Slang and the colourful, relaxed linguistic twists of New Zealand and Australia
Aside from the distinctive accents of those of us who grew up Down Under, a lot of words are unfamiliar to many people in Canada. Many of these have their roots in regions of England, where many early European settlers came from. They carried their unique colourlul language with them, and then developed it from there. Cut off by great distance for many years before modern communication and easy travel, some old words that have died out the home countries are found almost exclusively down under. You can hear playful things that fall roughly into the category of Cockney Rhyming Slang as part of the most familiar vernacular down under. There are also many new words created in our countries, and of course many adopted from the Aboriginal and Maori languages.
To translate this strine, go to “What did ya say, mate?!”
And for more Aussie lingo, check out:
• www.koalanet.com.au/australian slang.html
• www.aussieslang.com/
• www.australiatravelsearch.com.au/trc/slang.html
• www.australianexplorer.com/slang
A Down Under Lexicon
A
- ace – excellent
- ‘ang on – wait a moment
- arvo – afternoon
- as scarce as hen’s teeth – extremely rare
- ANZAC – Australia and New Zealand Army Corps, WWI soldiers, also popular biscuits
- Aussie – Australian
B
- barbie – barbecue
- beaut – very good, excellent (also ‘bewdy’)
- better than a poke in the eye with a blunt stick – things have turned out better than expected but in a backhanded way
- big smoke – large city
- billabong – waterhole
- billy – tin pot with wire handle for boiling water for tea over an open fire
- bludger – layabout, someone who wants something for nothing
- bombed out – unsuccessful, drunk
- bonzer – good, excellent
- bung it on – to skite or exaggerate
- bushwhacked – exhausted
- by crikey – an expression of surprise
C
- cactus – useless, broken
- chewy – chewing gum
- chook – a chicken
- chuck a wobbly – go berserk
- coathanger – the Sydney Harbour Bridge
- cobber – one’s mate or true friend
- come a cropper – to fall heavily
- cossie – swimming costume
- crooked as a dog’s hind leg – a person who is not to be trusted
D
- damper – type of bread cooked in the ashes of an open fire
- dead set – absolute certainty
- dinky-di – genuine, the absolute truth, (pronounced ‘dinky-dye’)
- don’t get off your bike – calm down
- dunny – an outside toilet
E
- esky – portable icebox
F
- fair dinkum – honest, genuine
- fair enough – alright, acceptable
- flat out like a lizard drinking – lying prone, extremely busy
- full as a boot – drunk
G
- g’day – greeting, hello
- g’donya – good for you
- godzone – God’s own country – Australia (according to Australians) and New Zealand (according to New Zealanders)
- grog – alcohol
H
- how’s it going – greeting
- hooroo – goodbye
J
- jumbuck – sheep
K
- Kiwi – New Zealander
L
- like a possum up a gum tree – moving fast
- like a rat up a drainpipe – moving even faster
- lingo – language
M
- mate – friend
- matilda – a blanket roll carried by a swagman (as in ‘Walzing Matlida’)
- moggy – a cat
- mug – fool
N
- no worries – everything’s okay
O
- ocker – uncultivated Australian male
- outback – the inland country far away from the cities
P
- pack of galahs – group of lazy, idle, non-working people
- pavlova – dessert of meringue with fruit and cream filling
- possum – term of endearment, soft and cuddly
- prang – minor car accident
R
- rack off – to go away
- rellies – relatives
S
- sangers – sandwiches
- seeyaz – goodbye, see you later
- she’ll be right – it’ll be fine
- shout – to buy drinks for everyone
- smoko – break from work (originally for a cigarette)
- snag – sausage
- strewth – expression of surprise, indignation
- swagman – a man who travels around the country on foot and takes odd jobs
- strike a light – popular expression that doesn’t mean anything
T
- too right – I quite agree
- true blue – genuine
- tucker – food
U
- up a gumtree – on the wrong track
W
- wallaby track – a path to the interior of the continent
- wobbly – tantrum, as in ‘don’t chuck a wobbly’
Y
- yakka – work
- you’re not wrong – you’re right
Z
What? No zed words. C’mon, mates, let’s have your suggestions for adding new colourful words into our little list, starting with any letter!