Australian SLANG words for our Overseas visitors!

[gaechann]

Hi all

 

With Terry & Silvia being active on these Aussie boards lately I wondered if we need to teach them some Australian slang words :)

 

I know that the Americans at our dining table were very keen to learn some of our Australianisms!

 

We told them about:

1) Bloke - male friend

2) Sheila - female friend

3) Fella - man

4) Crikey - Wow

5) Dunny - Toilet

6) Bludger - someone who doesn't want to work

7) Strewth - Gosh

8) Cow cocky - dairy farmer

9) The Missus - my wife

10) Me Mate - my friend

11) Mongrel - as in "He's a bit of a mongrel" - someone you don't like OR as in "That dog's a bit of a mongrel" - dog of uncertain breed

12) Whinger - Constant complainer

13) Sanger - sandwich

14) Wharfie - Dock worker

15) Footie - as in "Going to the footie" - going to watch a game of football

 

Then there's the expressions:

1) Strike a light! - Well, I'll be!

2) Shiver me timbers! - Well, I'll be!

3) What a shenanigans! - What a carry-on!

4) Have a go ya mug! - Try a bit harder man!

5) Cracking a sickie! - Having a day off work by calling in "ill"

6) Having a bludge - relaxing (usually at work)

7) He's so up himself! - He's got an inflated opinion of himself

8) What a load of hogs wallop! - I don't believe it!

9) What a dog's breakfast! - What a mess!

10) Give it a miss! - Just forget about it!

11) What a flock of galahs! - Just a group of idiots!

12) Okey-dokey - OK

 

etc. etc.

 

Unfortunately, as we've become more Americanised in our speech, thanks to all the American TV shows we are shown here, these words and expressions are dying a gradual death and most of our younger generation wouldn't know what we were talking about!

 

Of course they could down-load and watch the iconic Australian film, which always makes me cringe, "The Castle". Lots of slang in it.

 

Just as an aside: One American met us in the lift the next morning after we'd been sprouting some slang and asked us "How are you Shirleys today?" Eh? He'd been practicing all night but got confused with "Sheilas" and Shirleys! Gave us a bit of a laugh after he'd gone! :D

 

Come on everyone! Give us some more examples to confuse the 'yanks'!

 

Gae

[Mothballs]

Hi Gae, interesting topic.

Well I am off to bed after doing some hard yakka at the supermarket tonight.

Regards Elaine.

[wildweston]

We had a lovely couple from America at our table and they had no idea what Macca's was ! needless to say we informed them :)

[gaechann]

Hi Gae, interesting topic.

Well I am off to bed after doing some hard yakka at the supermarket tonight.

Regards Elaine.

 

Hard yakka - hard work

Macca's - McDonalds

 

Get ya good clobber on! - Get dressed up!

Shake a leg! - Hurry up!

Taking the tinny out for a run! - Going out in a small boat

What a dork! - He's silly, mad, wrong, stupid (take your pick)!

Have a geezer at that! - Just look at that!

I caught it on the telly last night! - I saw it on television last night!

 

Keep them coming folks! :)

Edited June 3, 2013 by gaechann

[Big Kev]

Hi all

 

With Terry & Silvia being active on these Aussie boards lately I wondered if we need to teach them some Australian slang words :)

 

I know that the Americans at our dining table were very keen to learn some of our Australianisms!

 

We told them about:

1) Bloke - male friend

2) Sheila - female friend

3) Fella - man

4) Crikey - Wow

5) Dunny - Toilet

6) Bludger - someone who doesn't want to work

7) Strewth - Gosh

8) Cow cocky - dairy farmer

9) The Missus - my wife

10) Me Mate - my friend

11) Mongrel - as in "He's a bit of a mongrel" - someone you don't like OR as in "That dog's a bit of a mongrel" - dog of uncertain breed

12) Whinger - Constant complainer

13) Sanger - sandwich

14) Wharfie - Dock worker

15) Footie - as in "Going to the footie" - going to watch a game of football

 

Then there's the expressions:

1) Strike a light! - Well, I'll be!

2) Shiver me timbers! - Well, I'll be!

3) What a shenanigans! - What a carry-on!

4) Have a go ya mug! - Try a bit harder man!

5) Cracking a sickie! - Having a day off work by calling in "ill"

6) Having a bludge - relaxing (usually at work)

7) He's so up himself! - He's got an inflated opinion of himself

8) What a load of hogs wallop! - I don't believe it!

9) What a dog's breakfast! - What a mess!

10) Give it a miss! - Just forget about it!

11) What a flock of galahs! - Just a group of idiots!

12) Okey-dokey - OK

 

etc. etc.

 

Unfortunately, as we've become more Americanised in our speech, thanks to all the American TV shows we are shown here, these words and expressions are dying a gradual death and most of our younger generation wouldn't know what we were talking about!

 

Of course they could down-load and watch the iconic Australian film, which always makes me cringe, "The Castle". Lots of slang in it.

 

Just as an aside: One American met us in the lift the next morning after we'd been sprouting some slang and asked us "How are you Shirleys today?" Eh? He'd been practicing all night but got confused with "Sheilas" and Shirleys! Gave us a bit of a laugh after he'd gone! :D

 

Come on everyone! Give us some more examples to confuse the 'yanks'!

 

Gae

 

 

Gidday mates.

 

This is the site we have always referred our travelling companions to. Saves a lot of explanations :)

 

http://www.upfromaustralia.com/aussieslang.html

 

 

S and P

 

 

.

[Boboz]

G'day all,

of course there is always that famous woman Emma Chisit usually only mentioned in shops

[mr walker]

I think there is one area of confusion that needs mentioning. In Australia we have bum bags, which strap around your waist to carry stuff. In US these are called something else which would be a whole different thing 'downunder'.

[Baggywrinkle99]

I recommend the book by Prof Afferbeck Lauder "Let Stalk Strine" ;)

[robynwally]

My husband has a lot of American colleagues...he has got them saying

"Spit the dummy"

[Kiwi Kruzer]

He's one sandwich short of a picnic....

 

 

[Pushka]

Good grief, I don't know most of those words anyway and certainly don't hear them in common conversations.

[rabbit1971]

Of course then you have

Put a snag on the barbie ( sausage)

Pass the dead horse ( tomato sauce)

and been on the dog and bone ( telephone)

plus the nicknames we give people,

like Bluey or wranger for a redhead.

Cheers bigears

Maree:D

[Pushka]

Except that rhyming slang is British in origin not Australian. And again isn't used where I live.

[Scrapnana]

This is a fun thread. There is a similar one for British-American English on "The Pub" (quite the discussion on bum bags).

 

Some of these are common in the states like okey-dokey, one sandwich short of a picnic, and the missus. And of course everyone knows crikey from Steve Irwin.

[MicCanberra]

Stone the crows.

I thought this topic was going to be something else altogether. It turns out it is just a bunch of youse bludgers bangin' on bout crap.:D

[cjm66]

Don't forget to highlight that almost every remark can be a backhanded compliment when it is delivered with the correct laconic drawl and a barely noticeable warm undertone or it can be a major insult if said more quickly without the warmth. Strine is a very tonal langiage.

Edited June 4, 2013 by cjm66

[wildweston]

Stone the crows.

I thought this topic was going to be something else altogether. It turns out it is just a bunch of youse bludgers bangin' on bout crap.:D

 

Hey mate stop calling us bludgers :):) lol (joking):)

[Jacs]

Don't forget the ever popular "yeah nah". And no matter how you are actually feeling, if someone asks how ya goin? You

Always answer with "yeah orrite" :D

[MicCanberra]

Don't forget the ever popular "yeah nah". And no matter how you are actually feeling, if someone asks how ya goin? You

Always answer with "yeah orrite" :D

Onya Jacs.:D

[Pushka]

Which part of Australia do you people live in? Not South Australia I'm thinking.

[Pushka]

Which part of Australia do you people live in? Not South Australia I'm thinking.

[Baggywrinkle99]

For such as vast country Australia has remarkably little variation in regional Aussie English regional accent or dialect. Some vernacular words vary according to region, eg bathers, swimmers (ie, swim suit) but the slang is fairly universal because most of it comes from the British convict first settlers. If you have a good ear you can pick out a Queenslander from a South Australian but its not always obvious.

[SnoopyJS]

For such as vast country Australia has remarkably little variation in regional Aussie English regional accent or dialect. Some vernacular words vary according to region, eg bathers, swimmers (ie, swim suit) but the slang is fairly universal because most of it comes from the British convict first settlers. If you have a good ear you can pick out a Queenslander from a South Australian but its not always obvious.

 

... and you can pick a Victorian by the way they pronounce 'you' :D

[Pushka]

No, more for words like Pool and School and Mall.

[SteveH2508]

For such as vast country Australia has remarkably little variation in regional Aussie English regional accent or dialect. Some vernacular words vary according to region, eg bathers, swimmers (ie, swim suit) but the slang is fairly universal because most of it comes from the British convict first settlers. If you have a good ear you can pick out a Queenslander from a South Australian but its not always obvious.

 

Isn't budgiestranglers a Strine expression?