Australian Slang
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
For those who have visited the great southern land of Australia and haven't had the slightest clue as to what anybody was talking about, here is a short list of the more common terms and idioms used by the locals.
If you know any more Australia slang, then why not start a conversation about it below. We're also compiling entries on American and English slang, so if you can help make those as comprehensive as the list below, do pop along and contribute to them too.
As always, we accept no responsibility for any injury or strange looks arising from the use of words in this list, though they have been thoroughly tested by our field researchers. Most of them are back out of jail, too.
| A | |
| Aerial Pingpong | Australian Rules Football |
| Amber fluid | Beer |
| Ankle biter | Small child |
| Antipodes | Places on exactly opposite sides of the earth |
| Apples, She'll be ... | It'll be alright |
| Arvo | Afternoon |
| Aussie (pron. Ozzie) | Australian |
| Aussie salute | Brushing away flies with the hand |
| Avos | Avocados |
| B | |
| Back of Bourke | A very long way away |
| Barbie | Barbecue ("I'll throw some shrimp on the barbie") |
| Banana bender | A person from Queensland |
| Barrack | To cheer on (football team etc.) |
| Bastard | Term of endearment |
| Beaut, beauty | Great, fantastic |
| Bikkie | Biscuit |
| Billabong | An ox-bow river or watering hole |
| Billy | Large tin can used to boil water over a campfire for tea |
| Black Stump, Beyond the ... | A long way away, the back of nowhere |
| Bloke | Man, guy |
| Bloody | Very ("bloody hard yakka") |
| Bloody oath! | That's certainly true |
| Blow in the bag | Have a breathalyzer test |
| Blowie | Blow fly |
| Bludger | Lazy person, layabout, somebody who always relies on other people to do things or lend him things |
| Blue | Fight ("he was having a blue with his wife") |
| Blue, Make a ... | Make a mistake |
| Bluey | Pack, equipment, traffic ticket, redhead |
| Bodgy | Of inferior quality |
| Bonzer | Great, ripper |
| Boogie board | A hybrid, half-sized surf board |
| Boomer | A large male kangaroo |
| Boozer | A pub |
| Bored shitless | Very bored |
| Bottle shop | Liquor shop |
| Brass razoo, He hasn't got a ... | he's very poor |
| Brown-eyed mullet | A turd in the sea (where you're swimming!) |
| Buckley's, Buckley's chance | No chance ("New Zealand stands Buckley's of beating Australia at football") |
| Brick shit house, Built like a ... | Big strong bloke |
| Bull bar | Stout bar fixed to the front of a vehicle to protect it against hitting kangaroos |
| Bush | The hinterland, the Outback, anywhere that isn't in town |
| B.Y.O. | Unlicensed restaurant where you have to Bring Your Own grog, also similar party or barbecue |
| C | |
| Cark it | To die, cease functioning |
| Carpet Grub | Baby |
| Chief Cook and Bottle Washer | Wife |
| Chokkie | Chocolate |
| Chook | A chicken |
| Chrissie | Christmas |
| Click | Kilometre - "it's 10 clicks away" |
| Cobber | Friend |
| Cockie | Farmer |
| Cockroach | A person from New South Wales |
| Coldie | A beer |
| Come a gutser | Make a bad mistake, have an accident |
| Corroboree | An aboriginal dance festival |
| Cozzy | Swimming costume |
| Cranky | In a bad mood, angry |
| Crook | Sick, or badly made |
| Crow eater | A person from South Australia |
| Cut snake, Mad as a ... | Very angry |
| D | |
| Dag | A funny person, nerd, goof |
| Daks | Trousers |
| Digger | A soldier |
| Dill | An idiot |
| Dinkum, Fair dinkum | True, real, genuine ("I'm a dinkum Aussie"; "is he fair dinkum?") |
| Dinky-di | The real thing, genuine |
| Docket | A bill, receipt |
| Dole bludger | Somebody on social assistance when unjustified |
| Donger | Penis |
| Doodle | Penis |
| Drink with the flies | To drink alone |
| Drongo | A dope, stupid person |
| Drum | Information, tip-off ("I'll give you the drum") |
| Dunny | Outside lavatory |
| Durry | Cigarette |
| E | |
| Earbashing | Nagging, non-stop chatter |
| Esky | Large insulated food/drink container for picnics, barbecues etc. |
| Exy | Expensive |
| F | |
| Fag | Cigarette |
| Fair dinkum | True, genuine |
| Fair go | A chance ("give a bloke a fair go") |
| Footy | Australian Rules football |
| Fossicking | Searching, rummaging ("fossicking through the kitchen drawers") |
| Freckle | Anus |
| Full | Drunk |
| G | |
| Galah | Fool, named after the bird of the same name which flies south in the winter - a bloody silly thing to do in the Southern Hemisphere |
| Garbo, garbologist | Municipal garbage collector |
| G'Day | Hello! |
| Give it a burl | Try it, have a go |
| Good oil | Useful information, a good idea |
| Good on you | Good for you, well done |
| Grog | Liquor, beer ("bring your own grog, you bludger") |
| H | |
| Hoon | Hooligan |
| Hooroo | Goodbye (© Don Burke) |
| Hotel | Often just a pub |
| I | |
| Icy pole | Popsicle, lollypop |
| J | |
| Jackaroo | A male station hand (a station is a big farm/grazing property) |
| Jillaroo | A female station hand |
| Joey | Baby kangaroo |
| Journo | Journalist |
| Jumbuck | Sheep |
| K | |
| Kero | Kerosene |
| Knock | To criticise |
| Knock back | Refusal (noun), refuse (transitive verb) |
| Knocker | Somebody who criticises |
| L | |
| Liquid laugh | Vomit |
| Lob, lob in | Drop in to see someone ("the rellies have lobbed") |
| Lollies | Sweets |
| Loo | Toilet |
| Lucky Country, The ... | Australia, where else? |
| M | |
| Mate | Buddy, friend |
| Metho | Methylated spirits |
| Mexican | A person from south of the (Queensland) border |
| Mickey Mouse | Excellent, very good |
| Middy | 285 ml beer glass in New South Wales |
| Mongrel | Despicable person |
| Mozzies | Mosquitoes |
| Muddy | Mud crab (a great delicacy) |
| Mug | Friendly insult ("have a go, yer mug"), gullible person |
| Mull | Grass (the kind you smoke) |
| N | |
| Naughty, Have a ... | Have sex |
| Never Never | The Outback, centre of Australia |
| Nipper | Young surf lifesaver |
| No-hoper | Somebody who'll never do well |
| Not the full quid | Not bright intellectually |
| O | |
| Ocker | An unsophisticated person |
| Offsider | An assistant, helper |
| O.S. | Overseas ("he's gone O.S.") |
| Oz | Australia! |
| P | |
| Piece of piss | Easy task |
| Piss | Beer. Hence "hit the piss", "sink some piss" |
| Plonk | Cheap wine |
| Pom, pommy | An Englishman |
| Pommy bastard | An Englishman |
| Postie | Postman, mailman |
| Pot | 285 ml beer glass in Queensland |
| Q | |
| Quid, make a | Earn a living - "are you making a quid?" |
| R | |
| Reckon! | You bet! Absolutely! |
| Rellie | Family relative |
| Ridgy-didge | Original, genuine |
| Right | Okay ("she'll be right, mate") |
| Ripper | Great, fantastic |
| Roo | Kangaroo |
| Root | Sexual intercourse |
| Rooted | Broken, tired |
| Rotten | Drunk ("I went out last night and got rotten") |
| Rubbish | To criticize |
| S | |
| Salvos, the | Salvation Army, bless them |
| Sandgroper | A person from Western Australia |
| Sanger | A sandwich |
| Schooner | Large beer glass |
| Shark biscuit | Somebody new to surfing |
| Sheila | A woman |
| She'll be right | It'll turn out okay |
| Shonky | Dubious, underhanded ("a shonky practice", "shonky business" etc.) |
| Shout | Turn to buy - a round of drinks usually ("it's your shout") |
| Sickie | Day off sick from work (chuck a sickie = take the day off sick from work when you're perfectly healthy!) |
| Slab | A carton of 24 bottles or cans of beer |
| Smoko | Smoke or coffee break |
| Snag | A sausage |
| Spag bol | Spaghetti bolognese |
| Spunk | A good looking person (of either sex) |
| Station | A big farm/grazing property |
| Stickybeak | Nosy person |
| Strewth | Exclamation, mild oath ("Strewth, that Chris is a bonzer bloke") |
| Strine | Australian slang and pronunciation |
| Stubby | A beer bottle |
| Stubby holder | Polystyrene insulated holder for a stubby |
| Sunbake | Sunbathe |
| Surfies | People who go surfing - usually more often than they go to work! |
| Swagman | Tramp, hobo |
| T | |
| Tall poppies | Successful people |
| Taswegian | A person from Tasmania |
| Technicolor yawn | Vomit |
| Tee-up | To set up an appointment |
| Thongs | Cheap rubber backless sandals |
| Tin Lids | Kids, children |
| Tinny | Can of beer, small aluminium boat |
| Togs | Swim suit |
| Too right! | Definitely! |
| True blue | Patriotic |
| Tucker | Food |
| Tucker-bag | Food bag |
| Turps | Turpentine, alcoholic drink |
| Turps, Hit the ... | Go on a drinking binge |
| U | |
| Uni | University |
| Ute | Utility vehicle |
| V | |
| Vedgies | Vegetables |
| Vejjo | Vegetarian |
| Vee dub | Volkswagen |
| W | |
| Waggin' school | Playing truant |
| Walkabout, It's gone ... | It's lost, can't be found |
| Whinge | Complain |
| Wobbly | Excitable behaviour ("I complained about the food and the waiter threw a wobbly") |
| Wog | Flu or trivial illness |
| Woop Woop | Invented name for any small unimportant town - "he lives in Woop Woop" |
| Wowser | Straight-laced person, prude, puritan, spoilsport |
| X | |
| XXXX | Pronounced Four X, brand of beer made in Queensland. NOT a prophylactic.... actually probably the cause of more pregnancies than preventions! |
| Y | |
| Yabber | Talk (a lot) |
| Yard Apes | Kids, children |
| Yakka | Work (noun) |
| Yewy | U-turn in traffic ("chuck a yewy at the next traffic lights") |
| Yobbo | An uncouth person |
