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! 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! j 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

Australia in a minute

Life Down Under

What's a Didgeridoo?

What's Two-up?

Famous Australians

Ta to Bri for the fab illos!

(Thanks to Brian Hydesmith for the fabulous illustrations!)

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

A
ace – excellent
aerial pingpong – Australia’s football code, Australian Rules
ankle biter – children
arvo – afternoon
as full as a boot – drunk
ANZAC – Australia and New Zealand Army Corps, WWI soldiers, also popular biscuits
Aussie – Australian
Aussie salute – characteristic waving of the hand to chase away flies that continually
and annoyingly buzz around one’s face

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B
barbie – barbecue
beaut – very good, excellent (also ‘bewdy’)
big red – large kangaroo
big smoke – large city
bikkies, biscuits – cookies
billabong – waterhole
billy – tin pot with wire handle for boiling water for tea over an open fire
Black Stump – beginning of nowhere
bloke – a male Australian
bloody – the great Australian adjective used to emphasise something that is particularly good, lucky
blowies – blowflies
bludger – layabout, someone who wants something for nothing
Blue – popular name for a dog
Blue Heelers – police, also a type of dog
bob – money
bonnet – hood of a car
Brizzie – Brisbane
bugger – affectionate and jocular term of address, also a nuisance, broken/buggered,
exclamation of frustration or annoyance
bung it on – to skite or exaggerate
bunyip – a legendary beast of the bush
bushie – a country person who resides in the bush
BYO – bring your own, as in alcohol to a restaurant

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C
champas – champagne
Chaz – popular alternative to Charlie or Charles
chinwag – conversation
chook – a chicken
c’mon – come on
Coathanger – the Sydney Harbour Bridge
cobber – one’s mate or true friend
come a cropper – to fall heavily
coolibah tree – a spreading eucalyptus tree
corker – astonishingly good thing or person
cossie – swimming costume
crash – enter a party or function uninvited
crooked as a dog’s hind leg – a person who is not to be trusted
cuppa – cup of tea

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D
damper – type of bread cooked in the ashes of an open fire
dead set – absolute certainty
drongo – a stupid person, an idiot
dunny – an outside toilet

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E
esky – portable icebox

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F
fair dinkum – honest, genuine
fair enough – alright, acceptable
feed – meal
flat out like a lizard drinking – lying prone, extremely busy
footy – football
frog and toad – the road
full as a boot – drunk

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G
galah – lazy, idle, non-working person
gander – look
g’day – greeting, hello
gum tree – eucalyptus tree

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H
how’s it going – greeting
hooroo – goodbye
hoot – laugh
howzat – an appeal for approval (how’s that!)

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J
jackeroo – apprentice worker on a sheep or cattle station
jumbuck – sheep

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K
Kiwi – New Zealander

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L
lamington – a cake (sponge cut into blocks, rolled in chocolate icing and shredded
coconut)
land of the long white cloud – New Zealand
lingo – language
lucky country – Australia

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M
mate – friend
matilda – a blanket roll carried by a swagman, also a woman’s name
mob – group of friends, collective name for people with similar peculiarities or interests
moggy – cat
mozzie – mosquito
mug – face, fool

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N
nanas – bananas
nick off – leave
no worries – everything’s okay

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O
ocker – uncultivated Australian male
off the beaten track – secluded, out of the way, unfamiliar

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P
pack of galahs – group of lazy, idle, non-working people
paddock – enclosed piece of land
pavlova, pav – dessert of meringue with fruit and cream filling
piker – person who lets others down by opting out of an arrangement or agreement
plonk – cheap wine
possum up a gum tree – moving fast
prang – minor car accident
prawns – shrimp
Prime Mincer – Prime Minister

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R
rack off – to go away
rat up a drainpipe – moving extremely fast
rellies – relatives
ripper – an expression of joy
(The) Rock – Uluru (previously called Ayers Rock)
rockmelon – cantaloupe

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S
sangers – sandwiches
scone – someone’s head
scratchie – scratch lottery ticket
sheila – young woman, girl
she’ll be apples, she’ll be right – it’ll be fine
shout – buy drinks for everyone
skite – boast, brag
slab – a carton of 24 cans (tinnies) or stubbies of beer
smoko – break from work (originally for a cigarette)
snag – sausage
sticks – cricket stumps
stubby – small squat bottle of beer
stuffed – tired, exhausted, worn out, broken
swagman, swaggie – a man who travels around the country on foot and takes odd jobs

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T
telly – television
tinnies – cans of beer
tucker – food

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U
Uey – U-turn
up a gumtree – on the wrong track

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V
Vegemite – dark brown vegetable extract used as a spread on bread

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W
wallaby track – a path to the interior of the continent
woop woop – the end of nowhere
Wozza – popular alternative for Warwick

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Y
yakka – work
yobbo – uncouth ruffian, lout, fool

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