Aussie Phrases and Their Meanings
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