Suppose you find yourself in the lucky country of Oz with all that slippery slang. If you don’t want to be treated like a Seppo who’s a chop short of a barbie, no worries mate! I’ll give you the drum so you could chew the fat with the blokes and sheilas like fair dinkum Aussie.

Australian slang (strine) is easy to understand - it is either a shortening of words like chokkie for chocolate, a rhyme (noah’s ark is shark), or a reversal (a bluey is a redhead). They could also be a reference to places, people, and things (Buckley’s chance - reference to the store Buckleys & Nunn - which rhymes with ‘none’). Or they could be invented just for the fun of it (woop woop - an imaginary remote place that’s never been heard before). Read on and enjoy!

ADJECTIVES

busy as Bourke street in the rush hour - very, very busy

cheesed off - angry

choc a block - full

cooking with gas - getting better

dinkum/fair dinkum - genuine

dog’s breakfast - a mess

exy - expensive

flat out like a lizard drinking - busy

knackered - puzzled or exhausted

knee high to a grasshopper - very short

shonky/wonky - unreliable

um-ah - indecisive

ANIMALS

bities - biting insect

blowies - blow flies

brumby - wild horse

bunyip - mythical creature in the outbacks

jackroo/jillyroo - male/female kangaroo

Joe blake - snake

jumbuck - sheep

mozzie - mosquitoes

Noah’s ark - shark

BODYPARTS

beak - nose

breadbasket - stomach

cakehole - mouth

clod hoppers - feet

Gregory peck - your neck

ivories - teeth/may mean piano

loaf - head (rhymes with loaf of bread)

Swiss farms - arms

CLOTHES

clobber - clothes

daks/dacks/strides - trousers

trackies - tracksuits

underdaks - underpants

DRINKS

Adam’s ale - water

aris Aristotle - bottle

crack a tinnie - open a beer

drink with the flies - drink alone

empties - empty beer bottles

hair of the dog - drinking more liquor to get rid of hang-over

middy - middle sized beer

put on the wobbly boot - get drunk

schooner - large beer

screamer - someone who gets drunk easily

shout - turn to pay drinks

technicolor yawn/liquid laughter - vomit

tides gone out - your glass is not full

EXPRESSIONS

bloody oath! - that’s certainly true

bonzer there mate! - that’s great friend

Buckley’s chance - no chance at all

BYO - bring your own

carn - cheer at football games (shortcut for come on!)

cheerio/hooroo/toodle-oo - goodbye

cheers/ta - thank you

a chop short of a barbie - foolish

cooee - a call to someone

don’t come the raw prawn - don’t fool me

easy on - calm down

from go to whoa - from start to end

got no brass razoo - got no money

half your luck - congratulations

his blood’s worth bottling - he’s a nice guy

i got the wob - i got the flu/ i am sick

i will fix your jack and jill - i will pay your bill

jack of that - fed up with something

mate’s rate, mate discount - cheaper than usual for a friend

matilda’s waltz - gone away for a long time

no worries - no problem

on a good wicket - on to a good thing

onya mate - good on you/good for you

up the gum tree - in trouble

wouldn’t be dead for quids - well and happy

FOOD

baccy - tobbacco

barbie - barbecue

brekkie - breakfast

cackleberry/goog - egg

chewie - chewing gum

chips/chippies - French fries

chokkie - chocolate

chook - chicken

esky - large insulated container for food and drink, used for picnics and barbecues

jaffle - toasted sandwich

moo juice - milk

pavlova - Australian dessert named after Anna Pavlova

pie floater - meat pie floating in pea soup

sanger/cut-lunch - sandwich

tomato sauce - ketchup/dead horse

yabbie - crayfish

LOCATIONS

chemist - pharmacy

click - kilometre

down under - Australia/southern hemisphere

dunny/thunder box - toilet/lavatory

go down the waterhole - go to the pub/hotel

Maccas/Mackers - Mc Donalds

milk bar - small corner shop

outbacks - remote part of Australia

Oz - Australia

servo - petrol station

uni - university

weatherboard - wooden house

woop woop - somewhere a long way from civilisation

NOUNS

barney/blue/kafuffle - a fight or commotion

bickie - dollar

blower - telephone

carbie - carburator

duck’s guts - heart of the matter

furphy - false rumor

lippie - lipstick

pack of Poo tickets - toilet paper

paper yabber - letter

ute - utility truck

zack - 5 cents

PEOPLE

ankle-biter - child

bloke - man

bluey - redhead

brickie - bricklayer

chippie/chippy - carpenter

cockie - cockroach/farmer

coddy/mate - friend

fossicker - gold prospector

fruit loop/galoot - fool

garbo - garbage man

his nibs - the boss

Joe bloggs - average citizen

jorno - journalist

lair - loud person with flashy clothes

larrikin - mischievous person

lead foot - reckless driver

leckie - electrician

mate - buddy, friend

oldies - parents

rellies - relatives

seppo/yank - american

Sheila - a woman

wharfie - dockworker

white pointer - highway patrol

white pointers - lady sunbathing topless

yahoo/yobbo - loud mouthed slob

TIME

arvo - afternoon

evo - evening

donkey’s years/yonks - long time, ages

hang on a tic - wait a short moment

VERBS

captain cook - look

chew the fat/chinwag - talk with someone

chuck a leftie - to turn left

Dad ‘n Dave - a shave

dob - tell on someone

drum - information

give it a burl/have a bash - give it a try

give a tingle - call on the phone

hoof it - walk instead of taking public transportation

kip - sleep

lob - visit

make a quid - to earn a living

make tracks - leave

pull up stumps - moving away from home (reference to pulling out stumps at the end of a cricket match)

root - have sexual intercourse

spine-bashing - rest

uee/uie/uwiie - do a u turn

wag - skip school

whiteant - bad mouthing something to prevent buyers from buying it

FROM GO TO WHOA

Had a captain cook at this from go to whoa? On ya mate! Give it a burl. Toodle-oo, ta… and visit Australia.

Posted in Australia, Language

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