G’day cobbers!
It’s time to put on your Aussie accent, slip on a shirt, slop on some sunscreen, and
slap on a hat.
This is the A to Z of my favourite Aussie lingo.
Just to let you know, most of these words I don’t use every day.
Couple of reasons for that.
First, my wife’s first language isn’t English, so she’d have a tough time understanding
what the hell I mean.
She actually majored in English at university, but surprisingly, Chinese universities don’t
teach Australian English.
Secondly, when I’m at work, I mostly deal with international students, so again, the
same issue.
Aussie English has had a flavourful history.
It probably has its roots in our colonial and convict past.
Children born in Australia back in the 1800s were exposed to a lot of different dialects
of English from across the British Isles, so modern Australian has become its own unique
variety.
It tends to be very friendly and non-hierarchical.
That is, you can talk to your Aussie boss in the same way that you’d talk to your
mate (generally speaking).
Just a note — This list isn’t necessarily exclusively Australian English.
There’s lots of crossovers with British and Australian.
Anyway, without further ado, let’s get this shit show on the road!
A is for Arvo — short for afternoon.
“Hey mate, what you doin’ this arvo?
Wanna come over for a cuppa?”.
And the translation — “Excuse me friend, are you available this afternoon?
Would you like to have tea together?”.
B is for Bludge — to be lazy, to evade work, duty, or responsibility.
You can also use the word “bludger” to refer to a person.
“He’s such a dole-bludger!
He just sits around the house wankin’ all day!”.
Translation — “He doesn’t go to work.
He receives government welfare, and he spends his days masturbating at home”.
C is for Cobber — friend, mate, pal.
“G’day cobber.
What’s the go here?”.
“Hello friend.
What’s happening here at the moment?”.
I don’t really use cobber anymore, and I don’t really hear it in common parlance.
Back in high school, we used to use it sometimes, but only as an exaggeration of our Aussieness.
D is for Dunny — a toilet.
It originally referred to the outhouse, or outdoor toilet, but has since come to mean
any toilet.
“Mate, I just gotta go to the dunny.
I shouldn’t have had that leftover avo for brekky”.
“Friend, I have to use the restroom.
I should not have eaten that leftover avocado for breakfast”.
I don’t hear dunny being used anymore.
I said it to my six-year-old son and he had no idea what I was talking about.
Back when I was his age, we used it all the time.
E is for Esky — a brand of portable coolers.
“Hey mate, grab us a stubby from the esky”.
“Excuse me friend, could you please pass me a bottled beer from the portable cooler?”.
F is for Footy — any kind of football except soccer.
Depending on which region you live in, it may refer to rugby, or Australian rules football.
“Hey mate, let’s go to the footy this arvo.
There’s gonna be plenty of sheilas there!”.
“Excuse me friend.
Shall we go and watch the rugby match this afternoon?
There will be lots of ladies there”.
G is Galah — a pink, grey, and white Australian parrot.
I see them feeding on the grass every morning on the way to school.
It’s also used in a pejorative way to refer to somebody who’s not very smart.
“He’s such a galah!
He let all the chooks out, but didn’t put ‘em back!”.
“He’s not very bright.
He let all the chickens out of their pen, but didn’t round them up afterwards”.
H is for Hoon — a hooligan who usually drives a car in an intentionally bad way to get attention
from onlookers.
“Uh-oh, the hoons are in town doing some laps!”.
“Oh my gosh!
Some mischievous drivers have come into the city and are driving around the main circuit
in the CBD!”.
We actually have anti-hooning laws in Australia to “protect the community against dangerous
and anti-social use of motor vehicles”.
That is, to stop the hoons from going around doing doughnuts, burnouts, and screeching
their tyres.
Basically, to stop them being dickheads.
I is for Ice Block or Icy Pole — a popsicle, or ice lolly.
“Dad, can I have an ice block after tea?”.
“Father, may I have a frozen ice sweet on a stick after we finish supper?”.
J is for Jackaroo (or Jillaroo) — a male (or female) cattle station hand.
They usually ride a horse around a big farm or grazing property doing odd jobs here and
there.
“What’s Billy doin’ nowadays?
— He’s up in the Kimberley workin’ as a Jackaroo”.
“What does Billy do now?
— He works as a station hand in the northern region of Western Australia”.
K is for Knickers — a lady’s underwear.
“Did you get into Kylie’s knickers last night?
— Bloody oath!”.
“Were you able to have sexual relations with Kylie last night?
— Yes, I was”.
L is for Larrikin — a joker, a prankster, although usually fairly harmless.
“John’s a bit of a larrikin, isn’t he?
He took a piss behind the servo last night!”.
“John is often doing mildly interesting things, isn’t he?
He urinated behind the service station last night”.
M is for Mate — a friend, an equal.
We often call people we don’t know mate (usually men, though).
If I was at Kmart, I could go up to a male shop assistant and say, “Excuse me, mate.
Could you tell me where to find the stationery?”.
“Sure mate, just head down aisle three”.
I almost would never call a lady mate unless I knew her very well.
Although ladies often call men mate, even if they don’t know them.
N is for No Dramas or No Worries — an expression of forgiveness or reassurance.
“G’day mate, you can’t tell me when John is comin’ in, can ya?
— Sorry mate, I don’t know his timetable.
— No dramas!
I’ll shoot him an email later”.
“Excuse me sir, could you please tell me when Mr. Smith will be starting work?
— I’m sorry, I’m not allowed to disclose that information.
— That’s okay.
I will contact him later by electronic mail”.
O is for Op Shop — an opportunity shop, a place where you can buy second-hand goods.
“Hey mate, I’m just headed down to the op shop to meet Sally.
She’s gotta pick herself up a skivvy for the B&S tonight”.
“Hello friend, I am just going to the local thrift store to meet Sally.
She needs to purchase a lightweight, high-necked, long-sleeved garment for tonight’s bachelor
and spinster ball”.
P is for Perve — to look lustfully at a member of the opposite sex.
“Peter had a really good perve last night!
Shame he couldn’t get a root!”.
“Peter was looking lewdly at the ladies last night.
It’s unfortunate that he was unable to have sexual intercourse with one of them”.
Q is for Quid, as in to Make a Quid — to earn a living, to make money.
“How does he make a quid?
— Oh, he’s my local postie!”.
“What is that man’s occupation?
— Oh, he is the local postal employee who delivers mail to my address”.
R is for Rollie — a cigarette that you roll yourself.
“G’day mate, can you spare me a durry?
— Sorry mate, I only smoke rollies”.
“Excuse me, sir.
Could I please have a cigarette?
I’m sorry, I only smoke rolled cigarettes and I certainly don’t have time to roll
one for you!”.
S is for Slab — a carton of 24 bottles or cans of beer.
“Mate, I gotta go down to the bottle-o and pick us up a slab for Declan’s buck’s
night tonight”.
“Friend.
I must head to the liquor store and purchase a case of beer.
Indeed, our friend Declan is getting married soon, so we must celebrate his final days
of bachelorhood”.
T is for Thongs — flip-flops, jandals if you’re a New Zealander (i.e.
Japanese sandals).
I know thong means something else to the rest of the English-speaking world, so it gets
confusing when foreigners come to Australia and hear, “Okay guys.
Throw on your thongs.
We’re heading down to the park to play cricket!”.
U is for Up Oneself — to have a high opinion of oneself.
“Boy, Steve’s so up himself.
He’s such a show pony!”.
“Steven has such a high opinion of himself.
His dress and behaviour show that he is always trying hard to impress those around him.
It’s very phoney!”.
V is for Vego — a vegetarian, a person who doesn’t eat meat.
“Tom’s comin’ round for tea tonight.
He’s a vego, right?
— Oh shit, I better go out and buy some fish!”.
W is for Wowser — a prude, a puritan, somebody who likes to spoil all the fun.
“Shane’s such a wowser!
All we wanted to do was a couple of doughies in his backyard!”.
“Shane is excessively strict in his behaviour.
He didn’t allow us to drive our vehicle in circles in his backyard, tearing up his
lawn”.
X is for XXXX (pronounced “four-ex”) — a brand of beer made in Queensland.
“Mate, that was some real hard yakka!
Chuck us a XXXX, will ya?”.
“Friend, we just worked so hard and I’m so tired.
Can you please pass me a bottle of Queensland beer?”.
Y is for Yabby — an inland freshwater crayfish.
When we were kids, we used to go yabbying with our mates, that is, we used string and
bait to try to catch yabbies in the local creek or waterway.
And finally, Z is for Zinc Cream — often brightly coloured sunscreen that Aussies sometimes
stick on their face before going to the beach or playing cricket.
And that’s it for today’s list.
Although there are lots of classic Aussie English words, I feel that many of them are
on their last legs, that is, they’re falling out of common usage.
I presume it has to do with our globalised world and the rise of the Internet.
Younger folk are now using lots of Americanisms due to the large influence of American culture
seen in movies and TV shows.
It’s not necessarily bad, but certainly, some Aussie words will never die out.
Words and phrases like, mate, no worries, ute (for utility vehicle, or pickup truck),
and barbie (for barbeque) — just to name a few.
When I hear the grade one kids at school, I can tell that certain words are no longer
used, and sometimes not even understood.
Words like, dunny, cobber, fair dinkum (for true, or genuine), and sanger (for sandwich).
The last one surprised me a little bit.
I’ve said sanger to a couple of kids in the last few weeks and none of them seemed
to know what the hell I was talking about.
Anyway, that’s not to say that there’s not an interest out there in preserving these
words.
They might not be in common usage, but certainly, there’s lots of online videos and true blue
Aussies out there who continue to use these classic Australian words.
All right cobbers!
I gotta go and have myself some tucker.
My missus has made some spag bol and we gotta go pay the rego before the rellies come over
for a cab sav and a yabber.
Confusing?
Bloody oath!