• Click – kilometre
• Compo – Workers Compensation Insurance
• Knocker – somebody who criticises
• Oz – Australia!
• Quack, or off to the quack – the doctor, or off to the doctor
• Scratchy – instant lottery ticket
• Strides – trousers
• Thingo – Wadjamacallit, thingummy, whatsit
• Togs – swim suit
• Wobbly – excitable behaviour (“I complained about the food and the waiter threw a wobbly”)

• Bonzer – great
• Counter lunch – pub lunch
• Exy – expensive
• It’s gone walkabout – it’s lost, can’t be found
• Rego – vehicle registration
• Snag – a sausage
• Strewth – exclamation, mild oath (“Strewth, that Chris is a bonzer bloke”)
• Ta muchly – thank you very much
• Throne or, on the Throne – toilet or, on the toilet
• Too right! – definitely!

• Battler – a hard working person who is only just making a living
• Chook – Chicken
• Grouse (adj.) – great, terrific, very good
• In the nuddy – naked
• Rage on: to continue partying – “we raged on until 3am”
• Spit the dummy – get very upset at something
• Sprung – caught doing something wrong
• Spunk – a good looking person (of either sex)
• Stone the Crows – Heaven forbid!
• Top End – far north of Australia

As you can see by some of our slang, it can cause mix-ups at times. (re: ‘Spunk’)

• Blow in the bag – take a breathaliser test
• Booze Bus – police vehicle used to catch drunk drivers
• Buckley’s – no chance
• Chewie – chewing gum
• Daks: trousers
• Drink with the flies – to drink alone
• Lippy – lipstick
• Road train – big truck with many trailers (big buggers they are)
• Ropeable – very angry
• Shout – turn to buy – a round of drinks usually (“it’s your shout”)

Hope you enjoyed another round of Learn the Lingo…it must be your shout, I’m thirsty after that!!

Arvo – Afternoon
Blowie – blow fly
Blue – fight or argument
Chrissie – Christmas
Doozey – something very pleasant
Fair go – a chance (“give a bloke a fair go”)
I feel stuffed – I’m tired
I’ll be stuffed – expression of surprise
O.S. – overseas (“he’s gone O.S.”)
Reckon! -  you bet! Absolutely!
Shonky – dubious, underhanded. E.g. a shonky practice, shonky business etc.
Thongs – cheap rubber backless sandals
Woop Woop – invented name for any small unimportant town – “he lives in Woop Woop”

Some of our slang is silly but in a fun way, I’ve always liked woop woop.

As mad as a cut snake  – very angry.

Bizzo – Business, as in “mind your own business”.

Booze Bus – police vehicle used to catch drunk drivers.

Coldie – beer.

Give it a burl – try it, have a go.

Heaps – a lot, e.g. “thanks heaps”, “(s)he earned heaps of money” etc.

Mate’s rate, mate’s discount – cheaper than usual for a “friend”.

Outback – interior of Australia.

Pozzy – position – get a good pozzy at the football stadium.

Ripper – great, fantastic.

She’ll be Apples  – everything will be alright.

Slab – a carton of 24 bottles or cans of beer.

Amber fluid – beer
Big-note oneself – boast or brag
Clayton’s – fake or substitute
Deadset – true, the truth
Earbashing – nagging, non-stop chatte
Hooroo – goodbye
Lob, lob in – drop in to see someone (“the rellies (family) have lobbed”)
Mickey Mouse – excellent, very good
Never Never – the Outback, centre of Australia
Ocker – an unsophisticated person
Piker – Someone who leaves parties early or doesn’t want to socialise
Ridgy-didge – original, genuine
Shoot through – to leave
Tee-up – to set up an appointment
Whinge – complain

Ankle biter – toddler or small child
Bloke – a man or guy
Bludger – generally someone who relies on other people to do things for them; lazy
Bogan – person with little pride in their appearance
Bushie – Someone who lives in the bush
Cobber – a friend
Dag – a funny person or a bit of a goof
Dill – an idiot – but not meant in a nasty way
Dipstick – an idiot or loser
Dole bludger – someone who is on welfare and doing nothing to change it
Drongo – stupid person
Dropkick – an idiot or loser
Fruit loop – fool
Galah – fool or silly person
Hoon – refers to a hooligan, especially driving unsafely, too fast, wrecklessly
Mate – a friend, and often something to call a person when you can’t remember their name!
Mongrel – despicable person
Mug -  gullible person or friendly insult
Nipper – young surf lifesaver
No-hoper – someone who will never do well.
Ocker – an unsophisticated person
Oldies – parents
Postie – postman or mailman
Rellie or relo – a relative
Sheila – a woman (though rarely used in Australia except if it’s someone’s actual name)
Sook – cry baby
Stickybeak – a nosy person
Tall poppies – someone successful
True blue – patriotic
Vejjo – a vegetarian
Yobbo – an uncouth person

I’m definitely a dag at times, and always a good mate!

• Ambo – ambulance driver
• Bushranger – outlaw or highwayman (well, they were an occupation for some all those years ago ha ha)
• Cockie – farmer (Cockie is short for Cockatoo, the bird)
• Digger – a soldier
• Fisho – fishmonger
• Garbo or Garbologist – garbage collector
• Greenie – environmentalist
• Gyno – gynaecologist
• Jackaroo – a male station hand – stations are massive farms with a lot of livestock over vast areas.
• Jillaroo – a female station hand
• Journo – journalist
• Milko – milkman
• Offsider – usually an assistant
• Truckie – truck driver
• Weekend Warrior – Someone in the Army Reserve

I’m pretty sure you can work out how these would fit into mainstream ‘talk’.  Feel free to leave a comment to show off your new lingo, or let us know what your occupation is and we’ll try and “Australian-ise” it for you

• Avo or avos – Avocado/s
• Bikkie – a biscuit or cookie
• Chewie – chewing gum
• Chokkie – chocolate
• Fairy floss – cotton candy or candy floss
• Flake – shark meat usually bought at a fish and chip shop
• Icy pole, ice block – Popsicle or lollypop
• Mystery bag – often refers to a sausage
• Sanger – a sandwich
• Tucker – food!
• Vedgies – vegetables

So, let’s try and put that lot into a few words….

I was starving so I spat my chewie out and had a bikkie but I was still hungry. I had some left over chokkie so wolfed that down followed by some fairy floss I got at the local show on the weekend. I didn’t want to have a sanger as I’d had one at lunch! Still hungry after that, so I got a piece of flake from the fish and chip shop, cooked up a mystery bag and some vedgies and threw some avo on top. Talk about great tucker! Then to finish off, I had an icy pole.

haha I tried! It’s not easy “trying” to speak the lingo even as a native without totally confusing you with other words I could throw in.

Feel free to leave a comment to show off your new lingo.