Aussie Slang

G'day and welcome to my Aussie slang page. Learn the meanings of some of the words and phrases you'll hear when you are over here visiting the lucky country. 

Before long you'll be speaking 'strine like you're a tru blu, dinky di Aussie bloke. 

 move on, learn more
Australians sometimes say several words as one 'waddayareckon' (what do you reckon?), owyagoin (how are you going?) etc. This can be confusing for an overseas visitor but you can soon get used to it.

Some Australian slang uses rhyming slang (similar to English cockney slang) (eg.. Captain Cook - referring to the explorer who discovered Sydney; "Take a Captain Cook" means to take a look.). It can take some getting used to.
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Some Aussie Slang/Terms 
& their Meanings
Ankle-biter — Small child
Arvo — Afternoon.
Aussie — An Australian
Avos — Avocados.
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.
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!
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 Chance — No chance at all.
Bunyip — A mythical bush spirit, Australia's bigfoot. 
Bush — The vast Australian countryside
Bush telly — Gazing at the stars
Cactus — Dead, not working
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. 
Chuck a sickie — Call in sick when you’re actually feeling well 
Chunder — Technicolor yawn — Vomit — Puking or throwing-up 
Cobber — Friend
Cockie — Farmer.
Cooee — A bush yell for when you are lost
Crook — Sick, or badly made.
Crow eater — A South Australian.
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".
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
Five finger discount— Shoplift
Flyer — female kangaroo 
Footpath — Sidewalk
Footy — Aussie Rules
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
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.
Icy pole — Popsicle.
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
King hit — A punch delivered without warning
Knock — To criticise
Knocker — One who criticises
Lair — A show-off
Larrikin — A ruffian
Lob-in — Drop in to see someone
Lollies — Sweets, candies
Make a crust — Work for a living
Narkie — Someone who is negative or short-tempered
Never-Never, Outback — The remotest parts of the bush
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
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".
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
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
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
Uee, Uwie, Yewy — Make a U-turn in traffic
Useless as an ashtray on a motorbike — Unhelpful, incompetent
Ute — A pickup truck
Vegemite — Sandwich spread derived from vegetable yeast extract, dark brown, gooey, salty. It's what makes Aussies strong
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
XXXX — Pronounced Four X, it's Queensland's famous beer
Yabber — Talk
Yakka — Work
Yobbo — Uncouth and aggressive person
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Aussie Slang Links 
(check them out)
The Differences Between Aussie and American"Versions" of English

In Tasmania we are more like "English English" than elsewhere in Australia.
   
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