Learn a new Language

The following is a list of Aussie slang this is used and that I hear every day in conversation.  I've been told by family and friends in Canada that I have an Australian accent now but I'm told by Australians that I'm losing my Canadian accent or that it's becoming softer but that I have picked up some words with a full accent.  Recently I went out to dinner with some friends  and one of them said you are losing that accent of yours, but every time you say the word right, I think to myself, she's one of us!  To this day, I still can't pronounce water like an Australian, I just can't get my mouth around it.  My husband says to imagine I have a plum in my mouth while I say it.  Sure.  Easy for you to say Hon.  Literally.  What's worse is that we used to have an address with the word water in it, nobody could understand what I was saying half the time, I had to write it out for them, explaining it must be my Canadian accent (quite frustrating sometimes).  It's easy to remember that Aussies pronounce er as a and a as er.  So the word super is actually pronounced supah and the word America is pronounced Ameriker.  Right.  Now that that's clear, the following is a list of Aussie slang and expressions, most are used quite frequently.

Aussie Slang

Aussie Salute:  brushing away flies with your hand

Back of Bourke:  a very long way away

Bail Out:  leave, usually in a huff

Barbie:  barbeque

Beaut, beauty: great, fantastic

Bikkie, biscuit:   cookie (also expensive, "it cost big bikkies")

Billabong:  Watering hole

Billy:  Teapot, container for boiling water

Bloke:  man, guy

Bludger:  lazy person

Blue:  fight, as in "those two blokes were having a blue out front of the pub last night".

Bodgy:  of inferior quality

Bottle-o or bottle shop:  Liquor store

Brass razoo, he hasn't got a:  he's very poor

Brumby:  a wild horse

Cactus:  Kaput, non functioning

Cheeky:  Mischievous, as in a cheeky grin or look

Chook:  a chicken

Chrissie:  Christmas

Clucky:   feeling broody or maternal

Cobber:  friend

Cockie:  can mean either a Cockatoo or a Cockroach

Compo:  Worker's Compensation Pay

Cooee:  A sound that you yell in the bush that echoes off the trees, same as yelling help

Corker:  Something really good.  She told a corker of a joke.

Dag:  a funny person, goof

Damper:  bread made from flour and water, best eaten cooked over a campfire

Digger:  soldier

Dob somebody in:  tattle tale, to rat on someone

Docket:  receipt or bill

Drongo:  Stupid person

Esky:  Cooler, used for picnics

Fair dinkum:  Genuine, the real thing

Fairy floss:  Cotton candy

Flake:  Shark flesh, sold in fish and chip shops

Flat out like a lizard drinking:  very busy

Footy:  Australian rules football and Rugby league (depending on which state you live in).  What we know as football in North America is referred to as American Grid Iron.

G'day:  Hi, hello.  Though many Australians say hi unfortunately.  I do like to say G'day, especially with a polite nod to older Australians.

Gabba:  Wooloongabba-Brisbane cricket ground, you'll hear it mentioned quite often.  The Gabba

Galah:  Fool, named after the bird that flies south for the winter, a silly thing to do in the Southern hemisphere

Give it a go:  Try it

Good onya:  good for you, well done

Heaps:  A lot as in thanks heaps, love you heaps!

Hooroo:  Goodbye!

Hotel:  often just a pub

Icy pole, ice block:  popsicle

Jackaroo:  a male station hand, station being a big farm or grazing property

Jillaroo:  a female station hand

Joey:  baby marsupial, most commonly used for kangaroos

Jumbuck:  A sheep

Kelpie:  a breed of Australian sheepdog

Kindie:  Kindergarten

Knock back:  refused

Lay by:  Lay away

Lend of, to have a:  to take advantage of someone's gullibility, to have someone on "He's having a lend of you!"

Lippy:  lipstick

Lob, lob in:  drop in to see someone

Lollies:  Candy

London to a brick:  Absolute certainty "It's London to a brick that it's going to rain today".

Maccas:  McDonalds, Mickey D's

Manchester:  Household linen, such as sheets

Mate:  buddy, friend, used the same way North Americans use buddy, can be derogatory

Milk bar:  corner shop that sells take away food

Mob:  Group of people, not necessarily troublesome

Mozzie:  mosquito

Muster:  round up sheep or cattle

No worries!:  Expression of forgiveness or reassurance - no problem, forget about it or I'll do it.

Oz:  Australia

Pash:  a long passionate kiss

Plonk:  cheap wine

Pokies:  poker machines

Pom, Pommy:  Englishman

Pommy wash or shower:  sponge bath

Possum:  term of endearment, what a little possum he is.

Postie:  mailman

Prezzy:  present, gift

Quid, make a:  earn a living

Rage:  party

Rapt:  pleased, delighted

Ratbag:  mild insult, he's a little ratbag

Reckon:  Think, as in "What do you reckon?"  What do you think?

Rego:  Vehicle registration

Ridgy-didge:  original, genuine

Right, that'd be:  "That'd be right", accepting inevitable news, something that was bound to happen.

Ripper:  Great, fantastic, a ripper of a party

Ripper, you little!:  Exclamation of delight or as a reaction to good news

Rock up:  to arrive, to turn up somewhere  "We rocked up to their place last night after tea".

Roo:  kangaroo

Salvos:  The Salvation Army

Sheila:  a woman

Shout:  turn to buy drinks, Your shout this time.

Sickie:  day off sick from work

Smoko:  smoke or coffee break

Sook:  a person who is soft, a wimp

Spit the dummy:  to get upset over something, to throw a tantrum

Spunk:  a good looking person of either sex. 

Stoked:  Very pleased

Sunbake:  Sunbathe

Sunnies:  sunglasses

Swag:  rolled up bedding, carried by a Swagman (or anyone)

Swagman:  tramp, hobo

Take away:  Take out food

Tall poppies:  successful people, also used in the Tall Poppy Syndrome which is when others criticize successful people

Tea:  dinner, originates from the British high tea

Trackie daks/dacks:  tracksuit pants

Tucker:  food, not commonly used anymore

Turps, hit the:  go out on a drinking binge

Two up:  gambling game played by spinning two coins simultaneously

Uni:  university

Unit:  apartment

Up oneself:  To have a really high opinion of oneself

Ute:  Pickup truck

Walkabout:  a spiritually enlightening walk in the Outback by Aborigines that lasts for an indefinite period of time.  Also used for someone who goes for a walk or is missing as in "he's gone walkabout", gone off somewhere, nobody knows where he is.

Whinge:  complain

Wog:  flu

Yabber:  talk a lot