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According to stereotype, spoken Australian English is thought to be highly colloquial, possibly more so than other spoken variants. Whether this idea is grounded in reality or not, a substantial number of publications aimed at giving an overview of Australian English have been published.

Many books about Australian vocabulary have been published, beginning with Karl Lentzner's Dictionary of the Slang-English of Australia and of Some Mixed Languages in 1892. Several similar books soon followed, including a relatively modest but authoritative work by E. E. Morris: Austral English: A Dictionary of Australasian Words, Phrases and Usages (1898).

After a long period of disinterest and/or antipathy, the first dictionaries of Australian English began to appear. In 1976, the Australian Pocket Oxford Dictionary was published, the first dictionary edited and published in Australia, by Graeme Johnston. In 1981, the more comprehensive Macquarie Dictionary of Australian English was published, after 10 years of research and planning. Updated editions have been published since and the Macquarie Dictionary is widely regarded as authoritative. A fuller Oxford Dictionary of Australian English has also been published.

Various publishers have also produced "phrase books" to assist visitors. These books reflect a highly exaggerated and often outdated style of Australian colloquialisms and they should partially be regarded as amusements rather than accurate usage guides.

Australian vocabulary

A to D

A

• arse – as elsewhere in English, slang for buttocks (sometimes also the anus). In Australia the derivation arsey means someone showing daring, audacity, and/or cheekiness. However the North American spelling, ass is increasingly common, as is the accompanying pronunciation. Comedians Roy and H.G. have also managed to popularise the use of the date to mean "anus".

B

• bag – criticise (for example "Stop bagging me.")
• barbie – the barbeque or outdoor meal of cooked chops and sausages (snags or bangers), with lots of dead horse (tomato sauce).
• beaut – adjective meaning great, terrific. for example "I found this beaut frock on special at Woolies" (an Australian department store). Also see below.
• beauty – exclamation showing approval, for example "You beauty!" (sometimes reduced to "beaut").
• blue – a brawl or heated argument (for example "they were having a blue"); or an embarrassing mistake (for example "I've made a blue").
• bludge – to shirk, be idle, or waste time either doing nothing or something inappropriate; also to borrow (for example "Hey mate, can I bludge a smoke?").
• bloody – "the great Australian adjective" (for example The price of beer nowadays is bloody outrageous!) Also common in British English, but traditionally used to an almost comical extent by working-class and rural Australian men ("up the Murrum-bloody-bidgee shooting kanga-bloody-roos").
• blowie – the common blow-fly - no barbie is complete without them. The "first blowie of spring" is a welcome portent of summer.
• bottle shop – a shop selling alcoholic drinks (for external consumption).
• bottlo – (pronounced bottle oh) diminutitve from of bottle shop
• buggered – broken (for example it's buggered, mate or steve buggered it); or exhausted, tired out (for example I'm buggered).
• buggerise – see "piss-fart around"
• bushwalking – hiking in the bush.
• bushranger – a highwayman.

C

• cactus – non-functional
• carn – Assimilation of "Come on!" Usually used to either goad someone "Carn, have another" or to cheer on a sporting team "Carn the 'Doggies!"
• chook – a chicken, also used in New Zealand.
• Clayton's – not the real thing, ersatz (from a brand of zero alcohol mixer, advertised as "The drink you have when you're not having a drink").
• crook – unwell; also unfair. For example "I'm feelin' a bit crook, so I reckon I'll take a sicko" (day off work due to illness, or sometimes feigned illness).
• cut – angry or upset.

D

• digger – originally used to denote a soldier, particularly for World War I ANZAC veterans. Still used in military circles to denote an enlisted soldier without rank.
• dob – to inform on; dibber dobber is commonly used by children.
• doona – cf. British duvet. Doona is a brand name, originally the generic term was continental quilt. (Except in South Australia, where the word quilt is used.
• doover – a placeholder for an object whose name is unknown or forgotten, perhaps from "it'll do for now".
• dummy – cf. American pacifier (also common in British English)
• dummy – American mannequin
• dunny – a toilet, the appliance or the room - especially one in a separate outside building.

E to K

F

• fag – a cigarette, in common with British English. Due to American media influence this term can also refer to a homosexual man (Offensive).
• fanny – vagina (same meaning as in British English), unlike North America, where it means buttocks. (The item known to Americans as a "fanny pack" is a "bum bag" in Australia).
• footpath – paved walkway running parallel to a street or road, and known in other countries as a sidewalk or pavement.
• footy – various kinds of football. Not to be confused with the British usage of the word football, which is called soccer in Australia. An oval-shaped Rugby ball is used. In most areas Aussie Rules, but meaning Rugby League in Queensland and NSW (except the Riverina); often used by first generation European immigrants to mean soccer.

G

• garn – assimilation of go on or short for going, for example garn y'mongrel (that is go on you mongrel). See carn.
• g'day – the typical Aussie greeting, short for good day. Generally a Broad Australian or working class/ blue collar greeting. Being replaced, especially in the younger generations, by the American "Hi!".
• goon – cheap cask wine.
• grouse – great.

H

• Hills Hoist – a type of rotary clothesline; Hills is a popular clothesline manufacturer.

L to P

L

• light globe – although "light bulb" is sometimes also used, most Australians don't realise that "globe" is no longer commonly used in this sense outside Australia.

M

• Manchester – household linen.

N

• nature strip (or verge in Western Australia) – a lawn or plantation between a footpath (see above) and street. Known as a tree lawn in American English.
• no wuckin' furries – a spoonerism of no fuckin' worries used in place of you're welcome, no problem, that's all right, etc.; also shortened to no wuckers.

O

• Oz – shortened form of Australia (see also "Aussie"). Also known as Down Under because of Australia's geographical location on a globe, this term was made popular due to the song "Down Under" by Australian band Men at Work.

P

• pav – Pavlova, the "great Australian dessert." The passionfruit pav is even more quintessentially Australian.
• peanut paste – at one time the term used for peanut butter. Rarely heard today with the term peanut butter universally used.
• piss-fart around – to waste time (for example we piss-farted around for a couple of hours at the beach; Stop piss-farting around and do your work.).

Q to Z

R

• root – to have sex. Also a noun, as in "I'm dyin' for a root" (This can cause embarrassment for Americans in Australia who innocently declare that they "root" for a particular sports team, though due to imported US culture and televison programs most Australians are aware of the US meaning of the term).
• rooted – broken or tired; see buggered.
• rort – a scam, especially the exploitation of rules or laws; used mostly to describe the actions of politicians. (Also lurk as a noun.)

S

• shopstealing – in some official circles the term shopstealing has replaced the more familiar shoplifting in an attempt to emphasise the criminal nature of the act. Nevertheless in everyday speech Australians continue to use the term shoplifting.
• smoko – a short break from work (even though smoking is banned in most inside workplaces).
• spanner – cf. American wrench.

T

• thingo or thingamajig – a placeholder for an object whose name is unknown or forgotten.

U

• ute – short for utility vehicle. A car-like vehicle with a tray back, possibly with sides, a rear gate and/or a removable cover. Any small truck. Generally cognisant with pickup truck in most countries.

W

• wag or wagging – to skip school or work to do something else on someone else's time.
• woop-woop or the back of Bourke or beyond the Black stump – a generic far-off place (for example out past woop-woop – with the short oo sound used in 'cook').

Old, declining or expired slang

Many distinctive Australian words have been driven into extinction or near extinction in recent decades, under the homogenising influence of mass media and imported culture. Those who like or use these words regret their passing but informal vocabulary is by nature ephemeral.

Some examples:

• bonzer – excellent (almost extinct). Often in the exclamation bonzer beauty. Probably from the Spanish word bonanza, by way of American English. Also spelt bonza.
• camp– male homosexual, both as a noun and an adjective. Standard until the 1970s, now replaced by the American "gay."
• chunder – to vomit, made famous by Barry Humphries. Falling out of use as the more common synonyms such as "throw-up", "chuck me guts up" and "be sick" persist. Less common is "puke/puked/puking" although it is on the increase due to the influence of American TV programs and music.
• cobber– friend, mate. Nearly extinct.
• cooee!– a shouted greeting (from an Aboriginal bush call). Also in the phrase "not within cooee," meaning "a long way off." Once ubiquitous, now almost extinct.
• drongo – an idiot, from the name of a very slow racehorse (survives, but in decline). It will live on as the large black Australian bird notable for its extravagantly flared tail, which has mysteriously earned itself the epithet "Spangled Drongo" in ornithological texts.
• dinkum – genuine (still used but in decline), used as "fair dinkum"; dinky-di also means genuine, usually to do with Australia.
• flamin' – an exclamatory term, usually with bad connotations for example "You flamin' mongrel!" (This phrase is famously used on Australian soap opera Home and Away, but is not unique to Australia and is also common in British English).
• furphy - a lie or rumour. Furhpy was the supplier of water carts to the Army in World War I. The carts had the name Furphy painted across them in large lettering. The water carts travelled from unit to unit distributing water and rumours.
• galah – a fool (survives, but in decline), from the bird. This word has been used in commercials against drunk driving; "Don't be a galah!"
• struth! (sometimes spelt strewth) – expression of shock or dismay (replaced by stronger expletives such as "fuck!" or "shit!"). Possibly of Shakespearean origin, "God's Truth". Also heard occasionally in the English Cockney dialect. Other older expletives of English origin such as "cripes," "my oath" and "blimey" are also dying out.
• wowser – a killjoy, the term is still sometimes used but is in decline.

Rhyming slang

A common feature of traditional Australian English was rhyming slang, based on Cockney rhyming slang and imported by migrants from London in the 19th century. Rhyming slang consists of taking a phrase, usually of two words, which rhymes with a commonly used word, then using the first word of the phrase the represent the word. For example "Captain Cook" rhymes with "look", so to "have a captain cook," or to "have a captain," means to "have a look."

Rhyming slang was often used to create euphemistic terms for obscene words. In recent years this feature of Australian English has declined under the impact of mass popular culture.

Some of the more colourful examples:

• Adrian Quist: "pissed" (i.e. drunk, rather than the US English sense of annoyed or angry). Now rarely heard. Named after a well-known Australian tennis player of the 1930s and 1940s.
• barry: a "shocker" (as in a poor performance), from the Australian crooner and actor Barry Crocker.
• chunder: "spew" (in the sense of vomit), from a fictional cartoon character in The Bulletin called Chunder Loo.
• A dropkick: originally "cunt", from "dropkick punt", a kick used in various codes of football. Since the "punt" has now been forgotten, "dropkick" usually just means a stupid person.
• frog and toad: "road", usually in the phrase "hit the frog 'n 'toad" (i.e. depart)
• Harry Holt: "bolt", as in depart quickly. (Harold Holt was an Australian Prime Minister, who disappeared while swimming in the sea, in 1967.)
• Joe Blake: "snake".
• septic or seppo: "American", short for septic tank, which rhymes with Yank.
• A snakes: "piss", from snake's hiss, as in "I'm busting for a snakes."
• steak and kidney: The city of "Sydney".

Cricket slang

The game of cricket is immensely popular in Australia and has contributed a rich vein of slang to Australian English. Some of this is grudgingly shared with other cricket-loving nations such as the Poms and the Kiwis.

Australians can be bowled over (taken by surprise), stumped (nonplussed) or clean bowled or alternatively hit for six (completely defeated). When answering questions, politicians can play a straight bat or a dead bat (give a noncommittal answer) or let that one through to the keeper (dodge the question), particularly if they are on a sticky wicket (in a tight situation). The questioner in turn can send down a googly, a flipper or a yorker (difficult questions to varying degrees).

Terms for people

• bastard – "the great Australian endearment" (for example Come and have a drink with me, ya bastard!), but can also be used as an insult; interpreted according to context. Calling someone "a silly bastard" is affectionate: calling them "a stupid bastard" is a serious insult. (Pronounced bah-st'd in Australia.)
• battler – a socially-respected, hard-working Australian who is struggling to "make ends meet", because their income is only just enough to survive off.
• bloke – generic term for a man (also common in British English).
• bludger – originally, one who lives off the earnings of prostitution: in Australian usage, a lazy person. In trade union usage, a scab. See also dole bludger.
• blue - traditional Australian name of anyone with red hair - particularly common in the Army, but also used in wider society.
• bogan – a term used for a lower class white Australian, similar in meaning to the US term trailer trash. Seems to have originated in Melbourne before spreading throughout the country after being used in Melbourne-produced television programs. Westie is the term favoured in Sydney. Other alternatives include bevan (in Queensland) and booner in Canberra.
• Cadbury (sometimes Cadbury's) – someone who gets drunk very quickly. From a series of commercials for Cadbury milk chocolate claiming each block contains "a glass and a half of full-cream dairy milk", the implication being the "Cadbury" can't hold more than a glass and a half of beer.
• dag – an unfashionable or shabbily dressed person. Originally a lump of fæces-encrusted wool dangling from a sheep's posterior.
• derro – a tramp or wino. Short form of derelict.
• dogs, jacks or traps – the police. These Australianisms have been largely replaced by the standard American cops, although coppers is more Anglo-Australian. The more affectionate whalloppers is also used. Prison officers are screws.
• dole bludger – a person living on social security who does so by choice, i.e. who actively chooses to be unemployed.
• garbo – a garbage collector. More specifically, the men who ran behind the garbage truck, picking up the garbage bins from the kerbside and emptying them into the truck. Now made obsolete by machines which do the same thing with a pronged implement.
• larrikin - rebelious, non confrormist. Often good at sports. Takes the piss out of authority. Australian troops in both word wars (but particularly the first) were considered larrkins. Urban myth describes an encounter where a larrikin ANZAC asked to salute a british staff officer says "sure mate, just hold me pie, will ya?"
• "leso" – (pronounced lezzo). A lesbian. (Offensive)
• mate – a friend. A term that is used affectionately to address friends and acquaintances ("How's it going, mate?"), to address strangers ("Excuse me, mate..."), and extravagant pleasure at seeing someone (Mate! It's beaut to see yer again!"). Also used as a noun ("He's a good mate"). Sometimes deliberately used as an expression of aggression or threat (hostile overfamiliarity) directed towards a hostile or indifferent stranger (the tone of voice and context will make this usage very clear; there is no danger of confusion). The term is also common in British English in all these respects (except the last).
• poofter, pooftah or poof – homosexual man (Offensive) (also common in British English).
• root rat – someone who sleeps around a lot. Male equivalent of a slut, but without such derogatory connotations, because of the double standard applying to casual sex depending on the gender of the person having it.
• sheila – a (young) woman (being driven out by the American word "chick").
• tall poppy – someone who (through hard work, natural ability, or simply luck) rises above the average, and if he/ she has the bad manners to flaunt his/ her success or talent rather than employing the socially acceptable self-deprecation or modesty (real or false), attracts the disapprobation of others.
• two pot screamer – someone who gets drunk very quickly. "Pot" is the term used in Victorian pubs for a 285 ml (10 ounce) beer glass. See also Cadbury.

Nick names by state or territory

• Banana Bender – a Queenslander, since Queensland is a major banana-producing region. Also "cane toad", since the state was where the troublesome amphibian species was introduced.
• Cockroach – a New South Wales person. Popularised by the Queensland rugby league identity Barry Muir (b. 1937). Consequently, in State of Origin rugby league matches between Queensland and New South Wales, the teams are informally known as the Cane Toads and the Cockroaches.
• Crow eater – a South Australian. Possibly from the piping shrike, the crow-like faunal emblem of the state. Another common theory is that early European settlers were forced by hunger to eat crows.
• Eastern States – term used by West Australians and South Australians to refer to the rest of Australia; a common derivation is Eastern Stater.
• Mexican – usually used to indicate a Victorian, due to the fact that Victoria is south of the border from New South Wales, Queensland and the territories, but also used by Queenslanders to refer to people from New South Wales (which is also south of Queensland). Strangely, South Australians also use this term to refer to Victorians, even though Victoria is east of the border from SA.
• Sandgroper – a Western Australian. From the disappointment of early British settlers with the sandy soils of the Perth region, which were unsuited to farming.
• Taswegian or Tasmaniac – a Tasmanian.
• Territorian or Top Ender – a Northern Territorian.

Nick names by ethnicity

• Abo or Boong – an Australian Aboriginal (once standard, now extremely offensive - the Australian equivalents of the N-word).
• Anglo-Celtic – media/academic term for an Australian of English, Scottish, Welsh or Irish descent.
• Asian – usually East or Southeast Asian (rather than South Asian, as in British usage).
• Aussie – an Australian, pronounced "ozzy". Also "Australia" (for example "I'm going back to Aussie"), although this usage is now rare (see also "Oz"). Often incorrectly pronounced as "ah-see" by North Americans, sounding like arsey (see above).
• Lebo – Person of Lebanese descent.
• New Australian – 1950s term for immigrant, usually from continental Europe, becoming obsolete.
• Pom – (also pommy) a word for an English person. Generally regarded as being mildly derogatory. The true origin of this term is somewhat obscure, and several theories abound. The Macquarie Dictionary states that it is a contraction of pomegranate, which was rhyming slang for immigrant ("imme-granate"). (See also fake etymology. Another common explanation is that "pom" originated as a term for British convicts sent to Australia; that is, as an acronym for "Prisoner of Mother England". However, this theory is not accepted by lexicographers.)
• Skippy – a (sometimes derogatory) term for an Australian of Anglo-Celtic descent. Chiefly used in large cities by young people of Southeast European or Asian descent. Probably a reference to the famous 1960s television programme Skippy which featured a predominantly Anglo-Celtic cast. Also skip.
• Wog – derogatory, but increasingly reclaimed, term for Italians, Greeks or other immigrants from the Mediterranean. (Contrast with British usage, where the word usually refers to people of Middle Eastern or South Asian descent).

Clothes

• beanie – a knitted cap. Not uniquely Australian, but in Australia usually worn in football team colours (the footy beanie) with matching scarf.
• cardie – the cardigan, much favoured by middle-aged women. (Real men don't wear cardigans.)
• dacks – trousers, most likely derived from the London clothier Daks (founded in 1894). Trackie dacks are tracksuit pants, much favoured casual wear for Australian men.
• flannie – A shirt made from flanelette, most often with a check pattern. Favoured by bogans and westies
• moccies – Moccassins - periodically fashionable among young bogans.
• thongs – flip-flops, cf. NZE jandals. The undergarment is called a g-string in Australia.
• ugg boots – sheepskin boot. This word has been trademarked by Deckers Outdoor Corporation in some countries, however, it has always been regarded as a generic word in Australian English.

Swimwear

Swimwear is known by different names throughout the country. Here are some common terms.

• bathers – used in several states to mean a swimsuit (from 'bathing suit'). (See also cossie, swimmers and togs).
• budgie smugglers – mens brief-style swimwear (also known as speedos, dick stickers, sluggos or dick togs (DTs for short).
• cossie – used in some states to mean a swimsuit or swim trunks (from 'swimming costume'). Use of this term is generally restricted to New South Wales. (See also bathers and swimmers).
• swimmers – used in some states to mean a swimsuit or swimming trunks (from "swimming costume"). (See also bathers and cossie).
• togs – in Queensland used to describe any type of swimsuit or bathers.

Food and drink

With foodstuffs Australian English tends to be more closely related to the British vocabulary, for example the term "biscuit" has always been favoured over the American terms "cookie" and "cracker" (However as had been the case with many terms, cookie is recognised by Australians, and occasionally used, especially among younger generations; this is due to high levels of American film and television programs being seen in Australia).

In a few cases such as zucchini, snow pea and eggplant Australian English uses the same terms as US English, whereas the British use the equivalent French terms courgette, mangetout and do not care whether "eggplant" or aubergine is used. This is possibly due to a fashion that emerged in mid-19th Century Britain of adopting French nouns for foodstuffs, and hence the usage changed in Britain while the original terms were preserved in the (ex-)colonies.

There are also occasions when Australians use words or terms which are not common in other forms of English. For example, Australia uses the botanical name capsicum for what both the British and the Americans would call (red or green) peppers. Perhaps this is in order to contrast table pepper (berries of genus Piper) from so-called "hot peppers" (larger fruits of genus Capsicum).

"Tomato sauce" is the name given to ketchup in Australia, and other sauces made from tomatoes are generally referred to by names related to their uses, such as pasta sauce.

Coffee is also worthy of mention, since Australians have devised unique terms, such as flat white or white coffee, in reference to a standard (brewed) coffee with milk. Since the mid-1980s other varieties of coffee have also become popular, although these have generally adoped names used in North America and/or Europe.

Beer glasses

Not only are have there been a wide variety of measures in which beer is served in pubs in Australia, the names of these glasses differ from one area to another. However, the range of glasses has declined greatly in recent years. One of the most noteworthy measures was the 425ml (15 fluid ounce) "pint" glass formerly used in South Australia, which was technically equal to only 75% of a pint (568ml or 20 fl. oz.).

Names of beer glasses in different areas
Capacity	Sydney	Darwin	Brisbane	Adelaide	Tasmania	Melbourne	Perth
115ml (4 fl. oz.)	-	-	-	-	small beer	-	shetland*
140ml (5 fl.oz.)	pony*	-	small beer	pony	-	pony	pony*
170ml (6 fl.oz.)	-	-	-	-	six	small glass	bobbie*
200ml (7 fl.oz.)	seven*	seven	beer*	butcher	-	glass	glass
225ml (8 fl.oz.)	-	-	-	-	eight	-	-
285ml (10fl.oz.)	middy	handle	pot	schooner	ten/pot/ handle	pot	middy
425ml (15fl.oz.)	schooner	schooner	schooner	"pint"	-	schooner	schooner
568-575ml (1 pint)	pint	-	-	pint**	-	pint	pint

* = rare/extinct
** = British or Irish beer is served in imperial pints (even if brewed under license in Australia).
bold = common

External links

• ABC Radio National, 1999, Lingua Franca, "Australian English: Australian Identity..."
• Australian American British English Lexical Differences In One Table And More
• Australian National Dictionary Centre
• Australian Word Map - Australian regionalisms
• Macquarie Dictionary
• World English Organisation

• Australian culture
• English dialects
• Sociolinguistics
• Australian linguistics