English must be such a confusing language for ‘LOTE’ speakers, right?? (LOTE=Language Other Than English!)
Years ago I lived & worked in Spain. While not ‘perfect’ my Spanish is still ok - 'después de una copa o tres de vino tinto!!! (esp. after a glass or three of ‘red wine!)
But English???... Let’s talk about the ‘C’ word!... well, the way the letter C is said in combo with a second letter.
For example;
We say CHURCH, CHIMES & CHAINS emphasizing the ‘CH’ but then we have CHARISMA & CHARACTER plus let's not forget CHRISTMAS with more of a ‘K’ sound and CHARLATAN & CHANDELIER with a ‘SHH’ sound...
All those words above start with the letters ‘CH’.
Ok – how about CAR, CARPET & CARTOON compared with CAN, CAN’T & CARROT?
All those start with ‘CA’ but are pronounced differently!
So what about the letter ‘D’…
DANGER, DAGGER, DARE all have ‘Da’ in them but are pronounced differently as do DETONATE, DELIVER, DELVE, DERIDE, & DEBRIS!
As for DO & DON’T … why not pronounce the latter ‘DOONT’?
Apparently English is one of the hardest languages to learn – especially ‘Aussie’ English.
We all know Hello = ‘G’day’ & ‘Watcha reckon eh'? = What do you think?
So how about ‘catcha-layta’ or ‘no wuckas mate’!!
Hmmm… ‘Nuff sed' eh? (yea naa...) 😊
Meantime some fun... How many Ausie words do you REALLY know!?
Thanks to Visiting.com.au for this 'Top 100' list of Aussie words;
https://www.visiting.com.au/blog/2021/12/10/100-australian-slang-words-phrases/
Slang Words For Eating & Drinking
- Avo – Avocado
- A Cold One or Coldie – Beer
- Barbie – Barbecue
- Billy – Tea-kettle (in the Desert on the fire) (or some Australians use it to describe a bong; but only those who want to be unique, as bongs are relatively common internationally.)
- Booze Bus – A police van that is used to capture intoxicated drivers.
- Bottle-O – Bottle or Liquor Store — essentially a location to buy booze that is not a restaurant.
- Brekky – Breakfast
- Bring a Plate – Bring a Plate – directions for bringing a plate of food to a Barbeque or event.
- BYO – bring your own (typically in the context of alcohol)
- Cab Sav – Cabernet Sauvignon.
- Choccy Biccy – Chocolate Biscuit
- Docket – Bill; or list of issues to be addressed.
- Esky – AKA an Ice Box, Cool Box, Chilly Bin or Chest Cooler.
- Fairy Floss – Cotton Candy, Candy Floss
- Flake – Gummy shark meat supplied in fish and chip eateries
- Frothy – Beer
- Grog – Beer, Liquor.
- Hungry Jacks – Burger King
- Icy Pole – Ice Lolly, Popsicle
- Lollies – Sweets
- Maccas – McDonald’s
- Sanger – Sandwich
- Skull or Skol – To drink up a beer
- Slab – A box of beers (often 24)
- Snag – A Sausage
- Stubby – a beer bottle
- Stubby Holder – insulated sleeve which prevents your hands from making beer warm
- Sausage Sizzle – a weekly barbecue event organised outside Bunnings.
- Tiny – Beer Can/small boat.
- Bush Tucker– food from Outback like witchetty grubs.
Aussie Expletives, Exclamations, Insults & States Of Being
- Banana Bender – a person from Queensland
- Beauty! – Excellent! Often shouted as “You Beauty”, especially when a good thing happens (in sports).
- Bloody – Seriously. Used when elaborating a point
- Bloody oath – it’s true, or yes
- Bludger – a lazy person who depends on others (someone who relies on the state is called a ‘dole bludger’)
- Bogan – a very sophisticated person. The Australian version of the US’s rednecks.
- Bored shitless – Extremely Bored
- Buggered – Exhausted
- Chunder – Vomit.
- Crack the shits – Being angry at something or someone
- Crikey – an expression of shock
- Cobber – A good friend.
- C*nt / the “C” word – ‘mate’
- Dag – a geek, goof or a nerd person
- Deadset – That’s true.
- Defo – Definitely
- Devo – Devastated
- Drongo – An Idiot or fool
- Far out – ‘Really?!’– can be used in both positive and negative statements.
- Galah – A dumb individual called after the Australian bird known for its ridiculous actions and loud noises.
- Gnarly – Awesome
- Grouse – Terrific
- Legless – A very drunk person
- Mongrel – A scoundrel person
- Ocker – a simple person
- Piece of Piss – Simple
- Piss Off – Get lost, Go away
- Piss Up – A get-together
- Piss – To urinate
- Pissed – Drunk
- Pissed Off – angered
- Rack Off – A less aggressive way to tell people to get lost
- Ripper – fantastic, buddy!
- Rapt – So happy
- Ropeable – Extremely mad
- Spit the Dummy – To get upset / to crack it
- Stoked – Pleased
- Strewth – surprise exclamation
- Sweet As – Awesome, sweet, good.
Australian Slang Phrases And Words For Day To Day Life
- Acca Dacca – How Australians refer to an Australian band ACDC
- Ambo is an abbreviation for Ambulance.
- Ankle Biter – Child
- Ankle Biter is an Australian slang term for a youngster (featuring a child wearing glasses and a cape with one arm in the air superman style with text overlay above with the translation)
- Arvo – Afternoon (S’Arvo signifies this afternoon!)
- Australian Salute – Wave to frighten the flies away
- Bail – To terminate plans.
- Bathers / Budgie Smugglers – Swimsuits / Speedos
- Bathers = Swimwear in Australian slang (featuring a woman floating on her back in blue water wearing a white one-piece swimsuit with text overlay of the translation above her)
- Barrack – To support or cheer
- Billabong – A pond is located in a dry riverbed
- Bruce – An Aussie Guy
- Umbrella – Brolly
- Buckley’s Chance – Not a Chance; Nearly Impossible.
- “Out in the bush” or “he’s gone bush” are two expressions for “out in the bush.” Bushman’s Alarm Clock – a Laughing Alarm Clock in the Countryside Kookaburra
- Cactus — Deafeningly Deafeningly Deafeningly (an object, i.e. washing machine)
- Cark-It – Doomed
- CBD stands for Central Business District (used to refer to a city centre: Melbourne CBD, Sydney CBD etc.)
- Choc A Bloc / Cockers – Chicken – Full Chook
- Chrissie – Merry Christmas
- Durry / Ciggy – A Cigarette
- Clucky – In a maternal mood
- Cockatoo – Cockie (bird)
- Coppers are police officers.
- Crook – Illness; or a criminal
- Trousers are known as daks. Sweatpants/tracksuit pants are referred to as ‘tracky daks.’
- Dogs Breakfast – a sloppy piece of work; a shambles (and also used to describe how someone seems!)
- Australia and New Zealand are located in the southern hemisphere.
- Dunny is a toilet.
- Dunny Means Toilet in Australian slang (featuring a man and woman symbol on a round raised plaque on the wall with text overlay of the translation above)
- Exy stands for Expensive.
- Facey is short for Facebook.
- Fair Dinkum – ‘Really? Honestly, yes!
- Fair Go / Fair Crack of the Whip / Fair Suck of the Sav – To offer someone a second opportunity.
- Shirt Flannie / Flanno – Flannelette
- franker – franker – franker – franker
- Australian Rules Football | Aussie Rules Football Football (not English football/soccer)
- Furphy — unlikely or outrageous tall tales, rumours, or stories (also the name of a beer brand!)
- G’day – Good day
- Going off – An angry person’s response “he’s going off”
- Good on you — excellent work
- Goon – The best/ worse version of wine – based on your favourite.
- Grommet – Young surfer
- Grundies – underwear
- Hard yakka – Hard work
- Heaps – lots, loads, many
- Hoon – Hooligan.
- Hooroo – Goodbye
- Iffy – unreasonable and a bit risky
- John Dory – The Gossip / The Goss
- Knickers – Women underwear
- Lappy – Laptop
- Larrikin – A person who laugh all the time, a bit of an inoffensive prankster
- Lucky Country – Australia
- Manchester – Linen / Sheets etc. (This one can be confusing, especially if you are from Britain)
- Mate – Acquaintance, Friend
- Moolah – Money
- Mozzie – Mosquito
- No Drama – It’s ok or No problem
- No Worries – No problem / no drama / it’s ok
- In the Nud / Nuddy – Naked
- Outback – The middle or interior of Australia.
- Pash – To kiss
- Pokies – Gambling Machines
- Rage on / Rage – Party on / Party.
- Reckon – sure. ‘Are you Reckon?’… ‘I reckon!’
- Rello / Rellie– Relatives
- Rock Up – To arrive / to reach
- Roo – Kangaroo
- Roo Means Kangaroo in Aussie Slang (displaying a Kangaroo eating on the grass at twilight, with the description above as a text overlay)
- Root – sexual intercourse
- Root Rat – a person who loves sex (perhaps a little too much)
- Rooted – Broken or Tired
- Roster – Work schedule, Rota
- Runners – Sneakers, Trainers
- Servo – Garage / Service Station / Gas Station
- Sheila – A woman
- She’ll be apples – Everything is going to be ok
- Shoot Through – To leave
- Sick – impressive/good; ‘that’s really sick, pal”
- Sickie – a sick day off, or ‘to pull a sickie’ (to take a day break from work when you aren’t genuinely sick)
- Smoko – Cigarette break
- Sook / being a sook/sulk – you’re whining (i.e. stop being a sulk)
- Stickybeak – a nosey person / to be nosey
- Stiffy – Erection
- Straya – Australia
- Straya = Australia in Australian Slang (displaying the BigAustraliaBucketList description of Australia with text overlay of the illustration above)
- Stuffed – Tired
- Sunnies – Sunglasses
- Swag - A lone bed that can be rolled up similar to a sleeping bag.
- Thongs – Jandals (New Zealand), Flip Flops (UK/USA)
- Togs – Swimwear
- Tradie – a tradesperson
- True Blue (Australian) – Patriotic, Genuinely Australian
- Two Up – A betting game is played during Anzac day.
- Yewy / U-IE – a U-Turn while driving
- Up Yourself – Held up
- Ute – Pick-up truck, Utility vehicle
- Walkabout (Go Walkabout) — a journey by an Australian Aboriginal (initially by foot) to live in the traditional way (but please be warned that this term is often considered an intense term by native Australians)
- Woop Woop is an Australian slang term that means “remote” or “middle of nowhere” (showcasing a little settlement in the middle of nowhere with nothing around them for mile after mile and a textual overlay with the interpretation above)
- Woop – the centre of nothing (practically the entire state of Western Australia north of Perth and south-west of Margaret River! And almost the whole Northern Territory.)
- Ya – You
- Yous / youse – plural of you!
© 2022 - Brian Pickering
