Slang from Oz

[BoilerAnimal]

My wife is going to Australia next month and I told her I could get her speaking like a local if she could just learn some of the slang or expressions commonly used. So how about some help from our friends to the south? Thanks in advance! All help is greatly appreciated!

By the way, did I say how jealous I am!!??

[noboot]

Howz it goin meaning How is it going


Your not wrong meaning your correct.

beaudy mate means greeat

Whatch ya doin meaning What are you doing

[Peteoz]

“Friends to the south”, Boiler? Mexicans don’t speak Strine (Australian).

Here’s a comprehensive list......most useful are Gudday (Hello) and Seeya (Goodbye)

https://www.firstlighttravel.com/blo...stralian-slang

Pete

[Peter Aawen]

Which part of Australia is she visiting, Boiler?? There are quite a few 'local variations' in the commonly used slang & some of the words/names for things that are commonly used in different States/regions too.... and since this sorta stuff can be a little confusing for Dinky-di Aussies, you Yanks don't really stand a chance!! And yeah, if you come from the US of A, then you are ALL 'Yanks', or maybe 'Septics' (Yanks - Septic Tanks - Septics.... eeeeeaaasy! ) But I wouldn't really worry too much, 'She'll be 'right' (ie She'll be all right, or she'll be OK. ) we don't really give too many people a hard time, most Aussies are fairly easy going & friendly people. Altho we do tend to make fun of things that others might be a bit sensitive about.... and sometimes it's a bit difficult to work out if 'we' are making fun of something/someone because we like them/it, or if it's because we can see that it's touching a bit of a raw nerve & we are enjoying the baiting & response!

Still, it'd help a lot to have an idea of which part of the country she is planning on visiting - it's a biiiiig place down this way, and while we do have some reasonably sized cities, there aren't kangaroo's hopping down the main streets (well, not usually, anyway! ) and there's a whole lot of wiiiiide open spaces between the major population areas, even along our most heavily populated East Coast. Those wide open spaces, the different backgrounds of the 'European colonists' who settled the different States, & the tyranny of distance in years gone by has meant that there has been some 'language drift' & different slang terms &/or meanings have developed over the years.... You gotta remember that our whole country is almost as big in land area as the USA but we only have about 25 million people living in it, so our States are few but big, and in places, there's a WHOLE LOT of distance between towns & sometimes even homesteads/farm-houses/stations! When I was growing up, we lived on a property that was a few thousand square miles in size & our nearest 'next door neighbour' was a few solid days driving away, while getting to the nearest city took a weeks' driving or a couple of days in a light aircraft - and it was just a small station not too far into the whoop woop! Heck, we didn't even hafta pass the Black Stump to get there!

[wyliec]

“Friends to the south”, Boiler? Mexicans don’t speak Strine (Australian).

Here’s a comprehensive list......most useful are Gudday (Hello) and Seeya (Goodbye)

https://www.firstlighttravel.com/blo...stralian-slang

Pete

Why is my all time favorite missing from the list? I don't see wanker; we have quite a few of those on SL's. Is that term mainly a Brit term?

I try to keep abreast of the slang terms by watching the BBC.

[Peter Aawen]

Wanker, Tosser, Saturdee Night Jerk-off Kid, F***wit, those are all amongst the terms that have a fairly definite 'locality' (& generational!) base in Oz!

[Bob Denman]

[BoilerAnimal]

Sorry, guys! I should have said to the far, far south. I was tired after work last night and forgot to mention where in Australia she was going. She will be visiting the Port Douglas and Cairns areas of Queensland. Planning a trip to see the Great Barrier Reef too. Sounds like a great time.

I'm hoping that I'll get a chance to visit sometime after I completely retire. Gives me something to dream about! Thanks for the replies, Bob.

[Bob Denman]

Please ask her to take lots of pictures for us!

[ARtraveler]

“Friends to the south”, Boiler? Mexicans don’t speak Strine (Australian).

Here’s a comprehensive list......most useful are Gudday (Hello) and Seeya (Goodbye)

https://www.firstlighttravel.com/blo...stralian-slang

Pete

A GREAT post.

[Joe T.]

I have a tenent in SoCal who is Austrailian. He continuosly replies 'No Worries' about almost anything. That phrase was also used a lot in 'Crocodile Dundee.'

Regards,
Joe T.

[Peteoz]

Sorry, guys! I should have said to the far, far south. I was tired after work last night and forgot to mention where in Australia she was going. She will be visiting the Port Douglas and Cairns areas of Queensland. Planning a trip to see the Great Barrier Reef too. Sounds like a great time.

I'm hoping that I'll get a chance to visit sometime after I completely retire. Gives me something to dream about! Thanks for the replies, Bob.

Boiler, If she goes to the far, far south, she’ll be about as far from Cairns and the Barrier Reef as she can be😳😆😆. They are both in the far, far north. Tassie ((Tasmania), is in the far, far south 😜. Tassie will have day temperatures of around 60f, Cairns will be around 90f....

Pete

[Peteoz]

That is about the most perfect terminology guide I have seen, Bob. Itza Bewdy

Pete

[Peteoz]

p.s. tell her to expect crowds. The far north (Cairns, Port Douglas, the Daintree etc, is quite beautiful, but it is also the area most Chinese and Japanese tourists visit.

Pete

[Bob Denman]

That is about the most perfect terminology guide I have seen, Bob. Itza Bewdy

Pete

Cheers Mate!

[JerryB]

Hi Pete,

Re: The far north . . . is quite beautiful

My best friend ( RIP Dan ) emigrated down under in 1971. I've been down twice to visit him.

IMO the most beautiful town I've been in is Brisbane. And, I've been in Sydney, Darwin, Canberra and of course, Wagga Wagga.

Until recently, Melbourne was the most liveable city in the world. It was recently displaced by Vienna; that I have also visited.

Aussies are some of the most friendly people I have ever met. Good on, ya.

Jerry Baumchen

PS) I have also climbed Ayers Rock or Urulu.

[Peter Aawen]

I have a tenent in SoCal who is Austrailian. He continuosly replies 'No Worries' about almost anything. That phrase was also used a lot in 'Crocodile Dundee.'

Regards,
Joe T.

That's another of those terms that sees some 'regional variation' - there are places where people say 'No Wuckers' instead.... as in 'No Wuckin Forries', but they do tend to get their wuckin murds fuddled!

Btw, 'Crocodile Dundee' was a bit of a 'camp spoof' for & about Aus & Aussies (you might want to read the first sentence of the Wikipedia definition of that term. ) altho there are some people & places that it might truly represent on a particularly bad weekend!! It was particularly appealing to many here cos of the way it was viewed as 'gospel' by the rest of the world, but to truly understand the humour of it all, you'd hafta have seen and appreciated/understood the 'early Paul Hogan' from his first appearance on the Aussie 'New Faces' show, thru his appearances with Mike Willesee, & on into 'The Paul Hogan Show'. By the time he got around to making Crocodile Dundee, it was surprising to many here that he could even talk, his tongue was so firmly planted in his cheek!! Still, much of what we see here as being entertaining & funny because of the OTT parody of reality that it's displaying is often seen as 'wonderful stuff' by the rest of the world for an entirely different set of reasons ie, Steve Irwin....

[Peteoz]

Hi Pete,

IMO the most beautiful town I've been in is Brisbane.

PS) I have also climbed Ayers Rock or Urulu.

Most Aussies refer to Brisbane as Bris-Vegas, Jerry.... it is one of my favourites, too

Well done on climbing Ayres Rock. Climbing it is now forbidden as a mark of respect to the indigenous tribes from the area as it is a sacred site.

Pete

[Joe T.]

That's another of those terms that sees some 'regional variation' - there are places where people say 'No Wuckers' instead.... as in 'No Wuckin Forries', but they do tend to get their wuckin murds fuddled!

Btw, 'Crocodile Dundee' was a bit of a 'camp spoof' for & about Aus & Aussies (you might want to read the first sentence of the Wikipedia definition of that term. ) altho there are some people & places that it might truly represent on a particularly bad weekend!! It was particularly appealing to many here cos of the way it was viewed as 'gospel' by the rest of the world, but to truly understand the humour of it all, you'd hafta have seen and appreciated/understood the 'early Paul Hogan' from his first appearance on the Aussie 'New Faces' show, thru his appearances with Mike Willesee, & on into 'The Paul Hogan Show'. By the time he got around to making Crocodile Dundee, it was surprising to many here that he could even talk, his tongue was so firmly planted in his cheek!! Still, much of what we see here as being entertaining & funny because of the OTT parody of reality that it's displaying is often seen as 'wonderful stuff' by the rest of the world for an entirely different set of reasons ie, Steve Irwin....

Yeah, but ya' have to admit, Ol' Crocodile had a nice knife!!!



Joe T.

[Bob Denman]

[Yazz]

I'm a Yank that lived in Brissie for two years. There are a few words that you should never say in polite society.

Stuffed - As in the hostess asks "Would you like more food?" and the response is "No thank you, I'm stuffed." Wrong! Eyebrows will be raised and polite coughing around the table. The proper response is "No thank you, I'm full."

Root - As in "Root for the home team!" We were at a Footy game and were discussing who to root for. People turned around in their seats and gave us a dirty looks.

Both of the above in the Aussie vocabulary describes intimate actions between consenting adults.

Napkin - What you put on your lap while eating is a serviette. Napkin has a whole different meaning.

************

For the Aussies out there... We were blessed with living on Warburton Court. I never could figure out how to say it dropping the r's.

[JerryB]

Hi Yazz,

Re: There are a few words that you should never say in polite society.

That reminds of what happened in Brazil many years. We were in a high-voltage test lab & were having some problems getting the product to pass the tests. In the early afternoon, we were able to sucessfully pass/complete the tests. So I gave the test engineers the 'OK sign' ( where your index finger touches your thumb & the other three fingers are straight up ). Down there that means 'up yours.'

Those guys sure did give me a number of strange looks.



Jerry Baumchen

[loisk]

Spot on Yazz
Fanny is another one you don't say here ...

Oh and in Brissy/Qld, at risk of upsetting Queenslanders... End every sentence with "eh" or "but" and you'll fit right in lol