Australian Slang 101… A Fast Start Guide To Speaking Fluent Aussie

Post image for Australian Slang 101… A Fast Start Guide To Speaking Fluent Aussie

by Marc Valentine

Aussie Slang 101

As it’s my birthday today & I’m a little homesick – I decided to put something special out.

After spying a cooking apron with Aussie slang emblazoned all over it in a kitchen in Barcelona a few days ago… It sparked a discussion with my Aussie friends about Australian slang… what we use & what we don’t – which might be useful for anybody planning a trip to Australia.

So this is the result, a useful list of weird sh!t Aussie’s say…

“G’day mate”

We hosted a couch surfer from Ireland once who was amazed that this phrase actually gets used in Australia. She thought it was a wives tale like the famous “top-a-da-mornin-to-ya” phrase that no one ever actually uses in Ireland.

“No worries”

You’ll hear this everywhere in Aus.

“No wuckers”

This little gem is actually two of our favourite sentences spliced together… no worries and f@ck.

“She’ll be right”

Used in similar context to “no worries” not as common but still comes out every now & then.

“Flat out like a lizard drinking”

In the first person… I’m very busy. or used to describe an object… Tony’s WB Holden goes flat out like a lizard drinking.

“Yah flamin Galah”

You’ve just done or said something very stupid.

“Budgie smugglers”

A common pair of male underpants.

“Shiela”

A woman.

“Stubby holder”

A neoprene sleeve that slides over your “stubby” (bottle of beer) to keep it cold longer. also worn like a bracelet by bogan’s in an attempt to look cool. which leads me to the next slang word…

“Bogan”

A person or persons who typically own only black clothing, easily identified by the sound of a loud V8 engine & ACDC being played at “ear bleed” level from a black car (of course) with all the windows wound down.

“No Shit?”

Is your last statement true & correct?

“Oh Bloody Oath!”

To affirm a statement or answer a direct question… oh bloody oath I’m hungry.

“True Blue”

An object or person of authentic australian origin i.e. old Billy, yeah mate, he’s true blue.

“Ridgy Digde”

This object is the genuine article,

“Mad as a cut snake”

Big John’s guna be mad as a cut snake when he finds out Tina’s been messin round on em.

“Were you born in a lighthouse?”

Would you please be so kind as to turn the lights off when your not using them?

“Were you born in a tent?”

Please close the door!

“I’d kill for a dogs eye with some dead horse”

I’m rather hungry & would very much like to eat a meat pie with tomato sauce.

“Bob’s yer uncle”

Not actually referring to your uncle, but used at the end of a sentence usually after some type of instruction… It basically means if you do exactly as I say everything will work out fine.

“Fair crack-o-the whip”

Usually used to communicate that you feel you’ve been hard done by or offended in some way.

“BYO”

Literally means “Bring Your Own” many restaurants in Australia allow you to BYO wine or beer, you may also receive an invite to a BBQ that’s BYO meat & drinks.

“Dunny”

The bathroom

“Balls up”

To mess something up or do it incorrectly.

“Bum Steer”

If you’ve been given wrong directions… someones sent you on a bum steer.

Another way Aussie’s love to butcher the English language is by shortening, then adding one or two letters to the end of the shortened word… usually “ie” or “o”

Here’s a few examples…

“Barbie”

Barbecue – see what we did there? we shortened the word extensively then added ie. intelligentie hay? here’s 1 more just to make sure you’re getting it…

“Bickie”

A biscuit.

“Blowie”

A big blowfly, which have a particularly infuriating habit of harassing you for your T-bone steak at dinner time in Aus btw.

“Lippie”

Lipstick

A few Australian slang words ending in “O”

“Smoko”

A break from work during mid-morning.

“Servo”

Service station or fuel station.

“Arvo”

The Afternoon.

P.S. You’ll probably aquire a nickname if you hang around long enough in one place, don’t fight it…  that will only make it worse, think of it like quicksand – the more your struggle the worse it gets.

Most likely your new “Aussie name” will include some reference to your country of origin… for example an American might be known as Yankie Tom, or someone from England might be called Pommy Joe.

It’s also entirely possible that you’ll lose your old name altogether (hope your not too attached) if your new name doesn’t incorporate any elements of your old name… it may well have some reference to your appearance…

A particularly tall woman may turn up to work one day and suddenly be known simply as “Legs”.

Or a guy who spends a lot of time at the gym could become “Arnie” or “Muscles”.

If you wish to further your study of Australian Slang, here’s some excellent material to consider…

Movies…

  • The Castle
  • Chopper

Series…

  • Home & Away

P.S. If you dream of travelling to Australia… stay well away from the film Wolf Creek – it’s evil.

Righto, job done, I’m off for smoko…

Previous post:

Next post: