The Great
Aussie Slang Dictionary
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Alternate aussie words are unbolded
red.
Arvo:
Afternoon.
Air Biscuit:
Fart.
Avos: Avocados.
Avago You Mug: Shout of encouragement to a
sportsman not performing to his best
Banana bender:
A Queenslander.
Barbie:
Barbecue, as in "I'll throw some shrimp and chook on the barbie."
Bash: Party.
As in: birthday bash
Balls: Testicles, knackers, goolies, cods, jewels, the boys, pebs, clangers, nads.
Bevvy: Beverage, beer.
Bonzer:
Pronounced "bonsa" - grouse, great,
excellent.
Bloke: Man,
guy.
Bloody hell: An
expression of disbelief – eg: “bloody hell,
get a load of the norks on that sheila!”. Other such expressions include: Strewth, crikey,
bloody nora, strike a light,
stone the crows.
Bludger:
Lazy person, layabout.
Bluey: (also
known as Blue) Slang for any bloke with red hair, and also known to describe
the Australian Cattle Dog.
Bonnet: Hood
of a car.
Boomer: A
large male kangaroo, as Rolf Harris sings, "Six white boomers, snow white boomers
on Santa's Australian run...".
Boot: Trunk
of a car.
Bottlo: Bottle shop, Liquor shop.
Box of blowflies: Ugly, as in "that's as ugly as a box of blowflies!" And
that's pretty ugly!
Buckley's Chance: No chance at all.
Bung: To put
or place. E.g bung
another snag on the barbie
Bunyip: A
mythical bush spirit, Australia's bigfoot.
Probably just a hairy surfie!
Capsicums:
Green or red bell peppers.
Carpetbagger steak: Beef stuffed with oysters.
Chemist shop:
Drug store.
Chew the Fat:
To talk, engage in pleasant conversation. Chinwag, gasbag, gossip, yap, yarn.
Chick: A
Female person.
Chook:
Chicken.
Cockie: Farmer.
Cockroach:
Someone from New South Wales
Crook: Sick,
or badly made.
Cut Snake:
Angry, as in; He was as mad as a cut snake
Crow eater:
A South Australian.
Crud: Shit, crap, turd, excretion. Also used as an
expression of disbelief: “what a load of crud/crap/shit/bullshit”
Dag: A funny
person, nerd, goof, loser. See also “wally”
Dead Horse:
Tomato sauce, ketchup.
Digger: A
soldier.
Dilly-bag:
Food bag.
Ding bat:
Fool.
Dinky-di: The real thing.
Donk: Car or
boat engine.
Donkey's years: Ages.
Donger:
Penis, dick, shlong,
Johnson, tally whacker, wanger,
cock, member, the main vein….you get the idea.
Drop-in: To
steal a surfer's wave. This is a serious crime in Surfer's Paradise.
Durry: A
cigarette, fag, cancer stick, lung buster, a BHP,
dodger.
Earbash:
Non-stop chatter.
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: A
good chance
Footpath:
Sidewalk.
Footy: Rugby
League
Flyer:
female kangaroo
Galah: Noisy
fool, named after a parrot which is commonly seen hanging upside down from
powerlines and generally acting the fool.
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?)
Give it a burl: Try it.
Good as gold:
Great!
Good oil:
Useful information, a good idea.
Good Onya: Omnipresent term of approval, sometimes
ironic, offering various degrees of heartfelt congratulations depending on
inflection. Indispensible during Aussie smalltalk - substitute "really, oh yeh,
aha, etc."
Grizzle: To
complain.
Grouse:
Rhymes with "house" - means outstanding, tremendous. Can be applied
universally
to all things
social
... "grouse birds (women), grouse band, in fact, grouse bloody gay and
hearty (great party!)"
Have a yarn:
To talk to someone.
Hit your kick:
Open your wallet.
Hooroo:
Pronounced "who-rue"... means "see ya
later", make sure you don't say g'day when
meaning goodbye - it's a dead giveaway you're not a true blue Aussie.
Hotel: Often
just a pub.
Icy pole:
Popsicle.
Jackaroo: A male ranch hand.
Jillaroo: A
female ranch hand.
Joey: Baby
kangaroo.
Journo:
Journalist.
Jumbuck:
Sheep.
Jumper:
Sweater.
Knock: To
criticise.
Lemon squash: Lemonade.
Lob-in: Drop
in to see someone.
Lollies:
Sweets.
Lolly water:
Soft drink.
Missus:
Wife, girlfriend, main squeeze.
Never Never: Distant outback.
No-hoper: A
fool, loser
Offsider: An
assistant.
O.S.:
Overseas, as in "she's gone O.S."
Oz:
Australia; God's country
Pines:
Pineapples.
Pommie or pom: An Englishman.
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
Root: The act of having Sex, shag, bonk, hump, bump uglies, tear one off: “geez, I
reckon she’d be a good root”.
Rubbish: To
knock something.
Sandgroper:
A Western Australian.
Shark biscuit:
New surfers, grommets on boogie boards. Tres uncool!
Sheila: A
woman
She'll be right: No problem, don't worry, mate.
Shootin'
through: Leave,
take off.
Smoko: Smoke
or coffee break.
Snag: A
sausage. Also referred
to as a banger. A nice combination of ground meats of your choice,
stuffed inside pigs intestines, and cooked on the barbee, sounds great huh?
Sook:
Someone who complains a lot
Spit The Dummie: Lose your cool - A "dummie"
is Australian for a child's pacifier.
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.
Stubby: A
regular sized bottle of beer – 375ml, as apposed to a “long neck”, which is
750ml, a “throw down’ is 250ml and is reserved for the less manly type who cant drink, or
prefer to pour into a glass and top with lemonade – whereas the Northern
Territory folk have such a thing called a “Darwin stubby” which is a 2litre
bottle, but they’re just pissheads.
Swagman:
Itinerant farm worker, tramp
Taswegian: A
resident of Tasmania.
Tee-up: To
set up an appointment.
Toey: Horny, randy, hangin’
for a shag. “Crikey, I’m toeyer than a roman sandal !”
Too right:
Definitely!
True blue:
Honest, straight.
The Lucky Country: Why, Australia, of course.
Tucker:
Food.
Vegemite: A
dark brown, gooey, salty vegetable yeast extract. It's what makes Aussies
strong.
Wally: Idiot , clown, clumsy person – can be used as a term of
endearment.
Whinge:
Rhymes with "hinge"
Means to complain incessantly
Woopwoop: in the boonies,
nowhere.
Wowser:
Straight-laced person, prude, puritan, spoilsport.
Yabber:
Talk.
Yobbo: An
uncouth person.