Australian Slang – 233 terms to get familiar with
Are you familiar with Australian slang? I sure wasn’t when I hopped on 3 planes and travelled over 16 000 km to study abroad in Melbourne. Slowly but surely I began to keep a note on my phone with words/phrases I wasn’t familiar with and my ‘Canadian translation’ so to say. After living there once again for a year in 2018, my list grew immensely. So let’s dive in!
The obvious ones …
You’ll most likely hear these Australian slang/terms the first day in Australia or after having one conversation with an Australian.
1. Dodgy – Sketchy
2. How ya going? – How’s it going?
3. Heaps – Lots
4. Keen – Down – ex. I’m keen/down to go out Friday night
5. Reckon – Think – ex. What do you reckon we should do
6. Mate – Friend
7. Bogan – Red neck
8. Rubbish – Garbage
9. Mum – Mom
The short forms …
This list could be endless but here are the short forms I personally heard while living in Aus.
10. Maccas – McDonald’s – You’ll see it written as ‘Maccas’ on some of the signs believe it or not!
11. Ambo – Ambulance
12. Trackies – Sweat pants
13. Rellies – Relatives
14. Arvo – Afternoon
15. Ciggie – Cigarette
16. Ute – Work truck
17. Portaloo – Portapotty
18. Pokie – Slot machine
19. Truckie – Truck driver
20. Exxy – Expensive
21. Smoko – Smoke break
22. Mozzie – Mosquito
23. Brissy – Brisbane
24. Prezzie – Presents
25. Chrissy – Christmas
26. Doco – Documentary
27. Lippy – Lipstick
28. Devvo – Devastated
29. Deffo – Definitely
30. G’day – Hey/Greeting
31. Soz – Sorry
32. Sickie – Calling in sick
33. Pov – Poverty
34. Unco – Uncoordinated
35. Agro – Aggravated
36. Ta – Thank you – Most often heard people over 30 saying this term
37. Rego – Registration
38. Dunny – Toilet
39. Destie – Destination
40. Yesty – Yesterday
41. Lappy – Laptop
42. Relo – Relationship
43. Nappies – Diapers
44. Sollie – Tanning bed
45. Duffa – Silly goose
46. Figjam – F*&k I’m good just ask me – Being cocky
47. Firey – Fireman
48. Brolly – Umbrella
The food/drink ones …
I definitely had trouble a few times in the Australian grocery stores with some of these terms!
49. Biscuit – Cookie
50. Toastie – Grilled sandwich
51. Bangers and mash – Sausages and mashed potatoes
52. Rock melon – Cantaloupe
53. Poppy – Popcorn
54. Avo – Avocado
55. Lollies – Candy
56. Bevvy – Drink
57. Icy pole – Freezie/popscicle
58. Veggo – Vegetarian
59. Drink bottle – Water bottle
60. Rice bubbles – Rice krispies
61. Fizzy/soft drink – Pop
62. Popper – Juice box
63. Eskie – Cooler
64. Sanga – Sandwich
65. Biccy – Biscuit/cookie
66. Cuppa – Tea
67. Muesli – Granola
68. Capsicum – Pepper (red, orange, yellow, green)
69. Snags – Sausages
70. Sultanas – Raisins
71. Tomato sauce – Ketchup
72. Chips – Fries
73. Crisps – Chips
The clothes/shopping ones …
Nothing too crazy but wasn’t used to hearing most of these!
74. Singlet – Tank top
75. Slides – Sandals
76. Budgie smuggler/togs – Speedo
77. Jocks – Boxers
78. Scivvies – Turtleneck pj shirt
79. Boardies – Guy’s swimsuit
80. Op shop – Thrift store
81. Jumper – Sweater
82. Swimmers/Bathers – Bikini/swimsuit
83. Thongs – Flip flops – This one tripped me out a handful of times
84. Shopping center – Mall
85. Supermarket – Grocery store
86. Going to the shops – Grocery shopping
87. Trading hours – Hours of operation
The sexual ones …
88. Roots – Kills (Only my fellow Canadian’s will understand this one)
89. Wristy – Hand job
90. Gobbie – Giving head
91. Knob – Dick
92. Macking on – Making out
The alcohol/drug related ones …
93. Pull a cone – Smoke a bowl
94. Chunder/spewing – Puke
95. Tinnie/coldie – Beer
96. Gacked – Drugged up
97. Sesh/I’m on the sesh – Getting lit
98. Cooked – Fucked/Druggy – Also can mean tired
99. Blind – Blackout drunk
100. Suck some sauce – Drink some beer
101. Twisty – Twist off beer or cider
102. Skull – Chugging a drink
103. Piss up/Get on the piss – Drink
104. Goon – Boxed wine – You won’t understand until you’ve slapped a bag of goon for yourself!
105. Bottle – O – Liquor/beer store
106. Getting on gear – Doing drugs
One’s I’ve happily adopted …
107. Sorted – Figured out
108. Suss it out – Feel it out
109. Too easy
110. Banter – Conversation
111. XX in texts – I personally use this on my blog a lot!
112. Sunnies – Sunglasses – It seriously just rolls off the tongue
113. Servo – Gas station
114. Aircon – Air conditioning/ A/C – Somehow sounds better than A/C even though it’s longer
115. Ya nah – A more casual way of saying no
116. Nah ya – A more casual way of saying yes
One’s I’ll never understand …
117. Pet hate – Pet peeve
118. Gaffer tape – Duct tape
119. Bob’s your uncle – It’s all good
120. Main floor is labelled 1 – Would be Ground in North America
121. Stitched – Pissed
122. Yeh or hey at the end of sentences – Instead of the ‘eh’ us Canadian’s use 24/7
123. From the outset – From the get go
124. Manchester – Bedding/comforter
125. Cross it – Exit out of computer page
126. Full stop – Period in writing
127. Froth – Crave something
128. Noughts and crosses – x’s and o’s
129. Equal – When tied in a game
130. Click/clicking – Snapping fingers
131. Rubber – Eraser
132. Cheeky halfa – To kill half an hour
133. Chatterbox – Cootie catcher
134. Chockers – Busy
135. Sweet f a – Sweet f*&k all
136. Knick knocking – Nicky Nicky nine doors
137. Keeping off – Monkey in the middle
138. Paper, Scissors, Rock – the WRONG order of Rock, Paper, Scissors!
139. Stanley knife – Exacto knife
The random ones …
140. Jetty – Pier
141. Oath – True
142. Feeling pretty flat – Not feeling great
143. Wee – Pee
144. Struth – F*@k yeah
145. Mint – When something’s good
146. Footpath – Side walk/walkway
147. Estate – Neighbourhood
148. Petrol – Gas
149. Fair dinkum – Fair enough
150. Wanker – When a guy’s being a dick
151. My shout – I’m paying
152. Sook – Being a baby
153. Rate it – When you like something
154. Rock up – Show up/arrive
155. Crack it – When you get upset/angry about something
156. Que – Line
157. That’s mad – Sweet/unreal
158. Taking the piss – Having a laugh at someone
159. Cunt – Another way of saying mate – usually used jokingly/in a friendly manner
160. Good on ya – Good for you
161. Bloke – Guy/man
162. Stacked – Fall over
163. Roster – Schedule
164. Deadset – Legit
165. Gastro – Stomach flu
166. Tonsillitis – Strep throat
167. Doing my head in – Pissing me off
168. Punch on – Fight
169. No dramas – No worries
170. Cloak room – Coat check
171. Mucking around – Being playful
172. Post it – Mail something
173. Busting – Have to pee
174. Kook – Learner surfer or an idiot
175. Shithouse – A bad situation
176. Coloured pencils – Pencil crayons
177. Boot – Trunk of a car
178. Coppers – Cops
179. Bagged – Chirped
180. Have a go – Make fun of
181. A crack up – Makes you laugh/a fool
182. Tosser – Wanker (see above)
183. Stuffed – When something’s messed up or broken
184. Full on – Intense
185. Far out – Crazy
186. Partner – Boyfriend/Girlfriend
187. Chemist – Pharmacy
188. Hire – Rent
189. Car park – Parking lot
190. Half for time – Instead of 8:30, they’d say half 8
191. City/CBD – Downtown
192. Toilet – Bathroom
193. Stitch up – When you’ve been pranked or screwed over
194. Dugong – Manatee
195. Torch – Flashlight
196. Misses – Girlfriend
197. Bush – Outback
198. Bushdoof – Rave in the middle of nowhere
199. Barrack – Go for (what team you root for)
The one’s that aren’t used often …
These last Australian slang terms I heard no more than once or twice when asking Australian’s about weird things they say.
200. A few roos loose in the top paddock – A few screws loose
201. Woopwoop – Out in the middle of nowhere
202. Bush pig – Female bogan in a woopwoop
203. More than one way to skin a kangaroo – More than one way of doing something
204. Pocket dragon – Lighter
205. Fang it – Gun it (driving)
206. Grass – Cool
207. F*@kwit – Idiot/dickhead
208. Treat em mean to keep em keen – When you’re interested in a guy/girl and play with their emotions or play games to hold their interest
209. Frothing at the gash – I love it
210. Cop some flak – Give someone shit
211. Bird – Girl
212. Crikey – Ah shit
213. F*&k me dead – When something bad happens
214. Doggin – Ditching
215. Dispstick – Thing mechanic uses to check oil
216. It’s a cracka – It’s jokes
217. Shelia – Woman
218. Troppor – Drunk, overheated and dehydrated
219. Paddock – Field
220. Buzzed – Vibing
221. Ankle biter – Toddler
222. What a drainer – Let down/makes you tired
223. Bush bashed – Shitty trashed car
224. A dog’s breakfast – Disaster of some sorts like bad traffic /something being a mess
225. Cut – Pissed off
226. Come off it – Get a grip/come on/talking shit
227. Chook – Chicken
228. Cobba – Good friend
229. Hard yacka – Hard work
230. Grass – Good
231. Having a whack – Having a fight
232. Tough as a woodpeckers lips – Tough as nails
233. Not here to f*%k spiders – No shit
After living in Australia twice, I consider it a second home. I’m devastated to see the damage due to the bushfires going on right now. Here are some places you can donate if you’re interested in helping!
- Australian Red Cross
- Australian Salvation Army
- Go Fund Me – For First Nations Communities
- World Wildlife Fund Australia
What did you think of Australian slang? If you’re Australian, did I hit the nail on the head or what?! Let me know in the comments below or connect with me on Instagram!
Until next time …
Cheers,
Amy xx
