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Russell Coight holding cup

Australian Slang Terms: The Official Aussie Dictionary


Struth mate, we hear ya. Australian slang is pretty damn hard to get your head around. Whether you’re a townie or a blow in there’s no shame if you find yourself scratching your noggin’ while the fellas at the pub are havin’ a good ole’ chin wag. It’s like a different language. You’ve gotta be true blue or you may as well hooroo because lord knows us Aussies have a penchant for making up a word or two.

Shane Warne holding cigarette and a drink in one hand
The Official Australian Slang Dictionary | Image: Getty

The Official Australian Slang Dictionary

Now, there’s nothing worse than testing out a new saying with your mates and making a right, royal cock of yourself. Trust us, Aussies won’t let you live it down. But if you’re willing to put in the hard yakka and brush up your lingo, the world is your oyster. Before you test out a new Aussie slang phrase, consult the official Australian slang dictionary and make sure you actually know what you’re saying.

  • Ace!  – Excellent! Very good!
  • Aerial Ping-Pong – Australian Rules football
  • Amber fluid – beer
  • Ambo – ambulance, ambulance driver
  • Ankle biter – small child
  • Aight – Alright e.g. She’ll be alright
  • Arvo – afternoon
  • Aussie (pron. Ozzie) – Australian
  • Aussie salute – brushing away flies with the hand
  • Avos – avocados
  • B & S – Bachelors’ and Spinsters’ Ball – a very enjoyable party usually held in rural areas
  • Back of Bourke – a very long way away
  • Bail (somebody) up – to corner somebody physically
  • Bailout – depart, usually angrily
  • Banana bender – a person from Queensland
  • Barbie – barbecue (noun)
  • Barrack – to cheer on (football team etc.)
  • Bastard – term of endearment
  • Bathers – swimming costume
  • Battler – someone working hard and only just making a living
  • Beaut, beauty – great, fantastic
  • Big Smoke – a big city, especially Sydney or Melbourne
  • Bikkie – biscuit (also “it cost big bikkies” – it was expensive)
  • Billabong – an oxbow lake cut off by a change in the watercourse. Billabongs are usually formed when the course of a creek or river changes, leaving the former branch with a dead end.
  • Billy – teapot. Container for boiling water… it’s also another word for a bong in some regions
  • Bingle – motor vehicle accident
  • Bities – biting insects
  • Bitzer – mongrel dog (bits of this and bits of that)
  • Black Stump, beyond the – a long way away, the back of nowhere
  • Bloke – man, guy
  • Bloody – very (bloody hard yakka)
  • Bloody oath! – Exclamation. That’s certainly true
  • Blow in the bag – have a breathalyser test
  • Blowie – blowfly
  • Bludger – lazy person, layabout, somebody who always relies on other people to do things or lend him things
  • Blue – fight (“he was having a blue with his wife”)
  • Blue, make a – make a mistake
  • Bluey – pack, equipment, traffic ticket, redhead
  • Bluey – blue cattle dog (named after its subtle markings) which is an excellent working dog. Everyone’s favourite all-Aussie dog.
  • Bluey – heavy wool or felt jacket worn by mining and construction workers.
  • Bluey – bluebottle jellyfish
  • Bodgy – of inferior quality
  • Bog in – commence eating, to attack food with enthusiasm
  • Bog standard – basic, unadorned, without accessories (a bog-standard car, telephone etc.)
  • Bogan – A person, generally low-socio economic, who takes little pride in his appearance or manner, spends his days slacking and drinking beer and has a specific dialect.
  • Bogged – Stuck in mud, deep sand (a vehicle).
  • Boil-over – an unexpected (sporting) result
  • Bondi cigar – see “brown-eyed mullet”
  • Bonzer – great, ripper
  • Boogie board – A body board
  • Boomer – a large male kangaroo / Baby boomer
  • Booze bus – police vehicle used for catching drunk drivers
  • Boozer – a pub
  • Bored shitless – very bored
  • Bottle shop – liquor shop
  • Bottle-o – liquor shop (originally a man with hessian bags going around picking up beer bottles in the 50’s and 60’s)
  • Bottled it – screwed up
  • Bounce – a bully
  • (Not my) Cup of tea – I don’t like it
  • Brass razoo – he’s very poor e.g. He hasn’t got a brass razoo
  • Brekkie – breakfast
  • Brick shit house, built like a – big strong bloke
  • Brickie – bricklayer
  • Brisvegas – Brisbane, state capital of Queensland
  • Brizzie – Brisbane, state capital of Queensland
  • Brown-eyed mullet – a turd in the sea (where you’re swimming!)
  • Brumby – a wild horse
  • Buck’s night – stag party, male gathering the night before the wedding
  • Buckley’s, (Buckley’s chance) – No chance (From the story of Buckley the convict) e.g. Buckley’s chance of beating New Zealand.
  • Budgie smugglers – men’s bathing costume
  • Bullbar / Roo Bar – stout bar fixed to the front of a vehicle to protect it against hitting kangaroos (also roo bar)
  • Bundy – short for Bundaberg, Queensland, and the brand of rum that’s made there
  • Bunyip – mythical outback creature
  • Bush – the hinterland, the Outback, anywhere that isn’t in town
  • Bush bash – Bashing through the bush without a trail.
  • Bush oyster – nasal mucus
  • Bush telly – campfire
  • Bushie – someone who lives in the Bush
  • Bushman’s hanky / Snot rocket – Emitting nasal mucus by placing one index finger on the outside of the nose (thus blocking one nostril) and blowing.
  • Bushranger – highwayman, outlaw
  • Butcher – small glass of beer in South Australia – From the theory that a butcher could take a quick break from his job, have a drink and be back at work
  • BYO – an unlicensed restaurant where you have to Bring Your Own grog, also similar party or barbecue
  • Cab Sav – Cabernet Sauvignon (a variety of wine grape)
  • Cactus – dead, not functioning (“this bloody washing machine is cactus”)
  • Cane toad – a person from Queensland
  • Cark it – to die, cease functioning
  • Cat burying shit, as busy as a – busy
  • Cat’s piss, as mean as – mean, stingy, uncharitable
  • Chewie – chewing gum
  • Chokkie – chocolate
  • Chook – a chicken
  • Chrissie – Christmas
  • Christmas – see Bourke Street
  • Chuck a sickie – take the day off sick from work when you’re perfectly healthy
  • Chunder – vomit
  • Clacker – anus (from Latin cloaca = sewer). Also, the single orifice of monotremes (platypus and echidna) used both for reproduction and for the elimination of body wastes.
  • Clayton’s – fake, substitute
  • Cleanskin – Bottle of wine without a label. Usually bought in bulk by companies who then add their own personalised label and use the wine as e.g. gifts to clients
  • Cleanskin – cattle that have not been branded, earmarked or castrated.
  • Click – kilometre – “it’s 10 clicks away”
  • Clucky – feeling broody or maternal
  • Coathanger – Sydney Harbour bridge
  • Cobber – friend
  • Cockie – farmer (Farmers were called cockies in the early days of European settlement because, like the birds of the same name, they made their homes on the edges of permanent waterholes)
  • Cockie – cockatoo
  • Cockie – cockroach
  • Cockroach – a person from New South Wales
  • Coldie – a beer
  • Come a gutser – make a bad mistake, have an accident
  • Compo – Workers’ Compensation pay
  • Conch (adj. conchy) – a conscientious person. Somebody who would rather work or study than go out and enjoy him/herself.
  • Cooee, not within – figuratively a long way away, far off – England weren’t within cooee of beating Australia at cricket
  • Cooee, within – nearby – I was within cooee of landing a big fish when the line broke. He lives within cooee of Sydney.
  • Cook (noun) – One’s wife
  • Corker – something excellent. A good stroke in cricket might be described as a ‘corker of a shot’
  • Corroboree – an aboriginal dance festival
  • Counter lunch/Countery – pub lunch
  • Cozzie – swimming costume
  • Crack a fatty – get an erection
  • Crack onto (someone) – to hit on someone, pursue someone romantically
  • Cranky – in a bad mood, angry
  • Cream (verb) – defeat by a large margin
  • Crook – sick, or badly made
  • Crow eater – a person from South Australia
  • Cubby house – Small, usually timber, house in the garden used as a children’s plaything.
  • Cunt – Many connotations – most of which are actually positive e.g. good cunt / sick cunt
  • Cut lunch – sandwiches
  • Cut lunch commando – army reservist
  • Cut snake, mad as a – very angry
  • Dag – a funny person, nerd, goof
  • Daks – trousers
  • Damper – bread made from flour and water
  • Date – arse (“get off your fat date”)
  • Dead dingo’s donger, as dry as a – dry
  • Dead horse – Tomato sauce
  • Deadset – true, the truth
  • Dero – tramp, hobo, homeless person (from “derelict”)
  • Dickhead – see “whacker”
  • Digger – a soldier
  • Dill – an idiot
  • Dingo’s breakfast – a yawn, a leak and a good look round (i.e. no breakfast)
  • Dinkum, fair dinkum – true, real, genuine (“I’m a dinkum Aussie”; “is he fair dinkum?”)
  • Dinky-di – the real thing, genuine
  • Dipstick – a loser, idiot
  • Divvy van – Police vehicle used for transporting criminals. Named after the protective ‘division’ between the driver and the villains.
  • Dob (somebody) in – inform on somebody. Hence dobber, a tell-tale
  • Docket – a bill, receipt
  • Doco – documentary
  • Dog – unattractive woman
  • Dog’s balls, stands out like – obvious
  • Dog’s eye – meat pie
  • Dole bludger – somebody on social assistance when unjustified
  • Donger – penis
  • Doodle – penis
  • Doovalacky – used whenever you can’t remember what something is called. Thingummyjig, whatsit.
  • Down Under – Australia and New Zealand
  • Drink with the flies – to drink alone
  • Drongo – a dope, stupid person
  • Dropkick – see ‘dipstick’
  • Drum – information, tip-off (“I’ll give you the drum”)
  • Duchess – sideboard
  • Duffer, cattle – rustler
  • Dummy, spit the – get very upset at something
  • Dunny – outside lavatory
  • Dunny budgie – blowfly
  • Dunny rat, cunning as a – very cunning
  • Durry – tobacco, cigarette
  • Dux – top of the class (n.); to be top of the class (v.) – “She duxed four of her subject”
  • Earbashing – nagging, non-stop chatter
  • Ekka – the Brisbane Exhibition, an annual show
  • Esky – large, insulated food/drink container for picnics, barbecues etc.
  • Exy – expensive
  • Face, off one’s – drunk (“He was off his face by 9 pm”)
  • Fair dinkum – true, genuine
  • Fair go – a chance (“give a bloke a fair go”)
  • Fair suck of the sav!  – exclamation of wonder, awe, disbelief (see also “sav”)
  • Fairy floss – candy floss, cotton candy
  • Feral – V8 ute (q.v.) sporting large heavy bullbar, numerous aerials, large truck mudflaps and stickers almost all over the rear window and tailgate. Sometimes seen with a Mack emblem on the bonnet and always with large (multiple) driving lights
  • Feral (n.) – a hippie
  • Figjam – “F*ck I’m good; just ask me”. Nickname for people who have a high opinion of themselves.
  • Fisho – fishmonger
  • Flake – shark’s flesh (sold in fish & chips shops)
  • Flat out like a lizard drinking – flat out, busy
  • Flick – to give something or somebody the flick is to get rid of it or him/her
  • Flick it on – to sell something, usually for a quick profit, soon after buying it.
  • Flywire – gauze flyscreen covering a window or doorway.
  • Footy – Australian Rules football
  • Fossick – search, rummage (“fossicking through the kitchen drawers”)
  • Fossick – to prospect, e.g. for gold
  • Fossicker – prospector, e.g. for gold
  • Franger – condom
  • Freckle – anus
  • Fremantle Doctor – the cooling afternoon breeze that arrives in Perth from the direction of Freo
  • Freo – Fremantle in Western Australia
  • Frog in a sock, as cross as a – sounding angry – a person or your hard drive!
  • Fruitloop – fool / crazy person
  • Full – drunk
  • Furphy – false or unreliable rumour / a local victorian beer
  • G’Day – hello!
  • Gabba – Wooloongabba – the Brisbane cricket ground
  • GAFA (pron. gaffa) – the big nothingness of the Australian Outback. Great Australian F**k All.
  • Galah – fool, silly person. Named after the bird of the same name because of its antics and the noise it makes.
  • Garbo, garbologist – municipal garbage collector
  • Give it a burl – try it, have a go
  • Gobful, give a – to abuse, usually justifiably (“The neighbours were having a noisy party, so I went and gave them a gobful”)
  • Gobsmacked – surprised, astounded
  • Going off – used of a night spot or party that is a lot of fun – “the place was really going off”
  • Good oil – useful information, a good idea, the truth
  • Good onya – good for you, well done
  • Goog, as full as a – drunk. “Goog” is a variation of the northern English slangword “goggie” meaning an egg.
  • Greenie – environmentalist
  • Grinning like a shot fox – very happy, smugly satisfied
  • Grog – liquor, beer (“bring your own grog, your bludger”)
  • Grouse (adj.)  – great, terrific, very good
  • Grundies – undies, underwear (from Reg Grundy, a television person)
  • Gutful of piss – drunk, “he’s got a gutful of piss”
  • Gyno – gynaecologist
  • Handle – beer glass with a handle
  • Harold Holt, to do the – To bolt. (Also “to do the Harold”)
  • Heaps – a lot, e.g. “thanks heaps”, “(s)he earned heaps of money” etc.
  • Holy dooley!  – an exclamation of surprise = “Good heavens!”, “My goodness!” “Good grief!” or similar
  • Hoon – hooligan
  • Hooroo – goodbye
  • Hotel – often just a pub, less often, a hotel
  • Hottie – hot water bottle
  • Icy pole, ice block – popsicle, lollypop
  • Jackaroo – a male trainee station manager or station hand (a station is a big farm/grazing property)
  • Jillaroo – a female trainee station manager or station hand
  • Joey – baby kangaroo
  • Journo – journalist
  • Jug – electric kettle
  • Jumbuck – sheep
  • Kangaroos loose in the top paddock – Intellectually inadequate (“he’s got kangaroos loose in the top paddock”)
  • Kelpie – Australian sheepdog originally bred from Scottish collie
  • Kero – kerosene
  • Kick on/kickons – To kick on after a party “After that we went to kickons”
  • Kindie – kindergarten
  • Knock – to criticise
  • Knock back – refusal (noun), refuse (transitive verb)
  • Knocker – somebody who criticises
  • Lair – a flashily dressed young man of brash and vulgar behaviour, to dress up in flashy clothes, to renovate or dress up something in bad taste
  • Lair it up – to behave in a brash and vulgar manner
  • Larrikin – a bloke who is always enjoying himself, harmless prankster
  • Lend of, to have a – to take advantage of somebody’s gullibility, to have someone on (“he’s having a lend of you”)
  • Lippy – lipstick
  • Liquid laugh – vomit
  • Lizard drinking, flat out like a – flat out, busy
  • Lob, lob in – drop in to see someone (“the rellies have lobbed”)
  • Lollies – sweets, candy
  • London to a brick – absolute certainty (“it’s London to a brick that taxes won’t go down”)
  • Long paddock – the side of the road where livestock is grazed during droughts
  • Longneck – 750ml bottle of beer in South Australia
  • Lucky Country, The – Australia, where else?
  • Lunch, who opened their?  – OK, who farted?
  • Lurk – illegal or underhanded racket
  • Maccas (pron. “mackers”) – McDonald’s (the hamburger place)
  • Mallee bull, as fit as a – very fit and strong. The Mallee is a very arid beef country in Victoria/South Australia.
  • Manchester – Household linen, eg sheets etc.
  • Mappa Tassie – map of Tasmania – a woman’s pubic area
  • Mate – buddy, friend
  • Mate’s rate, mate’s discount – cheaper than usual for a “friend”
  • Matilda – swagman’s bedding, sleeping roll
  • Metho – methylated spirits
  • Mexican – a person from south of the Queensland or New South Wales border
  • Mickey Mouse – excellent, very good. Beware though – in some parts of Australia it means inconsequential, frivolous or not very good!
  • Middy – 285 ml beer glass in New South Wales
  • Milk bar – corner shop that sells takeaway food
  • Milko – milkman
  • Mob – a colloquial indigenous term identifying a group of Aboriginal people associated with a particular place or country
  • Mole – An insult, generally to females of low sexual morals or appearance
  • Mongrel – despicable person
  • Moolah – money
  • Mozzie – mosquito
  • Muddy – mud crab (a great delicacy)
  • Mug – friendly insult (“have a go, yer mug”), gullible person
  • Mull – grass (the kind you smoke)
  • Muster – round up sheep or cattle
  • Mystery bag – a sausage
  • Nasho – National Service (compulsory military service)
  • Naughty, have a – have sex
  • Never Never – the Outback, centre of Australia
  • Nipper – young surf lifesaver
  • No drama – same as ‘no worries’
  • No worries!  – Expression of forgiveness or reassurance (No problem; forget about it; I can do it; Yes, I’ll do it)
  • No-hoper – somebody who’ll never do well
  • Not the full quid – not bright intellectually
  • Nuddy, in the – naked
  • Nun’s nasty, as dry as a – dry
  • Nut out – hammer out or work out (an agreement, say)
  • O.S.  – overseas (“he’s gone O.S.”)
  • Ocker – an unsophisticated person / way of speaking
  • Offsider – an assistant, helper
  • Old fella – penis
  • Oldies – parents – “I’ll have to ask my oldies”
  • Op shop – opportunity shop, thrift store, place where secondhand goods are sold.
  • Outback – interior of Australia
  • Oz – Australia!
  • Paddock – see ‘long paddock’
  • Pash – a long passionate kiss; hence “pashing on”
  • Pav – Pavlova – a rich, creamy Australian / New Zealand dessert
  • Perv (noun & verb) – looking lustfully at the opposite sex
  • Piece of piss – easy task
  • Pig’s arse!  – I don’t agree with you
  • Piker – Someone who doesn’t want to fit in with others socially, leaves parties early
  • Pink slip, get the – get the sack (from the colour of the termination form)
  • Pint – large glass of beer (esp. in South Australia)
  • Piss – beer. Hence “hit the piss”, “sink some piss”
  • Plate bring a – Instruction on party or BBQ invitation to bring your own food. It doesn’t mean they’re short of crockery!
  • Plonk – cheap wine
  • Pokies – poker machines, fruit machines, gambling slot machines
  • Polly – politician
  • Pom, pommy, pommie – an Englishman • See the complaint about “Pom” etc.
  • Pommy bastard – an Englishman (see also ‘bastard’)
  • Pommy shower – using deodorant instead of taking a shower
  • Pommy’s towel, as dry as a – very dry – based on the canard that Poms bathe about once a month
  • Porky – Lie, untruth (pork pie = lie)
  • Port – suitcase (portmanteau)
  • Postie – postman, mailman
  • Pot – 285 ml beer glass in Queensland and Victoria
  • Pozzy – position – get a good pozzy at the football stadium
  • Prezzy – present, gift
  • Quid, make a – earn a living – “are you making a quid?”
  • Quid, not the full – of low IQ.
  • Rack off – push off! get lost! get out of here! also “rack off, ya mole!”.
  • Rage – party
  • Rage on – to continue partying – “we raged on until 3am”
  • Rapt – pleased, delighted
  • Ratbag – mild insult
  • Raw prawn, to come the – to bullshit, to be generally disagreeable
  • Reckon!  – you bet! Absolutely!
  • Rego – vehicle registration
  • Rellie or relo – family relative
  • Ridgy-didge – original, genuine
  • Right, she’ll be – it’ll be all right
  • Right, that’d be – Accepting bad news as inevitable. (“I went fishing but caught nothing.” “Yeah, that’d be right.”)
  • Rip snorter – great, fantastic – “it was a rip-snorter of a night”
  • Ripper – great, fantastic – “it was a ripper party”
  • Ripper, you little!  – Exclamation of delight or as a reaction to good news
  • Road train – big truck with many trailers
  • Roadie – a beer you buy to take away with you
  • Rock up – to turn up, to arrive – “we rocked up at their house at 8pm”
  • Rollie – a cigarette that you roll yourself
  • Roo – kangaroo
  • Roo bar – stout bar fixed to the front of a vehicle to protect it against hitting kangaroos (also bull bar)
  • Root (verb and noun) – synonym for f*ck in nearly all its senses – “I feel rooted”; “this washing machine is rooted”; “(s)he’s a good root”. A very useful word in fairly polite company.
  • Root rat – somebody who is constantly looking for sex.
  • Ropeable – very angry
  • Rort (verb or noun) – Cheating, fiddling, defrauding (expenses, the system etc.). Usually used of politicians
  • Rotten – drunk – “I went out last night and got rotten”
  • Rubbish (verb) – to criticize
  • Salute, Aussie – brushing flies away
  • Salvos, the – Salvation Army, bless them
  • Sandgroper – a person from Western Australia
  • Sanger – a sandwich
  • Sav – saveloy (see also “fair suck of the sav!”)
  • Schooner – large beer glass in Queensland; medium beer glass in South Australia
  • Scratchy – instant lottery ticket
  • Screamer – something remarkable, “Marnus makes an absolute screamer of a catch”
  • Seppo (septic tank) – a Yank, or American
  • Servo – petrol station
  • Shag on a rock, stands out like a – very obvious “stands out like a shag on a rock”
  • Shark biscuit – somebody new to surfing
  • She’ll be right – it’ll turn out okay
  • Sheepshagger – A New Zealander
  • Sheila – a woman
  • Shit house (adj.)  – of poor quality, unenjoyable (“this car is shit house”, “the movie was shit house”)
  • Shit house (noun) – toilet, lavatory
  • Shonky – dubious, underhanded. E.g. a shonky practice, shonky business etc.
  • Shoot through – to leave
  • Shout – turn to buy – a round of drinks usually (“it’s your shout”)
  • Show pony – someone who tries hard, by his dress or behaviour, to impress those around him.
  • Sickie – day off sick from work (chuck a sickie = take the day off sick from work when you’re perfectly healthy!)
  • Skite – boast, brag
  • Skull/Skol (a beer) – to drink a beer in a single draught without taking a breath
  • Slab – a carton of 24 bottles or cans of beer
  • Sleepout – house verandah converted to a bedroom
  • Smoko – smoke or coffee break
  • Snag – a sausage
  • Sook – person or animal who is soft, tame, inoffensive. Hence sooky (adj.)
  • Spag bol – spaghetti bolognese
  • Spewin’ – very angry
  • Spiffy, pretty spiffy – great, excellent or sharp
  • Spit the dummy – get very upset at something
  • Spruiker – man who stands outside a nightclub or restaurant trying to persuade people to enter
  • Sprung – caught doing something wrong
  • Spunk – a good looking person (of either sex)
  • Squizz (noun) – look – “take a squizz at this”
  • Standover man – a large man, usually gang-related, who threatens people with physical violence in order to have his wishes carried out
  • Station – a big farm/grazing property
  • Stickybeak – nosy person
  • Stoked – very pleased
  • Stonker – Small and chunky
  • Stonkered – beaten, defeated, cornered, perplexed
  • Strewth – exclamation, mild oath (“Strewth, that Chris is a bonzer bloke”)
  • Strides – trousers
  • Strine – Australian slang and pronunciation
  • Stubby – a 375ml. beer bottle
  • Stubby holder – polystyrene insulated holder for a stubby
  • Stuffed, I feel – I’m tired or full
  • Sunbake – sunbathe
  • Sunnies – sunglasses
  • Surfies – people who go surfing – usually more often than they go to work!
  • Swag – rolled up bedding etc. canvas and mattress an alternative to a tent
  • Swaggie – swagman
  • Swagman – tramp, hobo
  • Tall poppies – successful people
  • Tall poppy syndrome – the tendency to criticize successful people
  • Tallie – 750ml bottle of beer
  • Taswegian – derogatory term for a person from Tasmania
  • Tea – supper
  • Technicolor yawn – vomit
  • Tee-up – to set up (an appointment)
  • Thingo – Wadjamacallit, thingummy, whatsit
  • Thongs – cheap rubber backless sandals
  • Throw-down – a small bottle of beer which you can throw down quickly
  • Tickets, to have on oneself – to have a high opinion of oneself “he’s got tickets on himself”
  • Tinnie – can of beer
  • Tinny – small aluminium boat
  • Togs – swim suit
  • Too right!  – definitely!
  • Top End – far north of Australia
  • Trackie daks/dacks – tracksuit pants
  • Trackies – track suit
  • Troppo, gone – to have escaped to a state of tropical madness; to have lost the veneer of civilisation after spending too long in the tropics.
  • Trough lolly – the solid piece of perfumed disinfectant in a men’s urinal
  • Truckie – truck driver
  • True blue – patriotic
  • Tucker – food
  • Tucker – bag – food bag
  • Turps – turpentine, alcoholic drink
  • Turps, hit the – go on a drinking binge
  • Two up – gambling game played by spinning two coins simultaneously, illegal in Australia except for on Australia Day
  • Ugg boots – Australian sheepskin boots worn by surfers since at least the 1960s to keep warm while out of the water. Also worn by airmen during WW1 and WW2 because of the need to maintain warmth in non-pressurized planes at high altitudes.
  • Ugh – ugly. hence Ugg boots
  • Uni – university
  • Unit – flat, apartment
  • Up oneself – have a high opinion of oneself – “he’s really up himself”
  • Up somebody, get – to rebuke somebody – “the boss got up me for being late”
  • Useful as an ashtray on a motorbike / tits on a bull – unhelpful or incompetent person or thing – “he, she or it is about as useful as tits on a bull” etc. etc.
  • Ute – utility vehicle, pickup truck
  • Veggies – vegetables
  • Vee dub – Volkswagen
  • Veg out – relax in front of the TV (like a vegetable)
  • Veggo – vegetarian
  • Vinnie’s – St. Vincent De Paul’s (charity thrift stores and hostels)
  • WACA (pron. whacker) – Western Australian Cricket Association and the Perth cricket ground
  • Waggin’ school – playing truant
  • Walkabout – a traditional walk in the Outback by Australian Aboriginals that lasts for an indefinite amount of time
  • Walkabout, it’s gone – it’s lost, can’t be found
  • Weekend warrior – army reservist
  • Whacker, whacka – Idiot; somebody who talks drivel; somebody with whom you have little patience; a dickhead
  • Whinge – complain
  • Whingeing Pom – An Englishman who is always complaining.
  • White pointers – topless (female) sunbathers
  • Whiteant (verb) – to criticise something to deter somebody from buying it. A car dealer might whiteant another dealer’s cars or a real estate salesman might whiteant another agent’s property
  • Wobbly – excitable behaviour (“I complained about the food and the waiter threw a wobbly”)
  • Wobbly boot on, he’s got the – drunk
  • Wog – someone of Mediterranean origin. A milder insult than the same word in the UK and perhaps elsewhere.
  • Wombat – somebody who eats, roots and leaves (see also root)
  • Woop Woop – invented name for any small unimportant town – “he lives in Woop Woop”
  • Wowser – strait-laced person, prude, puritan, spoilsport
  • Wuss – coward; a sulky or nervous person or animal
  • XXXX – pronounced Four X, brand of beer made in Queensland
  • Yabber – talk (a lot)
  • Yabby – inland freshwater crayfish found in Australia (Cherax destructor)
  • Yakka – work (noun)
  • Yewy – u-turn in traffic (“chuck a yewy at the next traffic lights”)
  • Yobbo – an uncouth person

Australian Slang

True blue, fair dinkum, ridgy-didge; the Australian vocabulary is chockas with random terms and phrases that essentially mean very little. But despite not having quite the established vernacular some other countries and cultures may boast, Australian slang words have become globally adored. Every time you see an Aussie character in a Hollywood movie, they throw out a couple of Australian slang words to set the scene, even if they are just gibberish phrases. It’s part of our cultural identity; just like koalas and sausage sangas, the inability to answer a question is pretty much a uniquely Australian trait. But, where do these Australian slang words really come from?

Australian Slang FAQs

What's the meaning of bogan?

While the terms has been watered down over the last few years, the word bogan refers to an an uncouth or unsophisticated person regarded as being of low social status.

What is some Australian slang?

While Cockney slang has a certain rhyme and rhythm to it, Australian slang is more a form of abbreviation. Words like 'Yewy' - a shortened version of U-Turn, 'Smoko' - smoking break and 'You beauty' are all examples of abbreviated terms that have become commonly used.

What does fair dinkum mean?

One of the most iconic Australian slang terms, 'Fair Dinkum' means absolutely and unequivocally true. A fair dinkum truth is the authentic reality.