A Downunder Guide to English!

Okay so here it is, my Aussie word list in reply to englslady's English word list.  I'm sure I've left some out, but the list got pretty long!  If you spoke to my 80 yr old father his list would most likely be quite different, but then if you spoke to my 16 yr old niece her list would also be different, so like a lot of countries, language is quite generational.

So here we go!

 A few ‘roos loose in the top paddock (roo = kangaroo),  a bit crazy

A few tinnies short of a six pack – not very smart i.e. ‘he’s a few tinnies short of a six pack’ - there are a few derivations of this one such as, 'a couple of sandwiches short of a picnic'

Bloke – guy, man

Bludge – slack off, not pull your weight – as in ‘have a bit of a bludge’ meaning doing nothing, or ‘dole bludger’ meaning not working, not looking for work and living off social security

Blue – fight, as in 'I got into a bit of a blue with the missus last night'

Bluey – a nickname for someone with red hair, also Bloodnut

Bob’s your uncle – ‘bada boom, bada bing’ (hubby's definition!), everything’s okay.  Not so sommonly used these days

Bogan – extremely unfashionable, white trash, trailer trash, people you’d see on Jerry Springer.

Brekky - breakfast

Buckley’s – no chance, comes from the original ‘buckley’s chance’, which I think comes from when there was a store called Buckley's and Nunn, so if you had 'buckley's' then the chance was 'none' - typical of a lot of Aussie sayings, the original meanings go back in quite a convoluted trail, and most people don't even know the origin of the phrases they use!

Budgie smugglers – Speedo type bathers on me

Bung – another word that has many meanings depending on context.  Can mean broken ie ‘The telly’s gone bung’ or it can mean hurt ie ‘I’ve got a bung knee’ or it can mean faking ‘Oh, he’s only bunging it on’

Bugger - another with a few meanings, mainly used these days as a term of dismay ie 'Oh bugger!' or can be used in a derogatory fashion towards somebody  ie 'You're a real bugger'

Bush – native forest or the country - ‘to go bush’ means you go somewhere quite isolated

Chuck – throw as in ‘chuck me a tinnie', or throw up as in 'that food was terrible, I think I'm going to chuck!'

Chuck a sickie – take the day off work for no real reason

Dag – has many meanings – can mean that somebody is out of date or unfashionable, can also be used as an affectionate insult – as in ‘you’re such a dag’ meaning they’re kind of funny and silly.  Original meaning - the shit that stuck to the wool of a sheep’s bum

Dinky-di – derives from fair dinkum, can have the same meaning or can be used to refer to a ‘true’ Australian, as in 'Dinky-di Aussie'

Dob – tell on – as in ‘I dobbed him in for cheating’

Dodgy – not quite right, a bit shonky

Drongo – someone not too smart – ‘he’s a bit of a drongo’

Dunny – toilet

Fair dinkum – can mean “true", "is that true?" or "I mean it!” – depending on the context it is used, and how you say it.

Feral – dirty, messy, wild person ie she’s a bit feral.  Original meaning - wild animals, usually domestic animals gone wild as in 'feral cat'

Footy – Australian Rules Football

G’day – if anybody doesn’t know this one, it means hello!

Galah – a bit of a joker or a strange person ‘he’s a bit of a galah’ (actually a native Australian bird)

Good on ya! – meaning well done.  When said in the true Australian way, my husband thinks it sounds like it could be a Russian word ‘gudonya’.

Hard yakka – hard work, also a brand of strong work clothes

Jocks – mens underwear, short for a brand of underwear called Jockettes

Lollies - candy

K’noath – short for f’n oath meaning you emphatically agree

Moggey – usually a mixed breed cat, but also used as a term for any cat

Nappy - diaper

Ocker – a really typical Australian – i.e. Steve Irwin was a real Ocker

Outback – the desert, remote, sparsely populated

Pissed – drunk ‘I got really pissed last night’

Sheila – a woman, seen as pretty derogatory these days - often used by bogans

Shit-faced – another one meaning drunk

Shithouse – terrible

Shout – round of drinks – as in ‘it’s your shout’

Spit the dummy – really lose your temper – ‘dummy’ meaning pacifier to the Americans amongst us

Stubbie – bottle of beer

Stubbie holder – foam rubber holder to keep your stubbie or tinnie cold, as no true Aussie drinks from a glass!

Tinnie – Can of beer

Trackies or trackie dacks – sweat pants (dacks mean pants)

Unco – short for uncoordinated

Walkabout – an aboriginal term meaning going off to the wilderness as a rite of passage, but used in common Australian to mean somebody’s gone off somewhere and you don’t know where – i.e. ‘Do you know where Jack is?’ ‘Dunno, he’s gone walkabout’

Wuss – wimp

Ya mongrel – ill bred man, man of poor manners – but now used as more of a joking jab at a mate

Yobbo – a lout

Well that's it for now - I welcome any additions from any other Aussies out there - I'm sure I've left some out, but these are the ones my hubby and I came up with.