vegemite — Sandwich spread derived from vegetable yeast extract. A favourite on hot toast or fresh bread.
  • Walkabout — Aboriginal term meaning "to go on a wander"
  • Whinge — Rhymes with "hinge" as in door! Means to complain incessantly
  • Wobbly — Disturbing, unstable behaviour, as in "to throw a wobbly."
  • Wog — Flu or slight illness, 
  • Woopwoop — used to describe some place nowehere
  • Wowser — Straight-laced person, prude, puritan, spoilsport
  • XXXX — Pronounced Four X, it's Queensland's famous beer
  • Yakka – Work , Hard Yakka – Hard work
  • Yobbo — Uncouth and aggressive person