Friday, July 20, 2007

Aussie Slang, a primer

This list will grow as I remember more, or Aussies remind me, of them. Phonetic spelling appears in (parenthesis). If you really want to speak 'Aussie' - slur all your words together in to one long word......ex: didyabringyagrogalong? Have fun!

Aussie (Oz-zie)-Yankee

agro-aggravated
arvo-afternoon

balls up - screw up
bag yer head- shut up
barney-fight
big girl’s blouse - girly boy
bludger-slacker
blue-fight
bogan-trailer trash
bonzer -great, anything pleasing
boof - idiot
boot-trunk (of a car)
brekkie - breakfast
buckleys-butkus (see comments)
budgie or budgerigar-parakeet
bum antlers- tattoo on the very lower back
bush - country

cactus - done, useless, dead
cark, carked it - die, died
chip, chips - french fries
chippie - carpenter
chockers - completely full
chook-chicken
chuck a wobbly-pitch a fit
chunder - vomit
cossie(Kaah-zie)-swimsuit
crack a tinnie - open a beer
crisps - potato chips
crook sick
cut lunch-sandwich

doona-comforter, blanket
dosh - cash
drongo - loser
dummy-pacifier, a babies
dunny-outhouse
dunnie - alternate spelling for dunny
dunnie budgie-big blow fly that hangs out around the dunnie

esky - cooler, (portable icebox)
exxy-expensive

fair dinkum - real, genuine
fairy floss-cotton candy

galah(Gah-lar)-Silly/stupid person
garbo - garbage collector
glory box - hope chest
greenie - environmentalist
grog-beer/spirits
grot-slob
grouse - excellent
jumbuck - sheep
jumper - sweater (not the little girl dress, LOL!)

knackered - spent, exhausted

lippie - lipstick
lollie-candy

Maccas-Mickey D's (McDonalds)
milko - milkman
mozzie - mosquito
muso - musician

on ya!-good one!
on yer bike-get outta here

petrol-gas
plonk - cheap wine, booze
pollie - politician
pong-stink (especially BO)
poofteenth - smidgeon
postie - postman

rabbit on - talk too much about nothing
rack off - get lost
ripper - excellent
‘ron-later on
roo loose in the top paddock - a screw loose
root - “getting lucky” (NOT cheering for your team, LOL!)

servo-gas station
shiela-babe, woman, girlfriend, wife
skerrick - nothing, empty
skite - show off
sledging - ‘trash talk’ (as in sports)
smoko - coffee break (smokers)
snag-sausage
sook - cry baby, pout
sparky - electrician
spit the dummy-temper tantrum
stirrer - trouble maker
stubbie-pony (of beer)
stunned mullet-shocked
subbie - sub-contractor

ta- thanks
thongs-flipflops
torch-Flashlight

umpie - umpire
unco - uncoordinated, clumsy
ute(you-t)-pickup truck

whinge-whine

yobbo - redneck

5 cent piece-nickle
10 cent piece-dime
25 cents-quarter (we don’t have 25 cent pieces in Oz, nor pennies)

(last updated July 2008)

16 comments:

Barkfoot said...

'Dunney budgie' (not sure if that's spelt right), always made me laugh, (the big flies that hang around outside bogs). Bogs?...English slang...loo...toilet!

Anonymous said...

Haahaaa, On ya Lavender! One translation I've stumbled across that goes the other way around is Fairy Floss. We eat fairy floss but Americans wouldn't dream of eating fairy floss unless they are a gay man who likes to nibble a thong (not a flipflop but skimpy underwear). Where as we wouldn't dream of eating Cotton Candy unless nibbling underwear (cottons) that are made from sugar! HAHHAHHAAAA.

Your face looks stunned as a mullet now :)

Nick Phillips (15/03/1967 - 04/11/2022) said...

And here I thot Thong's meant something else. LOL!

Lavender said...

Love your avatar Barkfoot! And your blog....I think I should add Dunney budgie - its just too funny! (I dont know the correct way to spell it either, so we will just make it up as we go along) Thanks for your visit and comment!

Lavender said...

Hey Anon, is your face red now? You had me in stitches with that one! My goodness, the richness of the lingo! Hahaha! I am going to add Fairy Floss-Cotton Candy - that ones (fairly) safe LOL! Ta!

Lavender said...

Hi Nick! There you go, you might find yourself in a sticky situation one day that you can get out of by saying - you used 'thong' like the Aussies do! LOL

Lavender said...

Ive just had 'bum antlers' by email - SK was too shy to post it - silly sue!

Karen said...

OMG thank you, I really needed a crash course :) Tough beng a Yank with a penchant for hot Aussies ::sigh::

Karen said...

PS - don't forget the doona, my personal favorite :)

Jean-Luc Picard said...

Lavender, a few of them I knew, but thongs gave me a big laughs, as thongs mean something very different here.

Lavender said...

Aoide - good catch! Ive added it, Ta. Hope youll find this useful soon Aoide!

Hi Captain, glad you got a laugh, Im sure that one causes quite a bit of confusion LOL

Erica said...

have to pick you up on Buckleys - it means 'no chance in the world' as in "you've got Buckleys of winning the lottery" -
'butkis' ?? nah!

love following the bird saga - who would have thought an aviary was so like Days of our Lives VBG

Lavender said...

Hi Erica!
LOL - you got me thinking, so I decided to do some checking up on the US equiv....and to my horror I discovered that Ive spelled it wrong! Its supposed to be "butkus"...boy is my face red!
It refers to Dick Butkus, a gridiron player in the 60's-70's who sustained knee injuries which ended his career (as in 'no way in the world would he be able to play again')
But after all this thought, I wonder if "butkus" is only an expression in the Northeastern US...good thing Im not an authority!
Thank you Erica, for pointing this out - I will get that spelling error fixed pronto. Cheers!

Anonymous said...

Too many slang words from here to there. I don't know what I should say, OMG!!! I think I should have a "slang lesson", duh!

Lavender said...

LOL carpartsnanny there is a ton of them - and so many more that Ive found and havent added yet - boggles the mind :)
Thanks for stopping in !

Lavender said...

Oneida Zorries ?! Wow, Ive never heard that one before - Thanks Oneida!!!