Australian English vocabulary

Encyclopedia : A : AU : AUS : Australian English vocabulary

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According to stereotype, spoken Australian English is thought to be highly colloquial, possibly more so than other spoken variants. Whether this idea is grounded in reality or not, a substantial number of publications aimed at giving an overview of Australian English have been published.

Many books about Australian vocabulary have been published, beginning with Karl Lentzner's Dictionary of the Slang-English of Australia and of Some Mixed Languages in 1892. Several similar books soon followed, including a relatively modest but authoritative work by E. E. Morris: Austral English: A Dictionary of Australasian Words, Phrases and Usages (1898).

After a long period of disinterest and/or antipathy, the first dictionaries of Australian English began to appear. In 1976, the Australian Pocket Oxford Dictionary was published, the first dictionary edited and published in Australia, by Graeme Johnston. In 1981, the more comprehensive Macquarie Dictionary of Australian English was published, after 10 years of research and planning. Updated editions have been published since and the Macquarie Dictionary is widely regarded as authoritative. A fuller Oxford Dictionary of Australian English has also been published.

Various publishers have also produced "phrase books" to assist visitors. These books reflect a highly exaggerated and often outdated style of Australian colloquialisms and they should partially be regarded as amusements rather than accurate usage guides.

General vocabulary

This list is not intended to be comprehensive. Please see separate articles for Australian rhyming slang, Australian English terms for people, Australian English terms for food and drink, Australian rules football slang, and Australian military slang.

A to D

A

• aerial ping-pong – Australian Rules Football (derogatory term)
• aggro – aggressive or aggravation
• arse – as elsewhere in English, slang for buttocks (sometimes also the anus). In Australia the derivation arsey means someone showing daring, audacity, and/or cheekiness. It (arsey) can also mean lucky – eg to fall over and not get hurt is arsey. Arsed can indicate a lack of interest, as in "I couldn't be arsed to do it". The North American spelling and pronunciation of ass is also used. Comedians Roy and H.G. have also popularised use of the term date to mean anus.
• arvo – short for afternoon
• Arse nuts - eggs. Bum nuts is also in use.

B

• barbie – short form of barbecue; an outdoor meal of cooked chops and sausages (snags or bangers) and usually garnished with "Dead Horse" (Tomato sauce) or sometimes BBQ sauce. Australians also refer to Barbie as in the doll.
• barrack – to hoot or cheer in support of something, invariably a sporting team (typically Rugby League or Australian rules football). Cognisant with the US "root". For example: "who do you barrack for?" Almost the exact opposite of the (now rare) British usage of barrack, that is to denigrate: to jeer or hoot against something, such as a sporting team.
• beaut – adjective meaning great, terrific. for example "I've just bought a beaut new car".
• beauty! – exclamation showing approval, usually corrupted and spelt as bewdy! (to represent broad Australian pronunciation). For example: "you bewdy!"
• bickie – biscuit. Sometimes also used as a word for a cigarette lighter, after the manufacturer Bic. More recently this has become a slang word for the drug ecstasy, from the slang disco biscuit.
• big bickies - a large sum of money, expensive, well-remunerated
• billy - a deep, round tin used to make tea (or used more generally for cooking) over a campfire.
• biscuit – cf. American English cookie and cracker.
• blue
• * a brawl or heated argument (for example "they were having a blue"), similar to the British word "barney". (biff is also used in this sense)
• * an embarrassing mistake (for example "I've made a blue")
• * pornographic ("a blue movie")
• * offensive ("blue language")
• * someone with red hair and freckles (also "Bluey")
• blue swimmer – a ten dollar note
• bludge – to shirk, be idle, or waste time either doing nothing or something inappropriate; also to live off others efforts rather than providing for one's self (for example "Hey mate, can I bludge a smoke?" or receiving welfare payments). (Compare bum)
• bloody – "the great Australian adjective / adverb" (for example The price of fuel nowadays is bloody outrageous!) Also common in British English). Roughly translates as "very".
• Bloody Oath – Used as an affirmative to a statement, often when something has been understated. Believed to date back to colonial times, from the expression "My colonial oath!" and then later "My Australian oath!"
• blowie – the common blow-fly
• bodged – inferior or poor quality, as in "That's a bodged paint job". Contraction of bodgie (see below, Old, Declining or Expiring slang.)
• bot – either the buttocks (an abbreviation of bottom), or to ask for an object (without any obligation to return), as in "can I bot a cigarette?". (Compare bum.)
• bottle shop – a shop selling alcoholic drinks (for external consumption). cf. British English off-licence
• bottlo – (also bottle-o) (pronounced bottle oh) diminutitve form of bottle shop
• brekky – short for breakfast.
• buckley's – (originally "buckley's chance"); something which has little or no chance of success, as in "You've got buckley's of getting there before the store closes." Origin uncertain, possibly a reference to an escaped convict, William Buckley, who was believed dead in 1803, but lived in an Aboriginal community for more than 30 years. Alternatively the expression may have originated with, or was influenced by, a Melbourne business known as Buckley and Nunn. Alternatively believed to be a reference to a rural hardware store, Buckley's. As in, "If you want nails, you've got two chances: Buckley's and none"
• budgie smugglers – Men's Speedo swimwear. Given this term because a well-endowed man wearing Speedos can look like he has stuffed a Budgerigar (a native Australian bird) down them.
• bugger
• * the process of wrecking or wearing something out, or making a general mess of things ("You'll bugger it up"),
• * a general purpose epithet that can range from endearment to awed surprise to outright hostility ("He's a dear old bugger" vs "well bugger me" vs "You little bugger!")
• * describing something as hard to do ("It'd be a bugger to fold up a full scale road map").
• * commonly used as a word of exclamation, as in "bugger!" Originally a very offensive word that is no longer considered as offensive.
• * to sodomise. Originally considered very offensive due to this meaning.
• buggered – broken (for example it's buggered, mate or steve buggered it); or exhausted, tired out (for example I'm buggered). Also "I'll be buggered!", an expression of surprise, or an intention to disallow something ("I'll be buggered if I'll let that stop me").
• buggerise – see "piss-fart around".
• bum – shares both meanings of bot (see above). Can also mean someone who is lazy.
• * to be lazy or unproductive, similar to bludge ("I bummed around home all day"). "A bum" is usually a lazy, unproductive and often cheap person (commonly used in the term "uni bum", ie a university student). Not usually a homeless person, as in the North American usage of bum, but the term "homeless bum" is gaining popularity.
• bum-sniffing – derogatory term used to describe Rugby, due to the use of the scrum.
• bung
• * originally a stopper in a cask; a synonym for "put" or "place"; as in "bung it in the oven" (also used in British English); also pretending as in "bunging it on"
• * not working, broken, impaired, injured or infected. From the Jagara (Aboriginal language) word for "dead".
• bush - woodland
• bushwalking – hiking in the bush.

C

• cactus – non-functional. For example "This computer is cactus!"
• carn – Assimilation of "come on!" Usually used to either goad someone "Carn, have another" or to cheer on a sporting team "Carn the 'Doggies!'"
• chook – a chicken, also used in New Zealand.
• chunder – to be sick/throw up, also as a noun to refer to vomit.
• Clayton's – not the real thing, ersatz (from a brand of zero alcohol mixer, advertised as "The drink you have when you're not having a drink") less widely used than in New Zealand.
• crook – unwell; also unfair. For example "I am feeling a bit crook after that curry"; "That's a bit crook that they sacked you, Jim." Can also mean angry: "I'm really crook at you now mate."
• cut – angry or upset. To be "half cut" means to be moderately drunk. To be "mad as a cut snake" means angry.
• cuppa – a cup of tea or coffee.

D

• dead soldier – empty beer bottle.
• deadly – Aboriginal English – excellent.
• devo – devastated, as in the saying "After her mother died, she was totally devo" or deviant, as in "what a devo".
• der – exasperated acknowledgment "that's obvious" as in "Mum's gunna be crook that the window's broken." – "Well, DER!." Common in Victoria and New South Wales, especially among children. Also der brain, an idiot or fool.
• derro - a pejorative term for a vagrant, especially an alcoholic one (abbreviation of 'derelict')
• dink – to give somebody a lift on the back of a bicycle. The term 'double-dink' is used in Northern and Western NSW.
• dinkum – honest, genuine, real (OED). Probably not, as is often claimed, from the Cantonese (or Hokkien) ding kam, meaning "top gold". Most scholars believe dinkum was a dialect word from the East Midlands of England, where it meant "hard work" or "fair work", which was also the original meaning in Australian English.[link] The derivation dinky-di means a native-born Australian or "the real thing". Fair dinkum means "fair and square," i.e. honest. Can be shortened to "Dinks"
• division – electoral district, equivalent to constituency in UK, electorate in New Zealand, riding in Canada (This term is formally used in the parliament but in general use the term 'electorate' is most common).
• dob – to inform on. Personal noun: dobber or dibber dobber. The saying "dibber dobbers wear nappies" is commonly used by children.
• donk – refers to a combustion engine of any size, belonging to any type of vehicle. Commonly used in a statement such as 'Check out the size of that donk, it's massive!!
• doona – cf. British duvet. From the brand name "Doona". Originally the generic term was continental quilt. In South Australia and, to a lesser extent, Queensland the word quilt is used, and the term eiderdown (from the name of the eider duck) is also used.
• doover – a placeholder, for an object whose name is unknown or forgotten, perhaps from "it'll do for now". for example "Do you know where I put that doover?" Also "doover-malaky" or "doover-lacky."
• dreamtime – In the mythology of most Indigenous Australians, a "golden age" when the first ancestors and living things were created. A calque of the Arrernte word alcheringa.
• dummy – a device, usually plastic, for babies to suck. cf. American pacifier (also common in British English); or cf. American mannequin.
• dunny – a toilet, the appliance or the room – especially one in a separate outside building. This word has the distinction of being the only word for "toilet" which is not a euphemism of some kind. It is from the old English "dunnykin": a container for dung. However Australians use the term toilet more so than dunny.
• durry – a cigarette, more specifically a roll up cigarette. Possible etymology: Durrie Rug, which is normally stored rolled up, from the Jaipur region of India.

E to K

E

• electorate – electoral district/division.
• emu bob – the duty given to enlisted men in the military, of picking up cigarette butts lying around barracks and parade grounds. The term arose by the similarity between a person bending over to pick up litter and the distinctive bob that emus make when picking at the ground. The term is only used in military circles. It was also used up until at least the last 5 years by Scouts and Cub Scouts for the same activity. The term emu parade, meaning the collection of all types of litter, enjoys wider usage. The term emubob is still used among Australian Army Cadets to describe the duty of moving through an area in extended file to pick up rubbish.
• esky – portable cooler in plastic and/or polystyrine foam, a genericized trademark from the trade name Esky.

F

• fag – a cigarette, in common with British English. Due to American media influence this term can also refer to a homosexual man.
• fair dinkum – see dinkum.
• fair enough – "I don't see a problem with that". (Can be used as a replacement for 'OK')
• fanny – vagina (same meaning as in British English), unlike North America, where it means buttocks. (The item known to Americans as a "fanny pack" is a "bum bag" in Australia).
• footpath – any well-used walkway, but in particular a paved walkway running parallel to a street or road, and known in other countries as a sidewalk or pavement.
• football – or its shortened form footy, can mean several different codes of football, usually Australian rules football,Rugby League or Rugby Union, or the ball used to play any of them. (See The word football in Australia.)
• franger – condom

G

• gammon or gammon job (mainly used in the Northern Territory and Far North Queensland) – A word derived from a similar sounding Aboriginal word meaning "invented" or "not true". As in "that's gammon mate" or "no mate, that's a gammon job there".
• garn – assimilation of go on or short for going, for example garn y'mongrel (that is go on you mongrel). See carn.
• Garna or Garner - to take a look at something. As in 'let's go take a garner next door.'
• g'day – the typical Aussie greeting, short for good day. Generally a Broad Australian or working class/ blue collar greeting.
• goon
• *cheap cask wine, also can mean the bag containing the wine also know as a goon bag.
• *another name for a man, woman, or animal with an ape appearance
• goonah – Aboriginal word meaning faeces. Used in general English in parts of Australia with a large Aboriginal population, including the Northern Territory (universally used), and in sections in other states.
• grouse – great. Common in Victoria
• guernsey – a sporting team jumper; by extension also sometimes means a place on a sporting team as in didn't get a guernsey, meaning didn't get a place on the team or a chance to play.
• gun – excellent ability; "he's a gun footballer". Derived from shearing – the fastest shearer in the shed was the 'gun-shearer'. Can also be applied to other things, to call them above-average, "that was a gun match".

H

• Hills Hoist – a type of rotary clothes-line; Hills was the designer and original manufacturer of the rotary clothes-line.

I

• icy pole – most common generic name for a frozen flavoured water product; also known as an ice block, popsicle, ice stick, or by jingo. (Known as an ice lolly in some countries.). Another term, paddle pop, generally refers to a basic ice-cream on a wooden stick, due to a popular brand of the product bearing that name.

J

• jet – To go somewhere in a hurry – "I've got to jet off mate"
• jocks – men's brief-style underpants. Probably derived either from Jockstrap, or most likely from the Jockey brand of underpants.

K

• kick on – partying on after a discoteque or night club has finished, usually involving more drinking and/or drug taking.
• knackered – see buggered.

L to P

L

• legless – drunk
• light globe – the common name for light bulbs. "Globe" is no longer commonly used in this sense outside Australia. "Bulb" is sometimes also heard in Australia.
• lolly (plural: lollies) – confectionery (cf. American candy, UK sweets).

M

• Macca's (pron. "mackers") – McDonald's restaurant.
• maggot
• * a drunk, really drunk.
• * a reprehensible or despicable person.
• * an AFL umpire (white maggot)
• manchester – household linen.
• marg – a cigarette.
• mark – to catch a ball cleanly off another player's boot in Australian rules football, a feat which entitles the marker (catcher) to a free kick.
• Mangkin - a common, often Western Australian expression used to describe the behaviour of someone on drugs. Usually magic mushrooms, which are native to Western Australia.
• milk bar - a shop where milk-shakes and other refreshments can be bought. In Victoria and New South Wales is a local shop where basic groceries such as bread, milk, and other everyday household goods can also be bought. Known as a deli in South Australia and Western Australia and as a corner shop in Queensland(also a "convenience store") and Tasmania. (In States other than SA and WA, "deli" retains the usual international usage of delicatessen.)
• mozz – or "to put the mozz on". This term is used as an alternate form of "jinx".
• mozzie (or mozzy) – a short term for mosquito.
• munt – a session of drinking, generally involving drugs.
• munted – either broken, mangled or state of inebriation, generally from drugs.

N

• nature strip (or verge in Western Australia) – a lawn or plantation in the road reserve between the property boundary and the street. Known as a tree lawn in American English.
• no worries – used in place of you're welcome, no problem, that's all right, etc. Often "no worries mate" or shortened to "nurries"
• noon – as opposed to the British English midday. Also used in American English
• no wuckin' furries – a spoonerism of no fuckin' worries, has the same usage as no worries. Used where the original version might be regarded as offensive. Sometimes shortened to no wuckers.

O

• Oz – shortened form of Australia (see also "Aussie"). Also known as Down Under because of Australia's geographical location on a globe, this term was made popular due to the song "Down Under" by Australian band Men at Work.

P

• pav – pavlova, a large plate sized kind of meringue dessert, with cream and fruit topping. Also used in New Zealand English
• pearler – an excellent example of something (e.g. mate, that new car of yours is a pearler.).
• perv – as a verb, "to have a look", as in "I'm going round to have a perv at my mate's new car". Often, and possibly its original use was with a slight sexual connotation as in, "Let's have a perv at those chicks over there". As a noun, referring to a person, it is used with a stronger and often disapproving connotation ranging in meaning from "dirty old man" to someone who likes to leer at the opposite sex.
• pineapple – a fifty dollar note.
• pinged – caught doing something wrong, esp. by an umpire in the game of Australian rules football when penalised for holding the ball.
• pissed – drunk. May also refer to being angry.
• piss-fart around – to waste time (for example we piss-farted around for a couple of hours at the beach; Stop piss-farting around and do your work.).
• piss-off – telling a person to get lost.
• piss-up – a drinking session (we're heading down the pub for a piss-up) or a party/get-together – usually one where excessive alcohol consumption is expected (piss-up at Jack's place tonight!). Sometimes heard in the description couldn't organise a piss-up in a brewery ie. disorganised and/or ineffectual.
• piss-weak – a general purpose negative with meanings including weak (this coffee's piss-weak), ineffectual or pathetic (that engine's piss-weak) and unfair (that was a piss-weak decision). Also "piss-poor"
• pissing down – used to describe heavy rainfall.
• pluggers - thongs.
• point percy at the porcelain - Urinating in a modern toilet.
• port – any form of hand luggage, especially a school bag, only used in Queensland and to some extent in New South Wales. From the word "portmanteau".

Q to Z

R

• ratshit – something that is broken or not working properly. "The engine's ratshit"
• reg grundies – Underpants (rhyming slang for 'undies')
• ripper – similar to "beauty". Something that is excellent. "What a ripper of a goal that was!" or "you little ripper". Possible etymology; from rippa - Japanese (りっぱ), meaning splendid, fine or elegant. Possibly from Japanese pearl divers living in Australia during the late 19th Century.
• root – to have sex. Also a noun, as in "I'm dyin' for a root" This can inadvertently cause embarrassment for Americans visiting Australia, if they declare that they "root" for a particular sports team.
• rooted – broken or tired; see buggered.
• rort – a scam, especially the exploitation of rules or laws; used mostly to describe the actions of politicians. (Also lurk as a noun.)

S

• sealed road – a road covered in bitumen, equivalent to paved road in British English. In Western Australia, the US term blacktop has also become widely used.
• secondary college – high school (used in many Victorian high schools)
• servo – the accepted abbreviation for a service station. (The equivalent of a gas station in North America.)
• shame or shame job – based on Aboriginal culture, where shame is a major factor, the word and phrase has been adapted in to general English in areas with a large Aboriginal population. As in "oh shame job man" and "shame, shame". Usually used by school-aged children.
• she'll be right - general pacifier indicating 'it will be okay'. "My car's buggered." "Just a gasket, mate. She'll be right.".
• sheltershed – in most States a simple detached building for the protection of school children from hostile weather. Also known as a lunch shed, weather shed or undercover area.
• shit-hot – exclamation; excellent.
• shit-house – originally a term for a toilet, but now a generic descriptor meaning something that is badly done or made, or bad in general, as in "The Eagles played shithouse last weekend". Rarely, abbreviated to shouse.
• shout – to treat someone or to pay for something, especially a round of drinks, as in "Cough up, Bill — it's your shout", "Let's go for a coffee: my shout".
• shonky – poorly made or of low quality. Also dishonest.
• sick – very good; usually intensified in the phrase "fully sick". Often heard in Melbourne's western suburbs
• sickie – a day of absence from work, sometimes due to feigned illness. To "chuck a sickie" is to partake in such a day.
• slab – a carton (24 cans) of beer. More recently augmented in some states by the block, which contains 30 cans.
• slaughtered - either extremely tired or drunk
• smashed considerably drunk . Also see pissed.
• smoko – A short break from work, named for a "smoking break" but synonymous with coffee break. Used to describe any short break from work or activity, even if it does not include smoking.
• snagger or snag – sausage.
• sook – (n) a petulant person; (v) to be petulant, She's sooking again. Also a noun; He's such a sook!
• spare – very angry or upset. "He went spare".
• sparky – electrician.
• spanner – as in British English, a tool used for adjusting bolts, equivalent to the North American wrench. However in Australian English it can also can be a derogatory remark, e.g. "that guy is an absolute spanner". Similar to tool.
• spit the dummy – To throw a tempter tantrum. Refers to a baby who becomes so angry, that the baby spits the dummy (pacifier) out of its mouth.
• spruik – cf. British flog. To promote or sell something.
• spud – potato
• squiz – To have a look, as in "Let's take a squiz at the new house".
• sticks – see woop-woop
• stickybeak – to nose around, as in "I'll go to Fred's place and have a stickybeak around the back."
• Strine – a word used to describe Australian spoken English. From the Broad Australian pronunciation of "Australian". Strayan is an alternative. In the same vein, Straya is an attempt to express the pronunciation of "Australia".
• super – short for superannuation, the Australian term for a private retirement pension, equates to the US 401k.
• suss
• * suspicious or suspect. That food looks a bit sus ie that food looks a bit suspicious or off.
• * to figure something out, or to uncover something/someone. Eg. I finally sussed out the crossword, I finally worked out the crossword; or I sussed out that James was smoking marajuana, I found out that James was smoking marajuana.
• * to have something worked out, to have a plan. Don't worry, I've got it all sussed out.
• sweet – fine, good

T

• ta - thank you
• thingo, thingamajig or thingameebob – a placeholder word for an object whose name is unknown or forgotten. Thingie and whatsit are also used with this meaning.
• thong – A backless sandal, usually made of plastic, the top section of which sits between the big and second toes. Known as jandals in New Zealand English. The name thong was also the original name for this footwear in the U.S. but the name flip flop later came to dominate and the term thong in the U.S. now more commonly refers to G-string style underwear. Due to U.S. influences in Australia thong is now also used in Australia to refer to the underwear.
• toey - to be on edge, nervous, distracted
• tool – penis. Also used as a general insult. Mate, you're a tool.
• too right – that is correct. Bloke A:That Nicole Kidman's a top lookin' sheila. Bloke B:Too right she is mate.
• tuckered - tired and sleepy.

U

• U-ie – (pronounced "yew-ee") a U-turn. Often used in a phrase like "Chuck a u-ie here, Bill" (make a u-turn here, Bill). U-bolt is also used, albeit less commonly, as a metaphor for the same motoring manoeuvre.
• Un-Australian – considered to be an example of unacceptable behaviour or policy in Australia or undertaken by Australians particularly when it violates cultural or traditional values. (funnily enough, this term rarely seems to be used by anyone outside of politics.)
• ute – short for utility vehicle. A car-like vehicle with a tray back, possibly with sides, a rear gate and/or a removable cover. Any small truck. Generally cognisant with pickup in most countries; Australian-made Holden and Ford utes are based on family car chassis, and are normally much smaller than North American pickup trucks. However, all imported pickups are also known as utes in Australia.
• Ugg boots or uggies – a type of boot/slipper hybrid made of sheep skin.

W

• wag or wagging – to skip school or work to do something else on someone else's time.
• wagon – station wagon in US, estate car in UK
• wing - used instead of pass or give, as in "Wing us a smoke, mate." Also 'to wing' means to undertake a task unprepared.
• whinge - similar to crying, but more commonly used for adults. In particular a "whinger" is someone who disagrees in an annoying fashion.
• woop-woop (Also whoop-whoop) or the back of Bourke or beyond the Black stump – a generic far-off place (for example out past woop-woop – with the short oo sound used in 'cook').

Y

• youse – plural of the pronoun you, also common in Irish, Scottish and US English.

Old, declining or expired slang

Many distinctive Australian words have been driven into extinction or near extinction in recent decades under the homogenising influence of mass media and imported culture, because of changes in fashion, or have fallen into disuse as society changes. Those who like or use these words regret their passing but informal vocabulary is by nature ephemeral. Others who use these words do so ironically.

Some examples:

• block – as in 'do the block', to parade around or be on display, especially in public. or 'do my block' to get aggressive. "He was off his block".
• blimey – An exclamation of surprise or astonishment, as in "Caw blimey!". Popularly used term of international Australian celebrity Steve Irwin and Home and Away's Alf Stewart
• bodgie – bad or poor quality (adjective) or; a male member of a 1950s rock 'n' roll subculture (noun). In the latter sense, similar to both US greasers and British rockers.
• bonzer – excellent (almost extinct). Often in the exclamation bonzer beauty. Probably from the Spanish word bonanza, by way of American English. Also spelt bonza.
• cobber – friend, buddy. Nearly extinct.
• clobber – clothes. "That's some fancy clobber ya got there, mate"
• cooee! – a shouted greeting. Also in the phrase "not within cooee," meaning "a long way off." Once ubiquitous, now almost extinct.
• dogs, jacks or traps – the police. These Australianisms have been largely replaced by the international cops, coppers, pigs or bacon. However the older, more affectionate wallopers is also still used. jacks survives in semi-common usage in Melbourne's Western suburbs.
• drongo – an idiot (usage in decline); from a subfamily of Australian birds. (According to mythology, these have extravagantly flared tails and cavort noisily in groups as part of their mating habits.) Possibly an indirect derivation, from the name of a remarkably unsuccessful racehorse.
• flamin' – an exclamatory term, usually with bad connotations for example "You flamin' mongrel!" (This phrase is famously used on Australian soap opera Home and Away by Alf Stewart, but is not unique to Australia and is also common in British English).
• furphy – a lie or rumour. Furphy was the supplier of water carts to the Australian Army in World War I. Much like modern day water coolers, the carts became meeting points and rumour mills.
• galah – a fool (survives, but in decline), from the bird. This word has been used in commercials against drunk driving; "Don't be a galah!".Alf Stewart
• map of Tassie – Female pubic hair. Tassie being short for Tasmania and used for the general similarity in shape of the map to this part of the anatomy. Not in common usage.
• nasho – adjective and noun, pertaining to National Service or conscription for military service esp. in 1960s.
• sharpie – member of a 1960s and 1970s teenage subculture. Probably from "sharply dressed" and/or a reference to the use of knives.
• struth! (sometimes spelt strewth) – expression of shock or dismay (replaced by stronger expletives such as "fuck!" or "shit!"). Possibly of Shakespearean origin, "God's Truth". Also heard occasionally in the English Cockney dialect. Other older expletives of English origin such as "cripes," "my oath" and "blimey" are also dying out. Most famously used by Alf Stewart
• widgie – female bodgie (see above).
• wowser – a killjoy or puritan. Still used but in decline.
• zoomly - to be driven crazy by harsh conditions to the point of leaving. rarely heard anymore.

Rhyming slang

A common feature of traditional Australian English was rhyming slang, based on Cockney rhyming slang and imported by migrants from London in the 19th century. Rhyming slang consists of taking a phrase, usually of two words, which rhymes with a commonly used word, then using the first word of the phrase the represent the word. In recent years this feature of Australian English has declined under the impact of mass popular culture.

Terms for people

Australians use a variety of colourful terms to refer to people. These terms may indicate such things as the person's ethnicity, the place where the person resides, the social status of the person, the person's behaviour, etc. Many of these words occur in other English dialects, especially New Zealand English, whilst others are unique to Australian English.

Place names

It is common amongst Australians to shorten place names, commonly through the use of diminuitives. Other colloquialisms have developed from characteristics of areas.

• Baulko – Baulkham Hills, New South Wales, also refers to Baulkham Hills High School
• Belly South - Belgrave South, Victoria
• Benders - Bendigo, Victoria
• Broady - Broadmeadows, Victoria
• Bundy – Bundaberg, Queensland, also refers to Bundaberg Rum
• Brissie or Brissy – Brisbane, Queensland
• Brisvegas – Brisbane, Queensland, in reference to Las Vegas, Nevada.
• Brunny - Brunswick, Victoria
• Byron – Byron Bay, New South Wales
• Cab or Cabra or Stabramatta – Cabramatta, New South Wales
• Campo – Camperdown, New South Wales
• Carlo – Carlingford, New South Wales
• Chaddy - Chadstone, Victoria
• Chaps - Chapel Street, Melbourne
• Chezza or The Brook or Chinabrook - Cherrybrook, New South Wales
• Coffs – Coffs Harbour, New South Wales
• Dandy – Dandenong, Victoria
• Darlo – Darlinghurst, New South Wales
• Denny - Deniliquin, New South Wales
• Donny - Doncaster, Victoria
• Doony - Doonside, New South Wales
• Drewy - Mount Druitt, New South Wales
• Dubs or Dubsville or Dubsvegas - Dubbo, New South Wales
• Erko - Erskineville, New South Wales
• Freo - Fremantle, Western Australia
• Girra – Girraween, New South Wales, also refers to Girraween High School and Girraween National Park
• Goldy or GC - Gold Coast, Queensland
• Indro – Indooroopilly, Queensland
• Lisless - Lismore, New South Wales
• Livo - Liverpool, New South Wales
• Lonnie - Launceston, Tasmania
• Maroochy - Maroochydore, Queensland
• Nulla - Cronulla, New South Wales
• Paddo – Paddington, New South Wales, also refers to Paddington, Queensland, or the Hotel there.
• Pakky - Pakenham, Victoria
• Parra – Parramatta, New South Wales
• Penno – Pennant Hills, New South Wales, also refers to Penrith, New South Wales
• Prinny Hill – Princes Hill, Victoria, also refers to Princes Hill Secondary College
• Reddy - Redcliffe, Queensland
• Rivo - Riverstone, New South Wales
• Rocky - Rockhampton, Queensland
• Rotto - Rottnest Island, Western Australia
• Schoey - Schofields, New South Wales
• Shep - Shepparton, Victoria
• Snives - St Ives, New South Wales
• Springy – Springvale, Victoria
• St Africa – St Ives, New South Wales, from the large population of emigrants from South Africa.
• Steel Cock - Iron Knob, South Australia
• Sunny Coast - Sunshine Coast, Queensland
• Surfers - Surfers Paradise, Queensland
• Sutho- Sutherland, New South Wales
• T'Gon – Traralgon, Victoria
• Tempy - Templestowe, Victoria
• The Cross – Kings Cross, New South Wales
• The G - The MCG - Melbourne Cricket Ground
• The Gabba - Woolloongabba, Queensland, also refers to the cricket stadium in the suburb.
• The Go - Bendigo, Victoria
• The Gong – Wollongong, New South Wales
• The Gul - Warragul, Victoria
• The Gully - Ferntree Gully, Victoria
• The Prom - Wilsons Promontory
• The Rat - Ballarat, Victoria
• The Shire - Sutherland Shire, New South Wales
• The Valley – Fortitude Valley, Queensland, also refers to the Latrobe Valley, Victoria
• Thommo - Thomastown, Victoria
• Toony - Toongabbie, New South Wales
• Torks - Torquay, Victoria
• Upper Gully - Upper Ferntree Gully, Victoria
• Wagga – Wagga Wagga, New South Wales
• Wang - Wangaratta, Victoria
• Wazza - Warrandyte, Victoria
• Wenty – Wentworthville, New South Wales
• West Penno – West Pennant Hills, New South Wales

Food and drink

Where foodstuffs are concerned, Australian English tends to be more closely related to British than to American vocabulary. In a few cases, however, Australian English uses the same terms as American English, whereas the British use the equivalent French terms. This is possibly due to a fashion that emerged in mid-19th Century Britain of adopting French nouns for foodstuffs. There are also occasions when Australians use words or terms which are not common in other forms of English except sometimes in New Zealand English.

There is some regional variation when it comes to Australian English terms for food and drink. For example the term for processed pork can vary from state to state and even from city to city. Other terms which vary significantly from state to state are the terms for beer glasses.

Clothes

• cardie – cardigan
• dacks (daks) – trousers, most likely derived from the London clothier Daks (founded in 1894). Trackie dacks are tracksuit pants, and underdacks are underpants or knickers. To dak someone is to pull their pants down.
• flannie or flanno – A shirt made from flannelette, most often with a check pattern.
• gumboots – Wellington boots.
• Jackie Howe or singlet – a blue singlet popularised by famous shearer Jackie Howe and blue collar workers.
• jocks - men's briefs, from the brandname 'Jockette' owned by the Jockey Company.
• moccies – moccasin-style footwear.
• singlet – a sleeveless undershirt, known in British English as a vest and in American English as a tank top (or, colloquially, as a "wife beater").
• thongs – flip-flops, cf. NZE jandals. The undergarment is called a g-string in Australia.
• runners or joggers (NSW/ Queensland) – running shoes. The term Sneakers is increasly used, but refers mainly to basketball and casual shoes.
• ugg boots – sheepskin boot. This word has been trademarked by Deckers Outdoor Corporation in some countries, however, it has always been regarded as a generic word in Australian English as it has been in the language for many decades and is commonly used. There was a great battle over the ugg boot trade-mark and Deckers lost or withdrew from trademarking the name in Australia.
• truck driver – A blue "wife beater" singlet.

Swimwear

Swimwear is known by different names around Australia. The most some common terms are:

• bathers – the most common term in Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania and occasionally in other states. From "bathing suit".
• boardies – short for "board shorts".
• cossie – from "swimming costume". Usage of this name is generally restricted to New South Wales.
• speedos – generic term for men's swimming briefs which originated in Australia, as a brand name (see Speedo). Known colloquially as sluggos, budgie smugglers, dick stickers, dick dacks, dick hangers, dick togs ("DTs" for short) and cock jocks ("CJs").
• swimmers – used mainly in New South Wales, from "swimming costume".
• togs – used mainly in Queensland, but also by some people in Western Australia and Victoria, to describe any type of swimwear.
• trunks – now virtually extinct, formerly used by some people in various regions, to describe any type of swimwear.

[Main source: Australian Word Map],

Transport

Cars

• Commodore – popular family car designed and built by Holden (see below).
• Falcon – popular family car designed and built by Ford Australia.
• Holden – Australian branch of General Motors. Manufacturers of the Commodore in addition to other models.
• Magna – family car designed and built by Mitsubishi Motors Australia, until 2004. Replaced by the Mitsubishi 380.

Work/goods vehicles

In Australia, the vehicles known as pickups elsewhere are referred to as utes (short for utility). Truck (rather than lorry) has been the preferred term for heavy goods vehicles in Australia since World War II. Four wheel drive, which is often abbreviated in writing as 4WD, is the usual name for the class of vehicles known elsewhere as SUVs, as well as utes with 4WD capability. In contrast to American English, neither utes nor passenger 4WD vehicles are usually regarded as being "trucks" in Australia.

There are a variety of terms for large and/or articulated trucks, depending on the type of cargo area, size/length, number of axles/wheels and so on. A single trailer articulated truck (typically with 32 wheels in Australia) is known as a semi (an abbreviated form of semi-trailer), an articulated truck with two trailers (typically with 50 tyres) is known as a B-Double. The largest of all articulated trucks are road trains, common on Outback highways, which have at least three trailers and often more. In all articulated truck configurations, the powered vehicle at the front is invariably known as a prime mover.

Police vehicles

The panel vans used by police forces are known in most parts of Australia as paddywagons or as black marias (although this term is also used to refer to the vans used to transport prisoners between prison and courts), in accordance with international usage. However, in Melbourne as in other parts of Victoria they are often also called divvy vans, an abbreviation of the archaic Victoria Police jargon divisional van. The staccato chant of "You're going home in the back of a divvy van" (followed by clapping) can occasionally be heard when a crowd is nearby one of these vehicles, or when a person is led away by the police at a sporting or other large event. In Sydney, some people refer to similar vehicles as bull wagons and in the Riverina they are known as bun wagons.

Larger police vans, generally on truck chassis, which have facilities to test the blood alcohol levels of suspected drunk drivers, are known as booze buses.

Sporting terms

Cricket

The game of cricket is immensely popular in Australia and has contributed a rich vein of slang to Australian English. Some of this is shared with rival cricketing nations, like the English and the New Zealanders.

Australians can be bowled over (taken by surprise), stumped (nonplussed) or clean bowled or alternatively hit for six (completely defeated). When answering questions, one can play a straight bat (or a dead bat) (give a noncommittal answer) or let that one through to the keeper or shoulder arms (dodge the question), particularly if they are on a sticky wicket (in a tight situation). The questioner in turn can send down a bouncer, a googly, a flipper or a yorker (difficult questions to varying degrees). Alternatively, the question could be a long hop or a dolly — an easy question that person being questioned can use to his or her advantage. The expression "to bat for the other side" is commonly used in respect of gay men or lesbians, and is not necessarily a pejorative.

Football

The word football is used for several different games by Australians, who generally fall into four camps when it comes to the use of the word:

• In most of the Australian states, the word "football" usually refers to Australian rules football (also known simply as Australian football or "Aussie Rules"). In these States there is little or no popular differentiation between the two kinds of rugby football.
• In the States of New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland, most people refer to rugby league simply as "football". Rugby union is known simply as "rugby". Australian rules is often known in these areas as "AFL" (a name which, strictly speaking, refers to the main governing body, the Australian Football League).
• In areas in which all three codes are popular, especially the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory and the Riverina (south-western NSW), the word "football" is rarely used, and the names "league", "union" and "Aussie rules" (or just "rules") are used, to avoid confusion.
• Association football is generally known as soccer in Australia. However, sportscasters on the Special Broadcasting Service (if not presenters in other departments at SBS) have always referred to the game as "football". In 2005, the governing body changed its name to Football Federation Australia. Other media sources (especially in New South Wales and Queensland) now also refer to the game as "football".
• In Australia, American football, which has a small following, is known as gridiron.

Australian rules football words

Main articles: Australian rules football slang and List of nicknames used in Australian rules

Players, officials and followers of Australian rules football, have devised many unique concepts, terms, slang and nicknames. Some of these, such as footy, Grand Final and State of Origin have entered wider Australian usage, even among followers of other codes of football.

Australian military slang

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is made up of the Australian Army, the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Each have their own distinct traditions but share a defence force culture. Some words, such as digger, meaning a soldier, have become widely used by Australians in general. However, most slang used in the ADF is restricted to its personnel, or is widely understood outside Australia.

See also

• Australian English
• List of English words of Australian Aboriginal origin

External links

• [ABC Radio National, 1999, Lingua Franca, "Australian English: Australian Identity..."]
• [Australian National Dictionary Centre]
• [Australian Word Map] (Australian regionalisms)
• [Aussie English for beginners — the origins, meanings and a quiz to test your knowledge] at the National Museum of Australia.
• [ABC National Radio, "Mate, What Next?]
• [Macquarie Dictionary]
• [World English Organisation]

 

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