Aussie Slanguage. An English Language Lesson from Down Under.by Megan Bayliss | More from this Blogger 15 Oct 2006 08:34 PM
Righto: Just in case you visit the land down under, here's some Aussie slanguage that you may need to know so that you can understand what the Aussies are saying. A agro: angry arvo: afternoon Aussie: Australian (I'm an Aussie.) ay: a verbal question mark that many Aussies attach to the end of a sentence. Can also be used as truth (It's hot ay!). B barbie: a barbecue beauty: (pronounced bue-dee) great, okay, fantastic. billabong: waterhole in a dry riverbed billy: a container for boiling tea bloke: a man blowey: a blow fly bluey: a red-haired person. Also a "swag" and a blue cattle dog. bush: the country. Aussies love to "go bush" (get out of the city). C chook:a chicken Chrissie: Christmas crikey: an exclamation like "My gosh". Steve Irwin used this one all the time. crook: broken or sick, as in "I'm crook. I think I have the flu." D Digger: Australian soldier. Usually used to describe an Aussie soldier from World War I. Dinki-di: true, genuine. Usually used to say that something is real good, it's dinki-di. Dinkum: as above - true, genuine. Usually used in a question to check if something is true - "Is it dinkum?" Doona: a quilted bed cover with a down filling, a comforter. drongo:a foolish person, slow witted, an idiot. Dummy: a baby pacifier. To spit the dummy is to throw a tantrum, get angry about, or refuse to do something. Dunny: an outside toilet over a can. Many Aussies call their inside toilet a dunny too. F fair dinkum: really, honestly, genuine. G garbo: garbage man g'day or gidday: Aussie greeting no matter what time of day it is. gone troppo: moved north in hot tropical Australia, or, become crazy because of the heat. Also used to explain a person who is doing things out of the usual, "They've gone troppo." grizzle:to complain jumbuck:sheep jumper: a sweater to keep you warm. K Kiwi: a person from New Zealand. knackered: completely exhausted, very tired or worn out (if something is broken it "is knackered"). L lollies: candy, sweets larrikin: A funny person, usually a young boy. Can also describe a boy who is doing naughty things. M mate: a buddy, a friend, a person you first meet (G'day mate). matey: Usually more than a mate or said to children (come here matey). mozzie:a mosquito N no worries: It's alright, everything is okay, not to worry. O ocker: distinctively Australian. Can't get more Australian than something that is ocker. It also describes an Aussie workman ("He's a real ocker."). outback: isolated parts of Australia. Even more isolated than the bush. P Pom or Pommie: what we call the English. Came from an early saying that meant Passage of Means - the English who came freely to Australia rather than as convicts. R ratbag: A rascal or a rogue. Can also be used to describe people who do things that we don't agree with. ripper: Great, terrific, fantastic (Ripper mate!) roo: Kangaroo S sanger: Sandwich sheila: A woman (a bloke and a Sheila) she'll be apples: It will be all right. skite: Boast, brag (That bloke's a real skite). smoko: A short break from work to have a smoke and "boil the billy". snags: Sausages. Aussies love to throw a snag on the Barbie. sook: A shy, timid person or a person that cries all the time. station: An outback farm or ranch (sheep or cattle station). stickybeak: A busybody sunnies: Sunglasses swag: a portable bed or sleeping bag ("Grab the swag and let's go camping"). T ta: thanks true blue: Genuine. (for a full understanding see the memorial song to Steve Irwin: Hey True Blue). tucker: Food ("Want some tucker?"). W walkabout: A period of wandering or disappearing ("He's gone walkabout"). A traditional Aboriginal practice. They used to go walkabout for many reasons. wowser: A party pooper Many thanks to Valorie Delp for allowing me to guest blog in Homeschooling. For a full list of Valorie's excellent articles and ideas for home schooling, click here. The follow up article to this one will supply different Aussie Slanguage sentences for you to work out what these crazy Aussie's are saying. Relevanthomeschooling tags User Comments  Valorie Delp (49340) 15 Oct 2006 08:59 PMTotally cool! We're going to do some Australia stuff to kick off tomorrow morning now!  Megan Bayliss (3586) 15 Oct 2006 11:34 PMShe'll be apples mate (translation: It's okay. You're welcome my friend). Have just posted the activity to go with this list of slanguage. Not all Aussie's talk like this - it's usually only the real ockers from outback. I say "fair dinkum" and "mate" all the time though. Valorie Delp (49340) 16 Oct 2006 04:28 AMYeah. . .I talk like a New Yorkrican although I'm not. Certain words just seem to fit right in. . . Megan Bayliss (3586) 16 Oct 2006 03:51 PMMy daughter just rang and I was having a wee whinge to her. She told me I was a "sook". I pulled her up on using Ocker slang and she argued that "sook" is used all over the world. Is it? Do you guys used "sook" to explain someone who's whinging and whining? She had a better couple of words to describe me as well but I won't share them!! Valorie Delp (49340) 16 Oct 2006 05:45 PMNo--definitely never heard of sook before this. We just have plain old, "stop being a whiner!" ;-) Discuss this article
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English is a hard language to learn. There are many words that sound the same, but are spelt differently and have different meanings, like "here" and "hear" or "bye" and "buy". Depending on where you live in the world, the English words you use to describe something can be different too; like sweet and lollie. Thank goodness I grew up speaking English and have not had to learn it as a second language. I think I would have failed because it is too hard for me to work it all out sometimes!
Australian English is a great example of speakers of the one language using different words. The land down under, as it if often called, has a whole heap of slang words that Australian people use in their every day speech. Even though White Australian people all speak English as their first language, they have invented special "slanguage" words that are quite different to slang used in America and England. The Aussies also love to shorten their words and put an "o" on the end.
