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Aussie Lingo
The official language of Australia is English. However, you could be forgiven for calling it Australian, for Australians have evolved many of their own colloquialisms and phrases, and tend to speak with a very heavy twang. Possibly because of this, many people take a little while to adjust their ears to it.
Following are some expressions you'll probably encounter during your stay in Sydney:
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Bucket
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To embarrass, castigate or otherwise tip a bucket of abuse and true revelations upon a person
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| Chockablock, chocka |
Crowded, as in, "Jeez, the pub was chocka block tonight" |
| Chook |
A chicken, as in "roast chook" |
| Dag |
A good guy |
| Dead set |
An oath or promise, as in, "Strewth, mate, course I'll see
youse down the pub this arvo (afternoon)-- DEAD SET!" |
| Dunny |
Toilet, WC |
| Esky, or chillybin |
Usually a plastic box for keeping drinks cool in |
| Frosty, tinny, tube, amber fluid or nectar, neck oil, singing syrup, brewery broth, etc. |
Beer |
| Hard case |
A character; a funny guy |
| Jeez |
Short for "Jesus" or perhaps a version of "Gee" |
| Legend |
Great call or excellent performance, as in, "That was legendary stuff, mate!" |
| Lollywater |
Non-alcoholic drink |
| Mate |
Term of address for a friend or someone whose name you've forgotten or do not know |
| Nuddy |
Naked, as in, "swimming in the nuddy" |
| Oldies, or the olds |
Parents |
| On |
Favorite Australian preposition, as in to "go ON the grog" (start an alcoholic binge); "go ON the wagon" (give up
alcohol); "to rave ON" (keep talking) |
| Pom, or Pommy |
A Brit or Briton |
| Ponies |
Politicians, Members of Parliament |
| Pressy |
A present, or a gift. Aussie lingo commonly applies the suffixes -ie and -y to many objects, e.g: lolly (sweet, candy or money), lippie (lipstick), cardie (cardigan), etc. |
| Sheila |
A bloke's type of woman |
| Stirrer |
Troublemaker |
| Sickie |
A day off work, officially because the person is sick |
| Ta-ta (pronounced 'tah-tah') |
Goodbye |
| Uey, lefty, righty |
Driving terminology, as in instruction to the person behind
the wheel to "chuck a lefty, mate"… advising you to turn left. 'U-ey' refers to a U-turn. |
| Yobbo |
A lout |
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