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Australian Words and Phrases |
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Australian Words and Phrases |
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Aussie words and phrases in common use arvo fridge tele mobile Let's go to the pictures Words meant to be typical Australian but rarely used cobber bonzer g'day mate don't come the raw prawn with me, mate. Words known in Australia but not actually used by Australians sidewalk elevator trainers runners trunk of car fender of car hood of car cell phone write a person (without the to) we are going to the markets Saturday (without the on) gas, gas station, gasoline etc: it's called petrol jumbo shrimps aligators beaver hurricane shopping cart flip-flops carousel - Australians usually say merry-go-round I'm going to the mall diapers lorry the interstate home boy underground metro transit system tubes - American word for radio valves, as used in guitar amplifiers ground beef (Australians say mince) Old fashioned words gradually going out of use transistor radio radiogram (up to 1958) stereogram (1958-1975) trannie (it used to mean transistor radio) theatre or pictures meaning cinema expressway wireless mantel radio record player Walkman cassette tape LP EP VCR brown bombers silent cops soap saver one armed bandits radio dial trafficators clothes props milko rabbitoh running board milk bar soda fountain pineapple crush lime spider six o'clock swill frenchie frigidity sissy blouse dacks front stalls and back stalls at the pictures your shout - to buy a round of drinks New Words and Wacky Acronyms CBD - this shocker has replaced "the shops" or "down town" or "up town" Centrelink - a euphemism used to disguise the dole office metro - a modern-sounding but bogus word for a smaller than average train transit lane - a place where cars move slowly during the peak hour 24/7 - we never close convenience store - corner store, corner shop, general store hoodies emo anorexia nervosa - unheard of 50 years ago heritage - unheard of 50 years ago convict ancestors - utterly taboo until 1988 celebs WAGs - Wives and Girlfriends nimby wi-fi hotspot BYO - Bring your own wine to a restaurant Words not generally known in Australia chav chavette chavvy pikey barf tannoy beltway the tri-state area off licence zimmer frame granola tube station underground (railway station) metro (although the NSW government is desperate to have one) electric fire - British word for radiator jelly (meaning jam) Slang words and phrases in fairly common use see you later there you go stone the crows flat out like a lizard drinking even Blind Freddie could see that you've got Buckley's chance thongs (footwear not undies) chunder dunny loo furphy dead ringer skinny dipping hoons, hooning around mate she'll be right youse (the plural of you) middle of nowhere 
The Furphy was a mobile water tank used on farms and during the 1914-1918 World War. Nowadays a furphy is a rumour, a piece of misinformation, or story that is unlikely to be true. Old fashioned slang rarely used sheila bodgies and widgies sharpies dilly bag up the duff never never Woop Woop back of beyond a bun in the oven mad as a two bob watch Mrs Kafoops Slang, invented by Barry Humphries and others, but in regular use point Percy at the porcelain technicolour yawn Invented Aussie slang but not actually used pavement pizza curbside quiche shake hands with the wife's best friend siphon the python don't come the raw prawn with me, mate Overseas words best not said in Australia fanny pack cheerleaders rooting for their home team brownies it's better to say draughts instead of checkers New Zealand slang and especially the accent Zealand pronounced Zillend his pronounced hez fish and chips pronounced fesh and cheps jandals (thongs in Australia) six, as in this story.... Aussie boy on first date: What time shall we go out to eat? Homely NZ girl: After six. chilly bin ((an Esky in Australia) tramping (known as bushwalking in Australia) Creeping Americanisms Train station instead of railway station Saying zee instead of zed for the last letter of the alphabet Thinking the emergency number is 911 not 000 Licence plate instead of rego number railroad instead of train track or railway track convenience store instead of corner shop Numbering floors in buildings where Level 1 is the ground floor. restrooms or bathroom instead of toilet bathroom tissue instead of toilet paper training bras for little girls shopping malls Anything off TV, for example Emergency Room American trends reaching Australia for example 24/7, 9/11 Saying write someone instead of write to someone fire truck instead of fire engine saying checkers instead of draughts for the board game saying college when you mean University or TAFE calling a railway carriage a car calling a tram a tramcar streetcar or light rail instead of tram calling a flat or a home unit an apartment or a condo rush hour instead of peak hour thongs are a type of underwear instead of footwear cookies instead of biscuits jelly instead of jam trash can instead of garbage bin spelling the word centre as center saying stocks when you mean shares American spellings unacceptable in Australia fiber, center color neighbor dialed should be dialled, and many more that are similar eg travelled British words and slang not often used in Australia lorry articulated lorry cooker rubber johnnie chav chavette pikey scrubber off-licence betting shop council house electric fire ASBO - Anti Social Behaviour Order DOGBO - Same, but for your pit-bull Regional Words in Australia (these are surprisingly few) poloni, devon, salami, windsor sausage, german sausage port, suitcase gibber peanut butter or peanut paste bogan, westie, yobbo - it's usually westie in Sydney and bogan in Melbourne, but the Sydney Morning Herald used the word boganism in March 2010. Shortening of Words and Terms of Affection
Mysterious Sightings tee nanegels the woo worse foo fairies at Miranda Basic references Let Stalk Strine and Nose Tone Unturned, two books by Professor Afferbeck Lauder Wikipedia Article on Australian English Paul Hogan and the Crocodile Dundee movie Barry Humphries and the film character Bazza McKenzie Macquarie Dictionary - Book of Slang (1996, revised in 2000) The Penguin Book of Australian Slang by Lennie Johansen (1988, 1996) 
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