Australian man holding beer

111 Aussie Man Slang Phrases Translated For American Visitors

Australian man with beer

Guide To Aussie-Speak For Tourists

Arvo: Afternoon
Avos: Avocados.
Avago You Mug: Shout of encouragement to a sportsman not performing to his best
Banana bender: A Queenslander
Barbie: Barbecue, as in “I’ll throw some shrimp and chook on the barbie.”
Bash: Party. Also “fancy turns”.
Bonzer: Pronounced “bonsa” – grouse, great, excellent.
Bloke: Man, guy.
Bludger: Lazy person, layabout.
Bluey: (also known as Blue) Slang for any bloke with red hair, and also known to describe the Australian Cattle Dog.
Bonnet: Hood of a car.
Boomer: A large male kangaroo, as Rolf Harris sings, “Six white boomers, snow white boomers on Santa’s Australian run…”.
Boot: Trunk of a car
Bottle shop: Liquor shop
Box of blowflies: Ugly, as in “That’s as ugly as a box of blowflies!” And that’s pretty ugly!
Buckley’s Chance: No chance at all
Bung: To put or place. E.g bung another snag on the barbie
Bunyip: A mythical bush spirit, Australia’s bigfoot. Probably just a hairy surfie!
Capsicums: Green or red bell peppers
Carpetbagger steak: Beef stuffed with oysters
Chemist shop: Drug store
Chew the Fat: To talk, engage in pleasant conversation, to have a chinwag
Chook: Chicken. Often served barbecued at fancy turns. If your hostess is befuddled and/or overcome by trying to do too many things at once, one might say she was “running around like a chook with its head cut off!”
Cockie: Farmer
Cockroach: Someone from New South Wales
Crook: Sick, or badly made
Crow eater: A South Australian
Dag: A funny person, nerd, goof, loser
Digger: A soldier
Dilly-bag: Food bag
Ding bat: Jerk
Dinky-di: The real thing
Donk: Car or boat engine
Donkey’s years: Ages
Drop-in: To steal a surfer’s wave. This is a serious crime in Surfer’s Paradise
Earbash: Non-stop chatter
Esky: Portable icebox or cooler – it’s always a good idea to have one in the boot stocked with some cold ones just in case the party’s bar runs dry
Fair Dinkum: Kosher, the real thing – as in “Fair Dinkum Aussie” (true blue Aussie original). Often used by itself as a rhetorical question to express astonishment verging on disbelief … “Fair Dinkum, mate?” (You’ve got to be kidding, haven’t you?)
Fair go: A good chance
Footpath: Sidewalk
Footy: Rugby League
Flyer: female kangaroo
Galah: Noisy fool, named after the bird of the same name
Game: Brave
G’arn: Go on, you’re kidding!
G’day: Universal greeting, used anytime day or night, but never as a farewell. Pronounced “gud-eye”, usually followed by “mate” (mite) or a typically strung-together “howyagoinallright”(= how are you today, feeling pretty good?)
Give it a burl: Try it
Good as gold: Great!
Good oil: Useful information, a good idea
Good Onya: Omnipresent term of approval, sometimes ironic, offering various degrees of heartfelt congratulations depending on inflection. Indispensable during Aussie small talk – substitute “really, oh yeh, aha, etc.”
Grizzle: To complain
Grouse: Rhymes with “house” – means outstanding, tremendous. Can be applied
universally to all things social … “grouse birds (women), grouse band, in fact, grouse bloody gay and hearty (great party!)”
Have a yarn: To talk to someone
Hit your kick: Open your wallet
Hooroo: Pronounced “who-ru”… means “see ya later”, Make sure you don’t say g’day when meaning goodbye – it’s a dead giveaway you’re not a true blue Aussie
Hotel: Often just a pub
Icy pole: Popsicle
Jackaroo: A male ranch hand
Jillaroo: A female ranch hand
Joey: Baby kangaroo
Journo: Journalist
Jumbuck: Sheep
Jumper: Sweater
Knock: To criticize
Lemon squash: Lemonade
Lob-in: Drop in to see someone
Lollies: Sweets
Lolly water: Soft drink
Never Never: Distant outback
No-hoper: A fool, loser
Offsider: An assistant
O.S.: Overseas, as in “she’s gone O.S.”
Oz: Australia; God’s country
Pines: Pineapples
Pommie or pom: An Englishman
Rafferty’s rules: Chaos, disorder
Reckon: Think, as in “Your shout or mine? What’ ya reckon?”
Ridgy-didge: Original, genuine
Right: Okay, as in “she’ll be right, mate.”
Ring, tingle: Phone someone up, as in “I’ll give him a ring.”
Ripper: Pronounced “rippa” means beaut, tippy-tops, grouse
Rubbish: To knock something
Sandgroper: A Western Australian
Shark biscuit: New surfers, grommets on boogie boards. Tres uncool!
Sheila: A woman
She’ll be right: No problem, don’t worry, mate
Shootin’ through: Leave, take off
Smoko: Smoke or coffee break
Snag: A sausage
Sook: Someone who complains a lot
Spit The Dummie: A “dummie” is Australian for a child’s pacifier. Lose your cool
Stickybeak: Nosy person
Stone the crows: An exclamation of surprise
Strewth: Pronounced “sta-ruth” … a general exclamation of disbelief or shock
Strine: Australian slang, from “Aus-strine”, the way Aussies say Australian
Swagman: Itinerant farm worker, tramp
Taswegian: A resident of Tasmania
Tee-up: To set up an appointment
Tomato sauce: Ketchup
Too right: Definitely!
True blue: Honest, straight
The Lucky Country: Why, Australia, of course
Tucker: Food
Vegemite: A dark brown, gooey, salty vegetable yeast extract. It’s what makes Aussies strong
Wally: Idiot
Whinge: Rhymes with “hinge” as indoor! Means to complain incessantly
Woopwoop: In the boonies, nowhere
Wowser: Straight-laced person, prude, puritan, spoilsport
Yabber: Talk
Yobbo: An uncouth person


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