Much has been written about
the differences between British English and American
English. French French and Quebec French have a similar
relationship. However, nothing quite matches Australian
English for its lively colourful phrases. Some words and
expressions are quite naturally taken from British
slang. Some words have completely different meanings in
Australia than in Anglophone countries north of the
Equator. A number of commonly-used words have been
shortened considerably. Other words are indigenous to
Australia and derived from Aboriginal terms, such as
'boomerang' and 'kangaroo'. In general, however, the
wonderful slang of Australian English is primarily
because Australians take English as a game to be played,
and they love to have fun with it. Some of the words and
expressions are readily understandable but others can be
incredibly obscure in their meanings and derivations.
In addition to the slang, Australian
pronunciation can be peculiar. To the casual listener is
sounds similar to Cockney pronunciation, but it differs
in many ways. Australian speech also tends to be more
contracted, with some sounds and even entire syllables
omitted. Australian pronunciation has slight regional
variations, and city speech tends to be faster than
country speech. Some oversimplified rules of Australian
speech are to speak slightly nasally, to contract any
word of more than 2 syllables and to convert terms into
diminutives wherever possible.
Most obvious in
Australian speech are the 'I' sound for 'A' and 'Ah' for
'R'. These can best be illustrated with examples of
pronunciations such as 'egg nishner' = 'air
conditioner', 'G'dye, myte' = 'Good day, mate', 'Strine'
= 'Australian', or 'Wyne chevva cold share' = 'Why don't
you have a cold shower.' (American English has some
similar examples, as in the phrase 'Jeet jet?' = 'Did
you eat yet?') In general, the differences in Australian
English are more amusing than irritating, despite the
occasional confusion that may result. Give it a burl!
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Strine (Australian)
Glossary from A to Zed
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A
Act: Pretending to be
something you're not.
Aggro: Aggressive.
Alf:
Stupid person.
Amber or Amber fluid: Beer.
Apple
Eater: Resident of Tasmania.
Arvo: Afternoon.
Aussie (pronounced 'Ozzie'): Australian.
Avagoyermug: Traditional rallying call, often heard
at cricket matches (contraction of 'Have a go, you
mug!')
Award wage: Minimum pay rate.
B
Back of beyond: Far away in the outback.
Back of Bourke: The middle of nowhere.
Bag: Lady
who is not particularly pleasant.
Bail out: Leave.
Bail up: Hold up, rob, earbash.
Banana Bender:
Resident of Queensland.
Barbie (Barbecue): Like a
cook out. Many people get together for a 'Barbie' in the
warmer months. They are usually BYO (Bring your own)
meat and drinks.
Barney: Fight or scuffle.
Barrack: To cheer on a team at a sporting event.
Bastard: General form of address which can mean
practically anything from highest praise ('a good
bastard') to worst insult ('a rotten bastard'). When in
doubt, don't use it.
Bathers: Swimming costume
(Victoria and South Australia).
Battler: Hard trier,
struggler.
Beaut, beauty, bewdie: Very good.
Excellent.
Belt up!: Shut up!
Berko: Angry.
Bible basher: Minister, or any proselytising
Christian.
Bickie: Dollar.
Big mobs: Large
amount, heaps.
Bikies: Motorcyclists.
Billabong:
Water hole in a dry riverbed, or more correctly an
ox-bow bend cut off in the dry season by receding
waters.
Billy: Used for making tea in, usually over
a campfire. The best billies are the old ones, which
make better tea.
Bitumen: Surfaced road.
Black
Stump: Out towards the horizon. A long way away.
Block: Block has a few meanings but the more Aussie
one is your head.
Bloke: Person, usually a male.
Bloody: All-purpose intensifying adjective.
Blowies: Blow flies.
Bludge: Not doing anything
or getting things from others.
Bludger: Lazy person.
Blue: A fight.
Bluey: A swag; or the nickname of
someone with red hair.
Bonzer: Great, ripper.
Boomer: Very large; a particularly large male
kangaroo.
Boomerang: Curved flat wooden instrument
used by Aborigines for hunting. If your boomerang
returns, it means you MISSED!
Booze: Alcohol,
usually beer.
Booze bus: Police van used for random
breath testing for alcohol.
Bottle shop: Liquor
shop.
Buckley's: No chance at all.
Bug (Moreton
Bay bug): Small crab.
Bullamanka: Imaginary place
even beyond back of Bourke, way beyond the black stump.
Bull dust: Fine and sometimes deep dust on outback
roads. And a polite version of bullshit.
Bunyip:
Mythical bush spirit, mainly associated with rivers,
with an overtone of cuteness.
Burl: Have a try, as
in 'give it a burl'.
Bush: Somewhere in the country
or away from the city. Go bush means go back to the
land.
Bushbash: Force one's way through pathless
bush.
Bushranger: Outlaw, analogous to the outlaws
of the American Wild West (some goodies, some baddies).
Bush tucker: Native foods, usually in the outback.
Butcher's: To look. Rhyming slang from 'butcher's
hook'.
BYO: Bring Your Own (booze to a restaurant,
meat to a barbecue, etc.)
C
Caaarn!:
Traditional rallying cry at football games (contraction
of 'Come on!').
Camp oven: Large, cast-iron pot with
a lid, for cooking on an open fire.
Captain Cook: To
have a look.
Cask: Wine box.
Chiko roll:
Australian junk food.
Chook: Chicken.
Chuck:
Chuck has a few meanings. It can mean to throw or to put
in.
Chuck a U-ey: Make a U-turn.
Chunder: Vomit,
drive the porcelain bus, kerbside quiche, pavement
pizza, liquid laugh, rainbow sneeze, technicolour yawn.
Cleanskin: Unbranded cattle.
Clobber: Clothes;
to hit.
Cobber: Mate (archaic).
Cocky:
Small-scale farmer.
Come good: Turn out all right.
Compo: Compensation, such as workers' compensation.
Conk: To hit someone (archaic).
Cooee: Bush
greeting.
Coolabah: Type of box eucalyptus tree.
Corroboree: Aboriginal meeting, with ceremonial
dancing. Corroboree is also a ballet by Australian
composer John Antill (1904-1986).
Counter meal,
countery: Pub meal.
Cow: Also means anything that is
difficult.
Cow cocky: Small-scale cattle farmer.
Cozzie: Swimming costume (New South Wales).
Crook: Ill, badly made, substandard.
Crow Eater:
Resident of South Australia.
Cut lunch: Sandwiches.
D
Dag, daggy: Dirty lump of wool at the back
end of a sheep, also an affectionate or mildly abusive
term for a socially inept person.
Daks: Trousers.
Damper: Bush loaf made from flour and water cooked
in a camp oven.
Dead horse: Tomato sauce.
Deli:
Delicatessen. Milk bar in South Australia and Western
Australia.
Dijeridu: Cylindrical musical instrument
played usually by Aboriginal men.
Dill: Idiot.
Dillybag: Small bag to carry things.
Dinkie die:
The whole truth.
Dinkum, fair dinkum: Genuine or
honest.
Divvy van: Police divisional van.
Do
your nana: Lose your rag, spit the dummy, lose your
temper.
Dob In: To tell (an authority) on someone.
Donk: Car or boat engine.
Don't come the raw
prawn: Don't try to fool me.
Down south: The rest of
Australia, according to someone north of Brisbane,
Queensland.
Drive the porcelain bus: Vomit.
Dry,
the: Dry season in the north.
Drongo: Worthless or
stupid person.
Duco: Car paint.
Dunny: Outdoor
lavatory.
Dunny budgies: Blow flies.
E
Earbash: Non-stop talk.
Eastern states:
The rest of Australia, according to someone in Western
Australia.
Enzedder: New Zealander.
Esky: Large
insulated box for keeping beer etc. cold, (short for
Eskimo box).
Evo: Evening.
F
Fair crack
of the whip!: Fair go!
Fair dinkum: Genuine or
honest.
Fair go: Give some a chance or an
opportunity to do something.
Financial: To be flush
with cash.
FJ: Most revered Holden car.
Flake:
Shark meat, used in fish and chips.
Flaming:
All-purpose intensifying adjective.
Flat out: As fast
as possible.
Floater: Meat pie floating in pea soup,
viewed by Australians either as a great delicacy or as a
great emetic.
Flog: Sell; steal.
Fossick: To
hunt for gemstones.
From arsehole to breakfast: All
over the place.
Furphy: A rumour or a false story.
G
Galah: Noisy parrot, thus noisy idiot.
Game: Brave.
Gander: Have a look.
Gaol:
Australian and British variant spelling of 'jail'.
Garbo: Garbage collector.
G'day: A greeting. It
is the Aussie way of saying good day.
Gibber or
gibby: Aboriginal word for stony desert.
Give it
away: Give up.
Going 'troppo': Going tropical;
laid-back and fun-loving; insane.
Good oil: Accurate
information.
Good possie: Advantageous position.
Good on ya!: Well done!
Grazier: Large-scale
sheep or cattle farmer.
Grizzle: To complain.
Grog: General term for alcohol.
Grouse: Very
good, unreal.
Gum Sucker: Resident of Victoria.
Gumtree: Eucalyptus.
Gutzer: Some plans don't
work out or to have an accident (to come a gutzer).
H
Hire: To rent, as 'to hire a car'.
His
nibs: The boss.
Homestead: Residance of a station
(ranch or farm) owner or manager.
Hooley: Wild
party.
Hoon: Idiot, hooligan, yahoo.
Hooly-Dooly: An expression of surprise.
Hotel:
Sometimes means only a pub.
How are ya?: Standard
greeting.
HQ: Second most revered Holden car.
Hump: To carry.
I
Icy-pole: Frozen lolly
water or ice cream on a stick.
Identity: Celebrity.
In full feather: In fine health.
In yer boot!:
An expression of disagreement (archaic).
It's a
goer: Something that will definitely occur.
J
Jack-in-the-box: Person who can't sit
still.
Jackaroo or Jillaroo: Trainee on a cattle
station (ranch or farm).
Jingoes!: Exclamation of
wonder.
Jocks: Men's or boys' underpants.
Joe
Bloggs: The average citizen.
Joey: Baby kangaroo,
still in the pouch.
Journo: Journalist.
Jumbuck:
Sheep.
Jumped-up: Full of self-importance; arrogant.
K
Kafuffle: Argument.
Kanga or kangaroo:
Shoe.
Keen as mustard: Enthusiastic.
Kelpie:
Sheep dog or cattle dog.
Kerb: Alternative
Australian and British spelling of 'curb'.
Kerbside
quiche: Vomit.
Kick: To share or join in.
Kick-in: to provide your share. The pot (kitty) is
called the 'kick'.
Kip: Sleep or nap.
Kiwi: New
Zealander.
Knackers: Testicles (also love spuds,
nuts, nads).
Knock: To criticise.
Knocker: One
who criticises.
Kombi: Multi-purpose van-like
vehicle, often modified so the back seats were folded
down to get a mattress in the back.
Koori: Aborigine
(mostly south of the Murray River).
L
Lair:
Layabout, hooligan.
Lairise: To behave in a vulgar,
flamboyant manner.
Lamb-brained: Stupid.
Lamington: Sponge cake cut into squares, covered in
chocolate and coconut.
Larrikin: Ruffian or hoodlum.
Lay-by: To put a deposit on an article so a shop
will hold it.
Licensed: Legally permitted to sell
alcoholic drinks.
Like a bandicoot on a burnt ridge:
Lonely and vulnerable.
Liquid laugh: Vomit.
Lob:
Arrive.
Lollies: Candy or sweets.
Lolly:
Money. |
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| Copyright © - "David
Stybr" |
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