Australian slang terms every visitor should know
By Antoinette Radford, CNN
(CNN) — Do you know your “yeah, nah” from your “nah, yeah”? Or your “woop woop” from your “wig out”?
Australians have long prided themselves on putting their own twist on the English language.
Across the English-speaking world, they’ve become famous for their penchant for shortening words like sunglasses to sunnies, swimsuit to swimmers, afternoon to arvo – the list goes on.
And, over time, Aussie slang has become the subject of much entertainment online – with expressions often becoming TikTok trends (No, Cleo!) or seeping into popular culture.
Amanda Laugesen, chief editor of the Australian National Dictionary, through the Australian National University (ANU) tells CNN Travel many Aussie expressions have roots in British English, but Australian English has also uniquely incorporated words from the country’s Indigenous languages.
Fairness and anti-authoritarianism have become a common theme in the lingo as it has evolved over time, Laugesen says.
If you’re trying to apply for citizenship, or just planning to visit the southern land, these are some fair dinkum expressions you’d be nuts to not know.
Have a yarn
A yarn in Australia is another word for a chat. To have a yarn is simply, to have a chat.
A yarn on its own is a story. For example, someone might “have a yarn for you.”
Hard yakka
According to the ANU, yakka means hard work – or strenuous labor.
The word was first derived from “yaga,” which means “work” in the Yagara language – the traditional language of the Yagara people who live in the region around what is now known as Brisbane.
Yeah, nah
Aussies love to use “yeah” as a word before continuing their train of thought. But, it gets a little confusing when you’re trying to work out if someone’s saying yes or no.
So “yeah, nah” simply means no.
“Are you going to come to the beach today?”
“Yeah, nah don’t think so.”
Far out
Aussies use this phrase to express frustration at a situation.
Sometimes it’s also used as “far out Brussel sprout!”
Woop woop
The phrase Aussies use to describe a place very far away from them.
It’s usually remote, and sometimes the word insinuates that it’s a backward place, too.
“They’re living out in woop woop.”
To have head noise
That’s what many young Aussies say if they’re feeling a bit anxious.
Or if you’re really overthinking a situation, you’d say you’re “noisy.”
Put a sock in it
Simply, be quiet.
But in true Aussie culture, it’s not particularly offensive.
Tell him he’s dreaming
This phrase comes from a classic Australian film, “The Castle,” where the main character, Daryl Kerrigan, fights for his home as the bank tries to buy it to build a new airport expansion.
Every time Kerrigan’s made an offer, he has a simple defense for his home: “Tell him he’s dreaming!”
Now, the expression has seeped into Australian culture and is often used in response to a seemingly outrageous ask.
Laugussen tells CNN Travel that by the end of the 19th century, Australians began to really embrace their own distinctive accent and language, which really “marks out Australians as being different from the British.”
“A lot of that is quite colloquial and is quite informal,” she says. “Embracing what we would now consider (mild swear words) as being distinctively Australian.”
Crack the s*its
One example of that informality comes from the expression “cracking the sh*ts.”
It sounds unpleasant, but it doesn’t mean what most might think.
To crack the sh*ts is to get really mad at a situation. It’s pretty much another way of saying “had a temper tantrum.”
The ants’ pants
If someone’s the “ants’ pants,” they’re the best.
It’s an expression that denotes something being great
A battler
In Australia, a battler is someone who pushes through – even when things are tough.
According to the ANU, it can describe a person with “few natural advantages, who works doggedly and with little reward, who struggles for a livelihood (and who displays courage in so doing).”
Calm your farm
Simply: relax. Calm your farm is a way of telling someone to calm down.
Flat out like a lizard drinking
Working as hard as you can on a particular job.
For example, if someone calls you while you’re at work you might reply with: “Can’t talk, I’m flat out like a lizard drinking.”
No wukkas
No worries, don’t worry about it, all good.
She’ll be right
According to ANU, Australian English often uses the feminine pronoun “she,” whereas standard English would use “it.”
She’ll be right essentially just means all is well.
Bogan
A bogan, according to the ANU dictionary is an uncultured or unsophisticated person. The term used to be an insult, but has recently become more widely used in contexts that “are neither derogatory or negative,” according to the Australian National Dictionary.
The origins of the expression are unclear. It’s thought that it may derive from the Bogan River, a river in Western New South Wales – but the ANU said it’s likely unrelated. It became widespread in Australian culture after it was used in the 1980s television show “The Comedy Company.”
To do a Bradbury
At the 2002 Winter Olympics, Steven Bradbury tailed at the back of the group of the men’s 1,000-meter short-track speed skating final, when all of a sudden the leader of the group fell, taking out the other athletes in the front of the pack with him.
Bradbury, with a sizable gap at the back, shot through the pack and won gold – becoming Australia’s first-ever Winter Olympics champion.
The moment is now an infamous cultural moment to Australians, so the expression “do a Bradbury” is used when someone unexpectedly succeeds at something they don’t expect to.
Have a sook
“Sook” is a word used by Australians when someone doesn’t get their way and is down or upset about it. To have a sook is to be in a bad mood. Sometimes, Aussies will say that a person is being a “sooky la la” if they’re staying in a bad mood when they don’t get what they had hoped for.
Interestingly, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, the earliest known use of the word appeared in the 1850s in the UK and is apparently from the verb: “to suck.” It also appeared in the writing of Lewis Garrard.
However, anecdotally it appears to have not survived in British English. Whatever the origins, it’s commonplace in spoken Australian English and is certainly worth knowing.
A chook
A chook is simply a chicken. It’s an essential expression to know in Australia because roast chooks are sold in supermarkets, and are loved by many. Chook raffles are also held in pubs and clubs across the country, where competitors win a chicken in the raffle.
The expression was first recorded as “chuckey” in 1855, according to the ANU and has since evolved to refer to other birds, and sometimes older women in the form “old chook.”
‘I didn’t come down in the last shower!’
An expression used by Aussies essentially to say that they’re not stupid. According to the ANU, it can be used in response to someone who is taking you for a fool, and “indicates you have more experience or shrewdness than you have been giving credit for.”
Sometimes, it can be used when someone tries to explain how to do something that may seem obvious to the person doing it. For example:
“You need to check the temperature before you go out on a hike.”
“Yeah, of course! I didn’t come down in the last shower.”
Just add an ‘o’
One thing Aussies love to do is chuck an “o” or an “ie” on the end of an abbreviated word to shorten it, Laugussen says. Some of those words include:
Servo: Simply, a servo is a gas station. The word’s been shortened from service station to “servo.”
Ambo: An ambulance officer.
Bottle-o: In Australia, you can only buy alcohol from licensed shops that specifically sell drinks. They’ve come to be known as bottle-o’s.
Arvo: Not to be confused with avo, which is an avocado – arvo is how Aussies refer to the afternoon.
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