Saturday 21 September 2013

Aussie slang


A

Ace — Excellent
Ambo — Paramedic, Ambulance Officer
Ankle-biter — Small child
Arvo — Afternoon.
Aussie — An Australian
Avos — Avocados.


B

Back o’Bourke — In the middle of nowhere
Backroom waltz — Interrogation at the police station
Banana bender — A resident of Queensland State, once derided as being backward. Allegedly the only native skill was to put a bend in a banana.
Barbie — Barbecue or BBQ
Bash — Party. Also "fancy turns".
Beaut, beauty — Great, fantastic, as in "Beauty amber fluid, mate!"
Bend the Elbow — To have a drink - pretty well self explanatory!
Bickie — Biscut or cookie
Big note yourself — Self-aggrandizing, putting on airs
Bloke — Man, guy
Bloody — Universal epithet the 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.
Bog in — Start eating ravenously
Bonnet — Hood of a car.
Bonzer — Pronounced "bonsa" - grouse, great, excellent.
Boomer — A large male kangaroo,
Boot — Trunk of a car.
Bottle shop — Liquor shop.
Buckley's — No chance at all.
Budgy smugglers - Swimming atire, also referred to as 'togs'
Bunyip — A mythical bush spirit, Australia's bigfoot.
Bush — The vast Australian countryside
Bush telly — Gazing at the stars


C

Cactus — Dead, not working
Cark it – To die
Cashed up – Having plenty of ready money
Cheesed (off) – Bored; fed up
Chewy – chewing gum
Carpetbagger steak — Beef stuffed with oysters.
Chemist shop — Drug store.
Chew the Fat — To talk, engage in pleasant conversation, to have a chinwag.
Chook — Chicken.
Chook raffle – A lottery in which the prize is a chicken; usually held in a ‘pub’ (hotel)
Chuck a sickie — Call in sick when you’re actually feeling well
Chuck a wobbly – Go berserk
Chunder — Technicolor yawn — Vomit — Puking or throwing-up
Cobber — Friend
Cockie — Know all; also a small farmer
Cooee — A bush yell for when you are lost
Crook — Sick, or badly made.



D

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!
Darwin stubbie — A 1.25 litre bottle of beer. Careful! "Stubbies" are also a popular brand of men's shorts.
Digger — A soldier, originally meaning an ANZAC soldier
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
Dunny — The toilet, W.C., or bathroom. If someone busting to know where the dunny is, tell 'em to "follow their nose to the thunderbox".


E

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.


F

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
Five finger discount — Shoplift
Flyer — Female kangaroo
Footpath — Sidewalk
Footy — Aussie Rules


G

Galah — A noisy parrot, used to describe someone who is noisy and nonsensical
Game — Brave
G'arn — Go on, you're kidding!
G'day — Universal greeting, used anytime day or night, but never as a farewell. Pronounced "gud-eye", usually followed by "mate" (mite) or a typically strung-together "howyagoinallright"(= how are you today, feeling pretty good?)
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


H

Have a yarn — To talk to someone.
He’s got tickets on himself — A person who thinks he is the greatest
Hoon — Idiot, hooligan
Hooroo — Pronounced "who-ru"... means "see ya later
Hotel — Often just a pub.


I

Icy pole — Popsicle.


J

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.
Jumbuck — Sheep
Jumper — Sweater


K

King hit — A punch delivered without warning
Knock — To criticise
Knocker — One who criticises


L

Lair — A show-off
Larrikin — A ruffian
Lob-in — Drop in to see someone
Lollies — Sweets, candies


M

Make a crust — Work for a living


N

Narkie — Someone who is negative or short-tempered
Never-Never, Outback — The remotest parts of the bush
No-hoper — A fool, loser


O

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


P

Paralytic — Extremely drunk
Pash — An extremely passionate kiss
Plonk — Wine. Never used to describe the other main alcoholic beverage at an Australian social occasion - beer
Point percy at the porcelain — Urinate (male)
Pommie or pom — An English person
Proper Toff — Upper class Snot!
Pull Your head In — Use sparingingly, since this equates a rather annoyed "shut up & mind your own business".


R

Rafferty's rules — Chaos, disorder
Reckon — Think, as in "Your shout or mine? What' ya reckon?"
Ridgy-didge — Original, genuine
Right — Okay, as in "she'll be right, mate."
Ring, tingle — Phone someone up, as in "I'll give him a ring."
Ripper — Pronounced "rippa" means beaut, tippy-tops, grouse
Rubbish — To knock something


S

Sandgroper — A Western Australian
School — Group of drinkers. Brings new meaning to the term higher education!
Schooner — Large beer glass
Scratchy — Instant lottery ticket
Seppo, Septic tank — An American (a less flattering term than Yank)
Sheila — A woman
She'll be right — No problem, don't worry, mate
Shootin' through — Leave, take off
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)
Station — Large cattle or sheep property (ie a ranch)
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
Swagman — Itinerant farm worker, tramp


T

Taswegian — A resident of Tasmania
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

Uee, Uwie, Yewy — Make a U-turn in traffic
Useless as an ashtray on a motorbike — Unhelpful, incompetent
Ute — A pickup truck


V

Vegemite — Sandwich spread derived from vegetable yeast extract, dark brown, gooey, salty. It's what makes Aussies strong


W

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, as in "Too much plonk and now the wog." Or someone of Italian descent.
Woopwoop — In the boonies, nowhere
Wowser — Straight-laced person, prude, puritan, spoilsport


X

XXXX — Pronounced Four X, it's Queensland's famous beer


Y

Yabber — Talk
Yakka — Work
Yobbo — Uncouth and aggressive person

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