Australian English vocabulary

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 202.147.143.166 (talk) at 23:01, 18 January 2006 (→Australian vocabulary). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Jump to navigation Jump to search

According to stereotype, spoken Australian English is thought to be highly colloquial, possibly more so than other spoken variants. Whether this idea is grounded in reality or not, a substantial number of publications aimed at giving an overview of Australian English have been published.

Many books about Australian vocabulary have been published, beginning with Karl Lentzner's Dictionary of the Slang-English of Australia and of Some Mixed Languages in 1892. Several similar books soon followed, including a relatively modest but authoritative work by E. E. Morris: Austral English: A Dictionary of Australasian Words, Phrases and Usages (1898).

After a long period of disinterest and/or antipathy, the first dictionaries of Australian English began to appear. In 1976, the Australian Pocket Oxford Dictionary was published, the first dictionary edited and published in Australia, by Graeme Johnston. In 1981, the more comprehensive Macquarie Dictionary of Australian English was published, after 10 years of research and planning. Updated editions have been published since and the Macquarie Dictionary is widely regarded as authoritative. A fuller Oxford Dictionary of Australian English has also been published.

Various publishers have also produced "phrase books" to assist visitors. These books reflect a highly exaggerated and often outdated style of Australian colloquialisms and they should partially be regarded as amusements rather than accurate usage guides.

Australian vocabulary

This list is not intended to be comprehensive. Words like "mate", "bloke" etc are listed under other sections such as "terms for people".

A to D

A

  • aggro - aggressive
  • arse – as elsewhere in English, slang for buttocks (sometimes also the anus). In Australia the derivation arsey means someone showing daring, audacity, and/or cheekiness. The North American spelling and pronunciation of ass is rarely used. Comedians Roy and H.G. have also managed to popularise use of the term date to mean anus.
  • arvo – afternoon

B

  • barbie – short form of barbecue; an outdoor meal of cooked chops and sausages (snags or bangers), with lots of dead horse (tomato sauce).
  • barrack – to hoot or cheer in support of something, invariably a sporting team. Cognisant with the US "root". For example: "who do you barrack for?" Almost the exact opposite of the (now rare) British usage of barrack, that is to denigrate: to jeer or hoot against something, such as a sporting team.
  • beaut – adjective meaning great, terrific. for example "I've just bought a beaut new car".
  • beauty! – exclamation showing approval, usually corrupted and spelt as bewdy! (to represent broad Australian pronunciation). For example: "you bewdy!"
  • bickie - biscuit. Sometimes also used as a word for a cigarette lighter, after the manufacturer Bic. More recently this has become a slang word for the drug ecstasy, from the slang disco biscuit.
  • blue
    • a brawl or heated argument (for example "they were having a blue")
    • an embarrassing mistake (for example "I've made a blue")
    • pornographic ("a blue movie")
    • offensive ("blue language")
  • bludge – to shirk, be idle, or waste time either doing nothing or something inappropriate; also to borrow (for example "Hey mate, can I bludge a smoke?").
  • bloody – "the great Australian adjective / adverb" (for example The price of beer nowadays is bloody outrageous!) Also common in British English). Roughly translates as "very".
  • blowie – the common blow-fly
  • bot - either the buttocks (an abbreviation of bottom) or; to ask for an object (without any obligation to return), as in "can I bot" a cigarette?". (Compare bum.)
  • bottle shop – a shop selling alcoholic drinks (for external consumption). cf. British English off-licence
  • bottlo – (pronounced bottle oh) diminutitve form of bottle shop
  • biscuit - cf. American English cookie and cracker.
  • brekky - short form of the word breakfast.
  • bung - used as a synonym for put or place, as in "Bung it in the oven". Also means not working or broken.
  • bugger
    • the process of wrecking or wearing something out, or making a general mess of things ("You'll bugger it up"),
    • a general purpose epithet that can range from endearment to awed surprise to outright hostility ("He's a dear old bugger" vs "well bugger me" vs "You little bugger!")
    • describing something as hard to do ("It'd be a bugger to fold up a full scale road map").
    • commonly used as a word of exclamation, as in "bugger!" Originally a very offensive word that is no longer considerd as offensive.
  • buggered – broken (for example it's buggered, mate or steve buggered it); or exhausted, tired out (for example I'm buggered). Also "I'll be buggered!", an expression of surprise, or an intention to disallow something ("I'll be buggered if I'll let that stop me").
  • buggerise – see "piss-fart around"
  • bushwalking – hiking in the bush.
  • bum - shares both meanings of bot (see above). (Not usually a homeless person, as in the North American usage of bum.)

C

  • cactus – non-functional. For example "This computer is cactus!"
  • camp – male homosexual, both as a noun and an adjective, now replaced by the American "gay".
  • carn – Assimilation of "Come on!" Usually used to either goad someone "Carn, have another" or to cheer on a sporting team "Carn the 'Doggies!"
  • chook – a chicken, also used in New Zealand.
  • Clayton's – not the real thing, ersatz (from a brand of zero alcohol mixer, advertised as "The drink you have when you're not having a drink") less widely used than in New Zealand.
  • crook – unwell; also unfair. For example "I am feeling a bit crook after that curry"; "That's a bit crook that they sacked you, Jim."
  • cop - police. To get or to have. For example "cop that"
  • cut – angry or upset. Also drunk, for example "He's half cut."
  • cut sick - to yell at someone angrily "to cut sick". Also to make a real effort at something, generally successfully - "I cut sick on the footy field today". To cut sick on the DF (to look good and dance hard on the dance floor).
  • cuppa – a cup of tea or coffee.


D

  • Deadly - Aboriginal English - Excellent.
  • dinkum - honest, genuine, real (OED). Probably not, as is often claimed, from the Cantonese (or Hokkien) ding kam, meaning "top gold". Most scholars believe dinkum was a dialect word from the East Midlands of England, where it meant "hard work" or "fair work", which was also the original meaning in Australian English.[1] The derivation dinky-di means a native-born Australian or "the real thing". Fair dinkum means "fair and square," i.e. honest. Can de shortened to "Dinks"
  • division – electoral district, equivalent to constituency in UK, electorate in New Zealand, riding in Canada (This term is formally used in the parliament but in general use the term 'electorate' is most common).
  • dob – to inform on. Personal noun: dobber or dibber dobber. The saying "dibber dobbers wear nappies" is commonly used by children.
  • dole - referencing unemployment benefits, as found in the UK. As in "are you on the dole?". Often combined with bludger as in "dole bludger".
  • doona – cf. British duvet. From the brand name "Doona". Originally the generic term was continental quilt. In South Australia and, to a lesser extent, Queensland the word quilt is used.
  • doover – a placeholder for an object whose name is unknown or forgotten, perhaps from "it'll do for now". for example "Do you know where I put that doover?" Also "doovermalaky" or "dooverlacky."
  • dreamtime – In the mythology of most Indigenous Australians, a "golden age" when the first ancestors and living things were created. A calque of the Arrernte word alcheringa.
  • dummy – cf. American pacifier (also common in British English); or cf. American mannequin.
  • dunny – a toilet, the appliance or the room - especially one in a separate outside building. This word has the distinction of being the only word for "toilet" which is not a euphemism of some kind. It is from the old english "dunnykin": a container for dung.

E to K

E

  • electorate – electoral district
  • emubob – the duty given to enlisted men in the military, of picking up cigarette butts lying around barracks and parade grounds. The term is only used in military circles. It was also used up until at least the last 5 years by Scouts and Cub Scouts for the same activity. The term emu parade, the meaning the collection of all types of litter enjoys wider usage.
  • Esky - portable cooler, a genericized trademark from the trade name Esky.

F

G

  • gammon or gammon job (mainly used in the Northern Territory). A word derived from a similar sounding Aboriginal word meaning invented or not true. As in "that's gammon mate" or "no mate that's a gammon job there".
  • garn – assimilation of go on or short for going, for example garn y'mongrel (that is go on you mongrel). See carn.
  • gaol - pronounced like jail, means jail.
  • g'day – the typical Aussie greeting, short for good day. Generally a Broad Australian or working class/ blue collar greeting.
  • goon – cheap cask wine, also can mean the bag containing the wine also know as a goon bag.
  • goonah - Aboriginal word meaning faeces. Used in general English in parts of Australia with a large Aboriginal population, including the Northern Territory (universally used), and in sections in other states.
  • grouse – great.
  • guernsey – a sporting team jumper; by extension also sometimes means a place on a sporting team as in didn't get a guernsey, meaning didn't get a place on the team or a chance to play.

H

  • Hills Hoist – a type of rotary clothesline; Hills is a popular clothesline manufacturer.
  • Hissy Fitt - see tantrum

I

  • Iceblock – popsicle, Ice Stick.

J

K

  • knackered – see buggered.
  • Knob-Jockey - a fool.

L to P

L

  • light globe – the common name for light bulbs. "Globe" is no longer commonly used in this sense outside Australia. "Bulb" is sometimes also heard in Australia.
  • lolly (plural: lollies) – confectionery (cf. American candy, UK sweets).


M

N

  • nature strip (or verge in Western Australia) – a lawn or plantation between a footpath (see above) and street. Known as a tree lawn in American English.
  • nigel – a loner; someone with no or hardly any friends. Common usage in primary and high school as an insult behind the subject's back. Also used in a joking fashion between friends when one happens to be by themselves. Eg. "He's such a nigel"
  • no worries – used in place of you're welcome, no problem, that's all right, etc.
  • no wuckin' furries – a spoonerism of no fuckin' worries, has the same usage as no worries. Sometimes shortened to no wuckers.

O

  • Oz – shortened form of Australia (see also "Aussie"). Also known as Down Under because of Australia's geographical location on a globe, this term was made popular due to the song "Down Under" by Australian band Men at Work.

P

  • pav – Pavlova, a kind of meringue dessert. Also used in New Zealand English
  • pearler - an excellent example of something (e.g. mate, that new car of yours is a pearler.).
  • perv – "to have a look" as in "I'm going round to have a perv at my mate's new car". Often, and possibly its original use was with a slight sexual connotation as in "Let's have a perv at those chicks over there". Referring to a person, it is used with a stronger and often disapproving connotation ranging in meaning from "dirty old man" to someone who likes to leer at the opposite sex.
  • pinged - caught. esp by umpire and penalised for holding the ball in game of Australian rules football.
  • pissed - drunk
  • piss-fart around – to waste time (for example we piss-farted around for a couple of hours at the beach; Stop piss-farting around and do your work.).
  • piss-off – telling a person to get lost.
  • piss-up – a drinking session (we're heading down the pub for a piss-up) or a party/get-together - usually one where excessive alcohol consumption is expected (piss-up at Jack's place tonight!). Sometimes heard in the description couldn't organise a piss-up in a brewery ie: disorganised and/or ineffectual.
  • piss-weak – a general purpose negative with meanings including weak (this coffee's piss-weak), ineffectual or pathetic (that engine's piss-weak) and unfair (that was a piss-weak decision).
  • pissing down - used to describe heavy rainfall.

Q to Z

R

  • ratshit – something that is broken or not work properly. "The engine's ratshit"
  • ripper - similar to "beauty". Something that is excellent. "What a ripper of a goal that was!" or "you little ripper"
  • root – to have sex. Also a noun, as in "I'm dyin' for a root" This can inadvertently cause embarrassment for Americans visiting Australia, if they declare that they "root" for a particular sports team.
  • rooted – broken or tired; see buggered.
  • rort – a scam, especially the exploitation of rules or laws; used mostly to describe the actions of politicians. (Also lurk as a noun.)

S

  • sealed road – a road covered in bitumen, equivalent to paved road in British English. In Western Australia, the US term blacktop has also become widely used.
  • shame or shame job - based on Aboriginal culture, where shame is a major factor, the word and phrase has been adapted in to general English in areas with a large Aboriginal population. As in "oh shame job man" and "shame, shame". Usually used by school-aged children.
  • sheltershed - in most States a simple detached building for the protection of school children from hostile weather. Also known as a lunch shed, weather shed or undercover area.
  • shout – to treat someone or to pay for something, especially a round of drinks, as in "Cough up, Bill - It's your shout", "Let's go for a coffee: my shout". Also used in British English.
  • shonky – poorly made or of low quality.
  • sick - very good; usually intensified in the phrase 'fully sick'. Often heard in Melbourne's western suburbs
  • sickie – A day of absence from work, sometimes due to feigned illness. To "chuck a sickie" is to partake in such a day.
  • slab - A carton of beer.
  • smoko – previously a short break from work, synonymous with coffee break. As smoking is now banned inside in most workplaces, this is now frequently used to denote going outside for a cigarette.
  • snag – sausage.
  • sook - to act in a timid, meek manner; She's sooking again. Also a noun; He's such a sook!
  • sparky - electrician.
  • spanner – cf. American wrench. Also can be a derogatory remark, "that guy is an absolute spanner" (see tool)
  • spit the dummy - see tantrum
  • squiz - To have a look, as in "Let's take a squiz at the new house".
  • stickybeak - to nose around, as in "I'll go to Fred's place and have a stickybeak around the back."
  • Strine - a word used to describe Australian spoken English. From the Broad Australian pronunciation of "Australian". Strayan is an alternative.
  • super - short for superannuation, the Australian term for a private pension.
  • sussed - to have something figured out, ("I've got it sussed now")
  • sweet - in agreement, synonym for the phrase 'what a good idea'

T

  • thingo or thingamajig – a placeholder for an object whose name is unknown or forgotten. Thingie and Whatsit are also used with this meaning.
  • thong – A backless sandal, usually made of plastic, the top section of which sits between the big and second toes. Known as jandals in New Zealand English. The name thong was also the original name for this footwear in the U.S. but the name flip flop later came to dominate and the term thong in the U.S. now more commonly refers to G-string style underwear. Due to U.S. influences in Australia thong is now also used in Australia to refer to the underwear.
  • tool – penis.

U

  • uee – sometimes used instead of U-turn when driving. Often used in a phrase like "Chuck a uee here, Bill" = "Make a U-turn here, Bill". Pronounced 'yew-ee'.
  • ute – short for utility vehicle. A car-like vehicle with a tray back, possibly with sides, a rear gate and/or a removable cover. Any small truck. Generally cognisant with pickup truck in most countries, although they are normally much smaller than American pickup trucks, being based on family cars.
  • Ugg boots or uggies - a type of boot/slipper hybrid made of sheep skin.

W

  • wag or wagging – to skip school or work to do something else on someone else's time.
  • wagon – station wagon in US, estate car in UK
  • westie - a person from the western suburbs (usually Sydney)
  • woop-woop or the back of Bourke or beyond the Black stump – a generic far-off place (for example out past woop-woop – with the short oo sound used in 'cook').
  • whallopers - police

Y

  • yank - an American
  • youse – plural of the pronoun you, also common in Irish and US English.

Old, declining or expired slang

Many distinctive Australian words have been driven into extinction or near extinction in recent decades under the homogenising influence of mass media and imported culture, because of changes in fashion, or have fallen into disuse as society changes. Those who like or use these words regret their passing but informal vocabulary is by nature ephemeral.

Some examples:

  • block – as in 'do the block', to parade around or be on display, especially in public. or 'do my block' to get aggressive.
  • blimey - An exclamation of surprise or astonishment, as in "Caw blimey!". Popularly used term of international Australian celebrity Steve Irwin
  • bodgie - bad or poor quality (adjective) or; a male member of a 1950s rock 'n' roll subculture (noun). In the latter sense, similar to both US greasers and British rockers.
  • bonzer – excellent (almost extinct). Often in the exclamation bonzer beauty. Probably from the Spanish word bonanza, by way of American English. Also spelt bonza.
  • clobber - clothing. Nearly extinct.
  • cobber – friend, mate. Nearly extinct.
  • cooee! – a shouted greeting. Also in the phrase "not within cooee," meaning "a long way off." Once ubiquitous, now almost extinct.
  • cut lunch – a lunch consisting of sandwich(es)
  • dinkum – genuine (still used but in decline); or an exclamation meaning "is that right?". Often in the form "fair dinkum". The derivation dinky-di also means genuine. Sometimes claimed to date from the Australian goldrushes of the 1850s, and to be that it is derived from a Chinese language (possibly Cantonese or Hokkien) word for "real gold". However, scholars believe that this a false etymology and that dinkum originated as an English regional dialect word for "hard work" or "fair work".
  • dogs, jacks or traps – the police. These Australianisms have been largely replaced by the international cops, coppers, pigs or bacon. However the older, more affectionate wallopers is also still used.
  • drongo – an idiot (usage in decline); from a subfamily of Australian birds. (According to mythology, these have extravagantly flared tails and cavort noisily in groups as part of their mating habits.) Possibly an indirect derivation, from the name of a remarkably unsuccessful racehorse.
  • flamin' – an exclamatory term, usually with bad connotations for example "You flamin' mongrel!" (This phrase is famously used on Australian soap opera Home and Away, but is not unique to Australia and is also common in British English).
  • furphy – a lie or rumour. Furhpy was the supplier of water carts to the Australian Army in World War I. Much like modern day water coolers, the carts became meeting points and rumour mills.
  • galah – a fool (survives, but in decline), from the bird. This word has been used in commercials against drunk driving; "Don't be a galah!"
  • map of Tassie – Female pubic hair. Tassie being short for Tasmania and used for the general similarity in shape of the map to this part of the anatomy. Not in common usage.
  • nasho -adjective and noun, pertaining to National Service or conscription for military service esp. in 1960s.
  • sharpie - member of a 1960s and 1970s teenage subculture. Probably from "sharply dressed" and/or a reference to the use of knives.
  • struth! (sometimes spelt strewth) – expression of shock or dismay (replaced by stronger expletives such as "fuck!" or "shit!"). Possibly of Shakespearean origin, "God's Truth". Also heard occasionally in the English Cockney dialect. Other older expletives of English origin such as "cripes," "my oath" and "blimey" are also dying out.
  • widgie - female bodgie (see above).
  • wowser – a killjoy or puritan. Still used but in decline.

Rhyming slang

A common feature of traditional Australian English was rhyming slang, based on Cockney rhyming slang and imported by migrants from London in the 19th century. Rhyming slang consists of taking a phrase, usually of two words, which rhymes with a commonly used word, then using the first word of the phrase the represent the word. For example "Captain Cook" rhymes with "look", so to "have a captain cook," or to "have a captain," means to "have a look."

Rhyming slang was often used to create euphemistic terms for obscene words. In recent years this feature of Australian English has declined under the impact of mass popular culture.

Some of the more colourful examples:

  • Adrian Quist – "pissed" (that is drunk, not the US English sense of "annoyed" or "angry"). Now rarely heard. Named after a well-known Australian tennis player of the 1930s and 1940s.
  • bag of fruit – "suit", as in suit and tie.
  • barry – a "shocker" (as in a poor performance), from the Australian crooner and actor Barry Crocker.
  • captain – "look", from Captain James Cook, as in "Having a good Captain, are ya??
  • china plate – "mate", friend, buddy.
  • chunder – to vomit. From Chunder Loo, a cartoon character who was once a regular feature in The Bulletin (not an abbreviation of "watch under", which is a false etymology). Falling out of use as the more common synonyms such as "throw-up", "have a spew", "chuck me guts up" and "be sick" persist. US terms like "puke" or "hurl" are also occasionally used.
  • dead horse - "tomato sauce"
  • dog and bone – "telephone".
  • dropkick – originally "cunt", from "dropkick punt", a kick used in various codes of football. Since the "punt" has now been forgotten, "dropkick" usually just means a stupid person.
  • frog and toad – "road", usually in the phrase "hit the frog 'n 'toad" (that is depart)
  • good cheer – "beer".
  • Harold Holt - "salt". Derived from an Australian Prime Minister, who disappeared while swimming in the sea, in 1967.
  • Harry Holt – "bolt", as in depart quickly.
  • horse's hoof - "poof" (homosexual).
  • jack dancer - Cancer, "the big 'C'"; only Rhymes with the Australian pronounciation of "dancer".
  • Joe Blake – "snake".
  • Noah's Ark - "shark".
  • reg grundy's – "undies", underpants, after Reg Grundy, well known Australian television producer. Sometimes also: "reginalds".
  • sausage roll – "goal", as in scoring point(s) for the team.
  • septic (or seppo) – "American", short for septic tank, which rhymes with Yank.
  • snake's – "piss", from snake's hiss, as in "I'm busting for a snake's."
  • steak and kidney – "Sydney".
  • Warwick Farms - Arms. After the racecourse in Sydney, Australia.

Cricket slang

The game of cricket is immensely popular in Australia and has contributed a rich vein of slang to Australian English. Some of this is shared with rival cricketing nations, like the Poms and the Kiwis.

Australians can be bowled over (taken by surprise), stumped (nonplussed) or clean bowled or alternatively hit for six (completely defeated). When answering questions, one can play a straight bat (or a dead bat) (give a noncommittal answer) or let that one through to the keeper or shoulder arms (dodge the question), particularly if they are on a sticky wicket (in a tight situation). The questioner in turn can send down a bouncer, a googly, a flipper or a yorker (difficult questions to varying degrees). Alternatively, the question could be a long hop or a dolly — an easy question that person being questioned can use to his or her advantage. The expression "to bat for the other side" is commonly used in respect of gay men or lesbians, and is not necessarily a perjorative.

Australian rules slang

In the sport of Australian rules football, several terms are used.

See also List of nicknames used in Australian rules.

Australian Defence Force slang

The Australian Defence Force is made up of the Australian Army, the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Each have their own distinct traditions but share a defence force culture.

  • Choco – A derogative term for reserve solider, for example you choco’s are soft. Term come from chocolate solider, melts in the sun.
  • Cut lunch cowboy – See Choco.
  • Chook – A signals operator, for example I’m a chook. Term comes from their hand writing, it looks like chook scratching.
  • Digger – A solider without rank, for example I volunteer you dig!. Term comes from the Anzacs.
  • Drop shorts – An artillery solider, for example can you repeat that, I’m a drop short.
  • Ferret – A beret, for example where is my ferret?.
  • Helo – Navy term for helicopter.
  • Jack – To be selfish, for example You’re a jack dig! or stop being jack and give us a hand. Term comes from digger jack… he didn’t put in.
  • Jack – Term used in place of corporal You’ve been stabbed lance jack. Term comes from a VC winner.
  • LT – Term used for lieutenant (pronounced ELL-TEE), for example Where is this LT marching us?
  • Numpty – An individual who just doesn't get it, for example This numpty recruit forgot his boots.
  • Pig - an officer (within the RAAF, Snorker has become a popular alternative, to avoid confusion with the aircraft)
  • Pig - an F-111 aircraft
  • Pollies – The polyester dress, for example iron your pollies dig!. Term comes from the material they are made from.
  • Sig – A member with no rank in the signals corps, for example Sigs are hot.
  • Weekend Warrior – See Choco.

Terms for people

  • AJ - abbreviation of Army Jerk, used when referring to soldiers.
  • ambo- ambulance driver.
  • bastard – general purpose designation for a person or persons, may be either a term of endearment or a expression of hostility or resentment. It has sometimes be called "the great Australian endearment", but can also be an insult; interpreted according to context. Calling someone "a silly bastard" is affectionate: calling them "a stupid bastard" is a serious insult. See for example the cricketing anecdote from the Bodyline tour: "Which one of youse bastards called this bastard a bastard?"
  • battler – a socially-respected, hard-working Australian who is struggling to "make ends meet", because their income is only just enough to survive off.
  • bloke – generic term for a man (also common in British English).
    • Example with a negative connotation. he's such a bloke (he is insensitive, he is interested in masculine pastimes, such as drinking and sport.).
    • Example with a positive connotation. he's a good bloke (you can rely on him / he's a good person).
  • bludger – originally, one who lives off the earnings of prostitution: in Australian usage, a lazy person. See also dole bludger.
  • blue – traditional Australian name of anyone with red hair - particularly common in the Army, but also used in wider society. Richard Branson's airline operation in Australia is therefore officially named Virgin Blue in reference to its red planes.
  • bogan – a term used for a lower class white Australian, similar in meaning to the US term trailer trash. Seems to have originated in Melbourne before spreading throughout the country after being used in Melbourne-produced television programs. Westie is the term favoured in Sydney for people who live in the Western Suburbs of Sydney. Other alternatives include bevan (in Queensland) , booner in Canberra and chigger in the northern suburbs of Hobart.
  • boofhead - idiot, can also refer to someone with big hair.
  • bushranger – a highwayman.
  • Cadbury (sometimes Cadbury's) – someone who gets drunk very quickly. From a series of commercials for Cadbury milk chocolate claiming each block contains "a glass and a half of full-cream dairy milk", the implication being the "Cadbury" can't hold more than a glass and a half of beer.
  • crook - a person of unsound character, or criminal; That crook Kezza's ripped me off!.
  • dag -mild term for a foolish, clumsy, unfashionable or shabbily-dressed person. Originally a lump of fæces-encrusted wool dangling from a sheep's posterior. Can also mean a silly, funny, or goofy person when used affectionately. Daggy is a commonly used adjective.
  • derro – a tramp or wino. Short form of derelict.
  • dole bludger – a person living on social security who does so by choice, that is who actively chooses to be unemployed.
  • Eastie – a term used for an upper class white Australian, a term favoured in Sydney for people who live in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney.
  • garbo – a garbage collector. More specifically, the men who ran behind the garbage truck, picking up the garbage bins from the kerbside and emptying them into the truck. Now made obsolete by machines which do the same thing with a pronged implement.
  • greenie – an environmentalist.
  • hoon – a thug or lout; especially one in command of a hotted-up motor vehicle.
  • larrikin – A person who is rebellious, non conformist and/or anti-authoritarian.
  • leso – (pronounced lezzo). A lesbian.
  • mate – a friend. A term that is used affectionately to address friends and acquaintances ("How's it going, mate?"), to address strangers ("Excuse me, mate..."), and extravagant pleasure at seeing someone (Mate! It's beaut to see yer again!"). Also used as a noun ("He's a good mate"). Sometimes deliberately used as an expression of aggression or threat (hostile overfamiliarity) directed towards a hostile or indifferent stranger (the tone of voice and context will make this usage very clear; there is no danger of confusion). The term is also common in British English in all these respects (except the last).
  • nong, or ning-nong – idiot, moron. (Used famously on one occasion by Wilson Tuckey, at that time a member of the opposition, to address Prime Minister Paul Keating.)
  • party room - group of members of parliament belonging to the same party, equivalent to parliamentary party (in British English). Caucus is used only to refer to the parliamentary members of the Australian Labor Party.
  • poofter, pooftah or poof – homosexual man (also common in British English).
  • public servant - government employee, or (in British English) a civil servant. Originally a euphemism for British convicts transported to Australia in the 18th and 19th centruries.[2]
  • root rat – a sexually active and promiscuous person; a person always on the lookout for a sexual liaison.
  • scrag - an undesirable woman
  • sheila – a (young) woman: also in New Zealand (being driven out by the American word "chick").
  • sook - someone who acts in a timid, crybaby manner.
  • spunk- a sexually attractive female or male. This usage can inadvertently cause outrage among British people, where "spunk" is slang for semen. Conversely, spunk in North American English usually means "courage" or "pluckiness".
  • stickybeak - A snoop, cf. British English noseyparker. Also used as a verb to stickybeak.
  • street kid – A phrase used to describe homeless youth.
  • tall poppy – someone who (through hard work, natural ability, or simply luck) rises above the average, and if he/ she has the bad manners to flaunt his/ her success or talent rather than employing the socially acceptable self-deprecation or modesty (real or false), attracts the disapprobation of others.
  • tool - an idiot, imbecile.
  • towie - a tow-truck operator.
  • truckie - a truck driver.
  • two pot screamer – someone who gets drunk very quickly. "Pot" is the term used in Victorian pubs for a 285 ml (10 ounce) beer glass. See also Cadbury.
  • yobbo - a person who enjoys beer and being a slob. Preferred attire is a singlet (sometimes known as a 'wife beater'), shorts and thongs (cf. British English 'yob').

Nick names by state or territory

  • Banana bender – a Queenslander, since Queensland is a major banana-producing region. Also "cane toad", since the state was where the troublesome amphibian species was introduced.
  • Deep North – Queensland. Used by New South Wales people as a derogatory term in the same way the Americans use the phrase Deep South.
  • Cockroach – a New South Wales person. Popularised by the Queensland rugby league identity Barry Muir (b. 1937). Consequently, in State of Origin rugby league matches between Queensland and New South Wales, the teams are informally known as the Cane Toads and the Cockroaches.
  • Crow eater – a South Australian. Possibly from the piping shrike, the crow-like faunal emblem of the state. Another common theory is that early European settlers were forced by hunger to eat crows.
  • Eastern States – term used by West Australians and South Australians to refer to the rest of Australia; a common derivation is Eastern Stater.
  • Mainland – term used by Tasmanians to refer to the rest of Australia; a common derivation is Mainlander.
  • Mexican – usually used to indicate a Victorian, due to the fact that Victoria is south of the border from New South Wales, Queensland and the territories, but also used by Queenslanders to refer to people from both New South Wales and Victoria (states south of Queensland). Strangely, South Australians also use this term to refer to Victorians, even though Victoria is east of the border from SA.
  • Sandgroper – a Western Australian. Originally insects from the Cylindrachetidae family, many of which are found in WA. Probably also a reference to the sandy soils of the Perth region. Popularised by Henry Lawson.
  • Taswegian or Tasmaniac – a Tasmanian.
  • Territorian or Top Ender – a Northern Territorian.
  • Centralian - for people living in Central Australia, typically around Alice Springs, in Southern Northern Territory.

Terms or nicknames for ethnicities

Many of the following terms are considered derogatory or offensive to the described ethnic group. Many terms are derived from the Australian habit of using diminutives, and are not necessarily offensive in their use. Some terms, for example "gypo", have been reclaimed by some ethnic groups to refer to themselves and have become acceptable in certain settings when used without derogatory intent.

  • Abo or Boong or Coon – an Indigenous Australian person. The latter terms are considered offensive – the Australian equivalents of the American "nigger)".
  • Anglo-Celtic – media/academic term for an Australian of English, Scottish, Welsh, or Irish descent
  • Asian – usually East or Southeast Asian (rather than South Asian, as in British usage).
  • Aussie (pronounced: /ɔzi/) – an Australian. Can be used as a description for Australians of Anglo-Celtic descent (example "im Aussie"). Often incorrectly pronounced as "ah-see" /ɑsi/ by North Americans, and mis-understood by many to mean "Australia" (for example "I'm going back to Aussie").
  • Camel jockey - offensive slang for an Arab or other person of Middle Eastern origin.
  • Chink or Chinger – a person of obvious Asian descent. Once used specifically for Chinese people, this is now used in a more general sense to refer to Asians.
  • Filo (pronoucned: /fɪləʉ/) – a person of Filipino descent.
  • Gook – taken from the American slang term for Asians of Vietnamese origin, this is a highly offensive term in Australia.
  • Gypo or Gipo (pronounced: /dʒɪpəʉ/) – a person of Egyptian descent.
  • Indian – a person from the Indian sub-continent (including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, etc); Australians sometimes use this somewhat generic term (as British people use "Asian" for people from the same region) to distinguish them from east or south-east Asians. Curry muncher or curry (abbreviated) is another term used but is considered offensive by most.
  • Jap or Nip – an Asian person of Japanese descent. The term Nip is sometimes used to describe a person of general Asian appearance. Both of these words are simply shortened terms for Japanese (Nip being a shortened version of Nippon, the Japanese word for Japan). Nip is generally considered offensive, while Jap less so.
  • Lebo or Leb – a person of Lebanese descent. Considered offensive by some. See: Lebanese Australian
  • Maco - (pronounced "masso") a person of Macedonian decent. Can be mildly offensive.
  • New Australian – 1950s term for immigrant, usually from continental Europe, becoming obsolete.
  • Paki - term used to describe a person from Pakistan. Not considered highly offensive.
  • Pom – (also pommy) a word for an English person. Generally regarded as being mildly derogatory. The true origin of this term is somewhat obscure, and several theories abound. The Macquarie Dictionary states that it is a contraction of pomegranate, which was rhyming slang for immigrant ("imme-granate"). (See also fake etymology. Another common explanation is that "pom" originated as a term for British convicts sent to Australia; that is, as an acronym for "Prisoner of Mother England". However, this theory is not accepted by lexicographers.)
  • Seppo – an American, from rhyming slang Septic Tank = Yank
  • Skip or Skippy – a (sometimes derogatory) term for an Australian of Anglo-Celtic descent. Chiefly used in large cities by young people of Southeast European or Asian descent. Probably a reference to the famous 1960s children's television programme Skippy the Bush Kangaroo which featured a predominantly Anglo-Celtic cast.
  • Wog – derogatory, but increasingly reclaimed, term for Italians, Greeks or other immigrants from the Mediterranean. (Contrast with British usage, where the word usually refers to people of Middle Eastern or South Asian descent). However this is also used to mean a cold or bug. clog wog refers to Australians of Dutch descent.
  • Yank – An American. Also used in the United States, in Britain, Latin America, Asia and New Zealand.

Clothes

  • cardie – cardigan
  • dacks (daks) – trousers, most likely derived from the London clothier Daks (founded in 1894). Trackie dacks are tracksuit pants, and underdacks are underpants or knickers. To dak someone is to pull their pants down.
  • flannie or flanno – A shirt made from flanelette, most often with a check pattern.
  • moccies – Moccasin-style footwear.
  • singlet - a sleeveless undershirt, known in British English as a vest and in US English as a tank top (or, colloquially, as a "wife beater").
  • thongs – flip-flops, cf. NZE jandals. The undergarment is called a g-string in Australia.
  • ugg boots – sheepskin boot. This word has been trademarked by Deckers Outdoor Corporation in some countries, however, it has always been regarded as a generic word in Australian English.

Swimwear

Swimwear is known by different names around Australia. The most some common terms are:

  • bathers – the most common term in Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania and occasionally in other states. From "bathing suit".
  • cossie – from "swimming costume". Usage of this name is generally restricted to New South Wales.
  • speedos – generic term for men's swimming briefs which originated in Australia, as a brand name (see Speedo). Known colloquially as sluggos, budgie smugglers, dick stickers, dick dacks, dick hangers or dick togs ("DTs" for short).
  • swimmers – used mainly in New South Wales. From "swimming costume".
  • togs – used mainly in Queensland, but also by some people in Western Australia and Victoria, to describe any type of swimwear.
  • trunks – now virtually extinct, formerly used by some people in various regions, to describe any type of swimwear.

Main source: Australian Word Map,

Food and drink

With foodstuffs, Australian English tends to be more closely related to the British vocabulary, for example the term biscuit has always been favoured over the American terms cookie and cracker. (However, as had been the case with many terms, cookie is recognised by Australians, and occasionally used, especially among younger generations; this is due to high levels of American film and television programs being seen in Australia and certain fast food franchises of American origin now widespread in Australia. Although cookies are generally regarded as considerably larger, i.e. palm-sized; and sweeter, "chocolate-chip" etc., than the more commonplace biscuit). Another example related to the former is chips originating from the British English, but now the US English fries is frequently used. Again this change denotes a difference in product: an Australian chip is both a British crisp and American fries. The distinction is generally made through the adjective hot. Hot chips are also larger and thicker than American shoestring fries.

In a few cases such as zucchini, snow pea and eggplant, Australian English uses the same terms as US English, whereas the British use the equivalent French terms courgette, mangetout and do not care whether eggplant or aubergine is used. This is possibly due to a fashion that emerged in mid-19th Century Britain of adopting French nouns for foodstuffs, and hence the usage changed in Britain while the original terms were preserved in the (ex-)colonies.

There are also occasions when Australians use words or terms which are not common in other forms of English. For example, Australia uses the botanical name capsicum for what both the British and the Americans would call (red or green) bell peppers. Perhaps this is in order to contrast table pepper (berries of genus Piper) from so-called "hot peppers" (larger fruits of genus Capsicum).

In Australian English dried grapes are given different names according to their variety, and generally raisins are largest, sultanas are intermediate, while currants are smallest.

Tomato sauce is the name given to ketchup in Australia, and other sauces made from tomatoes are generally referred to by names related to their uses, such as pasta sauce.

Coffee is also worthy of mention, since Australians have devised unique terms, such as flat white or white coffee, in reference to a standard (brewed) coffee with milk. Since the mid-1980s other varieties of coffee have also become popular, although these have generally adopted names used in North America and/or Europe.

The colorless, lemon-flavored, carbonated drink known in North America and elsewhere under brand names such as Sprite and 7 Up is called lemonade, while the drink known as lemonade in North America that is typically made of lemon juice and sugar is sometimes referred to as traditional lemonade, or sometimes lemon squash, particularly in carbonated form.

Australians also like to refer to McDonald's as Maccas.

Processed pork

According to linguists, the easiest way to tell which part of Australia someone comes from is to ask them what they call bland-tasting, processed pork, sold under various brand names in plastic-wrapped tubes. Similar products are known in North America as baloney and in the UK as pork luncheon meat. These are known by different names in different regions of Australia.

Beer glasses

Not only have there been a wide variety of measures in which beer is served in pubs in Australia, the names of these glasses differ from one area to another. However, the range of glasses has declined greatly in recent years. One of the most noteworthy measures was the 425 ml (15 fluid ounce) "pint" glass formerly used in South Australia, which was technically equal to only 75% of a pint (568 ml or 20 fl.oz.).

Names of beer glasses in different Australian cities
Capacity Sydney Darwin Brisbane Adelaide Hobart Melbourne Perth Canberra
115 ml
(4 fl.oz.)		 – – – – small beer – shetland* –
140 ml
(5 fl.oz.)		 pony* – small beer pony – pony pony* –
170 ml
(6 fl.oz.)		 – – – – six small glass bobbie* –
200 ml
(7 fl.oz.)		 seven* seven beer* butcher – glass glass –
225 ml
(8 fl.oz.)		 – – – – eight – – –
285 ml
(10 fl.oz.)		 middy handle pot schooner ten oz./beer pot middy middy
425 ml
(15 fl.oz.)		 schooner schooner schooner "pint" schooner* schooner* schooner* schooner
568-575 ml
(1 pint)		 pint - pint pint** pint** pint pint –

bold = common
* = rare/extinct
** = Only in the case of British or Irish beers.

Transport

Cars

Work/goods vehicles

In Australia, the vehicles known as pickups elsewhere are referred to as utes (short for utility). Truck (rather than lorry) has been the preferred term for heavy goods vehicles in Australia since World War II. Four wheel drive, which is often abbreviated in writing as 4WD, is the usual name for the class of vehicles known elsewhere as SUVs, as well as utes with 4WD capability. In contrast to US English, neither utes nor passenger 4WD vehicles are usually regarded as being "trucks" in Australia. There are a variety of terms for large and/or articulated trucks, depending on the type of cargo area, size/length, number of axles/wheels and so on. A single trailer articulated truck (typically with 32 wheels in Australia) is known as a Semi (an abbreviated form of semi trailer), an articulated truck with two trailers (typically with 50 tires) is known as a B-Double. The largest of all articulated trucks are road trains, common on Outback highways, which must have at least three trailers and often have more. In all articulated truck configurations, the powered vehicle at the front is invariably known as a prime mover.

Police vehicles

The panel vans used by police forces are known in most parts of Australia as paddy wagons or as black marias, in accordance with international usage. However, in Melbourne they are often also called divvy vans, an abbreviation of the archaic Victoria Police jargon divisional van. The staccato chant of "You're going home in the back of a divvy van" (followed by clapping) can occasionally be heard when a crowd is nearby one of these vehicles (especially at the footy!). In Sydney, some people refer to similar vehicles as bull wagons and in the Riverina they are known as bun wagons.

Larger police vans, generally on truck chassis, which have facilities to test the blood alcohol levels of suspected drunk drivers, are known as booze buses or bretho's.

Police vehicles with speed monitering equipment, usually of the stationary type, are referred to as speedo's.

See also

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Australian_English_vocabulary&oldid=35738497"