A to Z of Australian Slang
Channel: Daily Insight
Date: 2018-11-21

G’day cobbers! It’s time to put on your Aussie accent, slip on a shirt, slop on some sunscreen, and slap on a hat. This is the A to Z of my favourite Aussie lingo. Just to let you know, most of these words I don’t use everyday. Couple of reasons for that. First, my wife’s first language isn’t English, so she’d have a tough time understanding what the hell I mean. She actually majored in English at university, but surprisingly, Chinese universities don’t teach Australian English. Secondly, when I’m at work, I mostly deal with international students, so again, the same issue.

Aussie English has had a flavourful history. It probably has its roots in our colonial and convict past. Children born in Australia back in the 1800s were exposed to a lot of different dialects of English from across the British Isles, so modern Australian has become its own unique variety. It tends to be very friendly and non-hierarchical. That is, you can talk to your Aussie boss in the same way that you’d talk to your mate. 

Just a note — This list isn’t necessarily exclusively Australian English. There’s lots of crossovers with British and Australian.

Anyway, without further ado, let’s get this show on the road!

A is for Arvo — short for afternoon.
B is for Bludge — to be lazy, to evade work, duty, or responsibility. 
C is for Cobber — friend, mate, pal.
D is for Dunny — a toilet.
E is for Esky — a brand of portable coolers.
F is for Footy — any kind of football except soccer.
G is Galah — a pink, grey, and white Australian parrot.
H is for Hoon — a hooligan who usually drives a car in an intentionally bad way to get attention from onlookers.
I is for Ice Block or Icy Pole — a popsicle, or ice lolly.
J is for Jackaroo (or Jillaroo) — a male (or female) cattle station hand.
K is for Knickers — a lady’s underwear.
L is for Larrikin — a joker, a prankster, although usually fairly harmless.
M is for Mate — a friend, an equal.
N is for No Dramas or No Worries — an expression of forgiveness or reassurance.
O is for Op Shop — an opportunity shop, a place where you can buy second-hand goods.
P is for Perve — to look lustfully at a member of the opposite sex. 
Q is for Quid, as in to Make a Quid — to earn a living, to make money.
R is for Rollie — a cigarette that you roll yourself.
S is for Slab — a carton of 24 bottles or cans of beer.
T is for Thongs — flip-flops, jandals if you’re a New Zealander (i.e. Japanese sandals).
U is for Up Oneself — to have a high opinion of oneself.
V is for Vego — a vegetarian, a person who doesn’t eat meat.
W is for Wowser — a prude, a puritan, somebody who likes to spoil all the fun.
X is for XXXX (pronounced “four-ex”) — a brand of beer made in Queensland.
Y is for Yabby — an inland freshwater crayfish.
And finally, Z is for Zinc Cream — often brightly coloured sunscreen.

And that’s it for today’s list. Although there are lots of classic Aussie English words, I feel that many of them are on their last legs, that is, they’re falling out of common usage. I presume it has to do with our globalised world and the rise of the Internet. Younger folk are now using lots of Americanisms due to the large influence of American culture seen in movies and TV shows. It’s not necessarily bad, but certainly, some Aussie words will never die. Words and phrases like, mate, no worries, ute (for utility vehicle, or pickup truck), and barbie (for barbeque) — just to name a few.

When I hear the grade one kids at school, I can tell that certain words are no longer used, and sometimes not even understood. Words like, dunny, cobber, fair dinkum (for true, or genuine), and sanger (for sandwich). The last one surprised me a little bit. I’ve said sanger to a couple of kids in the last few weeks and none of them seemed to know what the hell I was talking about.

Anyway, that’s not to say that there’s not an interest out there in preserving these words. They might not be in common usage, but certainly, there’s lots of online videos and true blue Aussies out there who continue to use these classic Australian words.

All right cobbers! I gotta go and have myself some tucker. My missus has made some spag bol and we gotta go pay the rego before the rellies come over for a cab sav and a yabber. Confused? Bloody oath!

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https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/aussie-slang-is-apparently-a-dying-trend-but-not-everyone-agrees/news-story/02f50e4bb869c5c44994841c10c942b5

IMAGE RIGHTS
Esky Bathtub
By Matthew Sheales [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)], via flickr
No Worries – Dublin Street Art
By William Murphy [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/)], via flickr
St Vincent De Paul Op Shop
By David Jackmanson [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)], via flickr

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