Aussie Slang I Can’t Shake
Although I only lived in Australia a few years, there are a number of Aussie slang words/phrases that just stuck with me. Living with an Australian and returning every year helps though, I’m sure.
Australian slang is a huge part of their culture. They use a lot of slang and also are quick to give nicknames. Australians are friendly and familiar, which is one of the things that make them so endearing.
Some of the Aussie (pronounced Ozzie, not Ossie – this drives me nuts) slang that I still use, and often get strange looks because of are:
Boot - trunk of a car. As in, “please pop the boot”. I say this all the time. Even the other day my sister looked at me and said, “Boot”? It’s a habit. It’s here to stay.
Brekkie – instead of breakfast. A fine example of how Australians have a tendency to take words and “shorten them and make them cute”. Like Postman to Postie, Electrician to Leckie, Barbeque to Barbie, mosquito to mozzie…the list goes on and on.
Arv or Arvo or Arvy instead of Afternoon – I usually only say this to my husband since he is the only person who would know what I was actually saying. I have to consciously stop myself from saying it to others though. Afternoon is a very long word after saying ‘Arv’, prounounced “Ahhv” as Australians tend to drop r’s.
An example is “I got my hair cut Saturday arv and it looks fab”. Really, it does.
Weird, I know. But, after a while a while of speaking like this, you get lazy and just shorten words like everyone else.
Togs instead of swimsuit – this is very regional. In Queensland they say ‘togs’. In New South Wales (where Sydney is), they say “Cossie” (pronounced cozzie and short for swimming costume) and in other places they say ‘Bathers’. There may be others. Like I said, the slang is pretty prolific.
Cuppa – as in “a cup of coffee”. This is commonly used as you enter someone’s home in Australia. “Would you like a cuppa”? They drink a lot of coffee and tea in Oz (slang for Australia).
Thongs – flip flops – I have to be careful with this one, as you can imagine.
Woop woop - a remote place, no mans land. I always get weird looks when I say something is out in “woop woop”. This is another one of those slang phrases/words that I didn’t realize was Australian because I feel like I’ve always said it. I don’t realize it until a number of people don’t understand me or laugh when I say something.
Some others I still use are whinge (complain), heaps (a lot), no worries (no problem), sunnies (sunglasses), wanker (jerk/fool/idiot), mate/matey (friend/buddy – I call my oldest son this a lot) and esky (portable ice chest).
In the photo in this post, “Onya Mate”, is something else Australians do, where they actually have slang for slang! “Onya” is short for “Good On Ya”, which is slang for “Good going, great job”. So, “Onya Mate” means “Great job friend”! I know, it’s a struggle sometimes to keep up!
For LOTS more Aussie slang check out an Aussie slang dictionary. There are also some videos on YouTube that are good for a laugh.
See ya round like a rissole! (This means, catch ya later).
Related posts:
03/30/2009 | Australia.
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April 7th, 2009 at 9:22 pm
Oh gee…do we REALLY sound like that? LOL.
Just discovered your site today. Quite possibly via a tweet although the twitterer in question quite escapes me at present. Anyhow, clearly anything Australian is awesome and well done you for marrying one!
Cheers,
Lizzie (in South Australia
April 7th, 2009 at 9:43 pm
I was reading this Aussie slang book today that my son pulled off the shelf and was cracking up at some of them. And yes, I feel quite proud of myself in my choice of hubby’s! I mean, how lucky am I that I am forced to go on holiday to Australia every year. Some days I wonder why I don’t still live there.
I’ve been to Adelaide…do you live there? Beautiful city.
April 8th, 2009 at 12:45 am
Sure do live in Adelaide. Very laid back compared to the rat race of Melbourne or Sydney. Only about 1.5 million people (Sydney I think is nudging 6 mil?). A lot cheaper too ;P
Where’s your hubby from?
April 8th, 2009 at 7:56 am
He’s from North Queensland…Mackay. But we lived in Brisbane when we were there. My inlaws (parents, brother, sisters) all live on the Sunshine Coast now, so that is where we always go. Not a bad place to have to go every year.
April 15th, 2009 at 11:25 am
Hello from Queensland! It’s funny about the different terminology you get in different states too. A popper in Qld is a prima in Vic and a juice box in WA. Oh, and I think they are bathers in Tassie!
You made me laugh! It’s so refreshing to see an Aussie blog (or a least a blog with an Aussie spin) un the midst of all the mostly US ones that I keep finding through WFMW. Thanks for the giggles. (and yes, it is 2:24am Thursday morning here – I can’t sleep!)
From Liz
April 15th, 2009 at 11:51 am
G’day Liz! Yes, an American friend of mine in QLD, when her kids were little, wondered why her kid’s teachers requested they pack ‘poppers’ (which she thought were firecrackers!) in their lunches for a field trip. Ha! I still call them that sometimes and nobody knows what I’m talking about. She also almost took an empty plate to a party once when the host told her to “bring a plate”, which we usually just call a ‘potluck’. Ha!
Still raining tons there? My rellies on the Sunny Coast say it’s been raining for days and days.
May 16th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
I love Adelaide, I think its more family living than sydney or brisbane……..going to melbourne in September, so ill make another judgement call where Ill be living in 2 years!! great site you have here….love the slang words, I probably use “No worries” most of the time. My b/f is from Frankston Victoria, so I need to brush up on my slang before I go back to see him.
May 16th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
Hi Cara! Welcome! So, are you moving to Melbourne from the US? Or do you live in Adelaide? I can see where Adelaide would seem more family friendly, since it’s a smaller city. I liked it when I visited. I used to live in Brisbane and I loved it there. I didn’t have kids then though, so not sure how my perspective would change. Most of our family is on the Sunny Coast, so we would probably go there or Brissie if we moved back.
Best of luck with your move! Cheers!
June 28th, 2009 at 10:17 pm
I love all the Aussie slang! ‘brekkie’ and ‘good on ya’…makes me think of the awesome time I had there everytime I say it
Cheers!
September 22nd, 2009 at 11:04 pm
Had a good laugh! Love our silly little ways! I found you via WFMW & am having a poke around. I’m from Adelaide & one thing that I always say which only us Aussies get is “not happy Jan”. In Adelaide a popper is called a fruit box. Toggs are bathers & we say onya mate if someone stuffs up, heavy on the sarcasm. I’m going to see if I have a crap husband now & add you to my reader! Thanks for the laugh.
September 23rd, 2009 at 7:31 am
Hilarious! Both my husband and I cracked up your ‘Not happy Jan’ reminder as we sometimes say that too, but only to each other since, as you said, nobody over here would have a clue as to what we were talking about! I had an American friend in Australia who when told by teachers to pack a lunch “with a popper” put something else altogether different (a party popper) in her son’s lunch, since she didn’t know what that was (we say juice box). She also almost took just a plate to a party when told to “bring a plate” to what we call a potluck. Ha!