Jargon

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, from where a number of early European settlers came. They carried their unique colourful language with them, and it developed from there as Aussies adopted and cultured their own take on it.

Many new words continue to be created in our home countries, and even incorporated elements of the Aboriginal and Maori languages.

G’day Cobber, How’s it going?

Heard you’ve been flat out like a lizard drinking. Fair dinkum, that job of yours is hard yakka. You put in more hours than the Prime Mincer!

lingo-sticks Which is too bad ‘cause you missed the big do – again.

Yep, the entire mob was over for a barbie this arvo and we had a ripper of a time. Stan came in from the big smoke with his rellies, Lucky ducked in while he was on a smoko, and Elaine brought that new hubby of hers over to show him off. He’s a bushie, a real ocker, but a good bloke. Definitely got a few bob, AND he brought a slab, the sticks and the footy – howzat, mate!

It was beaut to see Lucy out from the land of the long white cloud, and her Kiwi mates, Greg and Jo, with their ankle biters. And Cath. She was supposed to be scooting around past the Black Stump, but she buggered up her ute. Somewhere off the beaten track, she tried to do a Uey, pranged the car, stuffed the bonnet, and had to get a tow back to town. Dead set, that sheila has rotten luck!

Wozza came by, which was fair enough, but his bludger cousin, Sid, tagged along. Don’t like Sid. Crooked as a dog’s hind leg, but Wozza said she’ll be apples, mate, so what are you gonna do. Anyway, he was off his scone, eventually got as full as a boot, and then came a cropper from the top of the gum tree. Said he was up there scouting for the dunny. What a drongo!

Speaking of dogs, Murphy brought Blue, who spent most of the arvo chasing the moggy through the bush. It was a real hoot!

Some of us donned our cossies and went for a dip in the billabong, while the rest sat under the coolibah tree and listened to Stevo and Di skite. They just got back from a trip to the Coathanger, Brizzie, and The Rock, and had a corker of a time! Di’s a Canuck, you know, so this was her first gander at the lucky country. Reckoned she saw a bunyip out on the wallaby track, but Stevo supposed it was probably just a big red or a swaggie – or maybe a Canuck mozzie! Big bloody things, they are, according to Di!

Ned tried to crash but we told him to rack off. Do you remember seeing his mug in the paper a few months back? He and some other galahs nicked a jumbuck from Matilda’s paddock. Clancy rounded up some jackeroos and took off after them. Said they were going like a rat up a drainpipe, but they eventually nabbed them out woop woop somewhere and handed them over to the Blue Heelers. Anyway, Ned had heard there was a free feed, but he took off when Johnno told him to hit the frog and toad. What a yobbo!

The tucker was ace – snags, chook sangers, prawns, damper, Vegemite on toast, and then some nanas and rockmelon. It was BYO, so the esky was full of tinnies, plonk and champers. And before everyone left, we got out the billy, made a cuppa or twelve, and topped it all off with a slice of pav, a few lamingtons, and some ANZAC bikkies.

Fair dinkum, it was a real bewdy! Except for the blowies. Aussie salute, big time!

Yeah, I know, I’ve been bunging it on a bit, but you really should’ve been there. No worries. Next time.

Oh, did you hear Chaz and Judy’s news? They won a bloody big tellie on a scratchie last week. Lucky buggers!

Well, I’ve really enjoyed our little chinwag. What about a game of aerial pingpong on the weekend? C’mon. Don’t be a piker. We’re heading to the pub after. My shout!

Hooroo!

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

What Did Ya Say, Mate!?”

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

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

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

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

esky – portable icebox

fair dinkum – honest, genuine
fair enough – alright, acceptable
flat out like a lizard drinking – lying prone, extremely busy
full as a boot – drunk

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