80+ Awesome Australian Slang Words To Know

Ling Learn Languages
8 min readDec 18, 2022

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G’day mate, ya ready for some Aussie slang words and phrases? Bloody oath!

If you are visiting Australia for the first time, you will be surprised with how fast Aussies talk and the number of slang words they use in daily conversations. If you are new, you’d be lost in no time. Australians are super creative with words and will rather shorten words to speak faster and sound friendlier. This has gained them unique, positive popularity amongst other English-speaking countries. You will definitely know an Aussie for their rich accent and unique slang. It is only in Australia that thongs mean flip flops, and Maccas means McDonald’s.

So, if you are thinking of traveling to Oz and want to blend in, then you need to know the common Australian Slang words. And that is where we come in!

In this article, you will learn common Australian slang words and phrases that will make you sound like a native. So, ready for an Australian slang 101 journey? You will need to get some bikkies or a cold one to enjoy these quirky, funny, and unique slang. Mate, without further ado, let’s get the slang party started!

Common Australian Slang Words

Australian slang words are commonly used by everyone living in Australia, and you’d quickly detect an Australian anywhere for their rich use of slang. Most Australian Slangs are abbreviations of the full words; for example, Mosquito is called Mozzies. However, more often than not, that is not always the case. With that being said, let’s get into the John Dory of this article.

Avo

Aussie slang word for Advocado

Arvo

Means Afternoon. ‘G’Arvo Mate

Cakehole

Unfortunately, cakehole doesn’t have anything to do with pastries. It means Mouth. Shove that down your cake hole

Bikkie

Australian slang for biscuits. So, when an Aussie says ‘pass me some bikkies’, it means they are craving some biscuits.

Lippie

Lipstick. This is most common among ladies. You can tell a friend to pass their lippie or if they brought their cherry lippie along

Bloody oath

Yes or True. Bloody oath is used to agree with someone, and it is commonly used in daily conversations

Bloke

A typical Australian man

Brolly

Umbrella

Mozzies

Mosquitoes. Have you seen the size of those mozzies?

Maccas

McDonalds. ‘You goin’ to Maccas?

Snag

Sausages. ‘Throw some snags unto the barbie’

Barbie

Barbeque. No one calls Barbeque in oz, except visitors. So, yeah.. Barbeque means that cute cartoon animation.

Pressie

Presents. Yes, it doesn’t mean you want to take a pee. Bringing pressies means you are bringing presents. whether for your favorite rellos.

Liquid laugh

Vomit. ‘You havin’ some liquid laugh mate?’

Esky

Cooler. Usually for beer. You cannot go for a picnic without bringing an Esky!

Ankle biter

Child. ‘My nephews are adorable, but they turn to an ankle biter once their electric toy goes cactus

Bludger

A lazy person who often relies on others. ‘You bloody bludger’

Bogan

Someone of low socio-econmic status. It is an Aussie equivalent for Us’ redneck. However, it can be used as a joke amongst friends.

Bottle-0

A bottle shop, a liquor shop. Basically, where you can get alcohol. ‘That is a very boring bottle shop

Root

Sex. It isn’t one of the most romantic phrases. ‘Have some root, mate

Rooted

Tired or broken. ‘I am rooted man’

Chuck a sickie

Take sick leave from work. Usually used when one is not sick. ‘I’d chuck a sickie to come for the picnic tomorrow’

Cold one

A beer. ‘Pass me a cold one

Exy

Expensive. ‘Those thongs are exy’

Kindie

Kindergarten. ‘I am taking that ankle biter to kindie tmo!’

No wuckas

No worries. ‘No wuckas mate, we good’

Longneck

750ml beer bottle

Stubby holder

A stubby holder is used to hold your beer. ‘Pass me that beer bottle stubby holder’

Servo

Service station or gas station. ‘Get some gas in the servo’

Smoko

A smoke break ‘I’m goin’ for a smoko’

Stoked

Very pleased or excited ‘I am stoked!’

Sunnies

Sunglasses. What better way to say sunglasses in a very arid beef country.

Truckie

Truck driver.

Uey

It means a U-turn. When you tell an Aussie to chuck a uey or do a uey, it means he should make a U-turn.

Ute

Aussie slang for Utility vehicle, pick-up truck.

Veg out

Australian slang for relaxing. ‘You need to veg out with a cold one’

Spud

Potato

Not my bowl of rice

Australian slang for ‘not my cup of tea’

Bog standard

Basic or standard. ‘The bag was bog standard, nothing fancy’

Bog in

To eat viciously because of hunger. Remember seeing that sweet pie in oldies house and you couldn’t wait to bog in.

Cat burying shit

Extremely busy. ‘I am busy with work like a cat burying shit’

Click

Kilometer

Down under

Down under means Australia and New Zealand ‘I am heading to down under this chrissie’

Flat out like a lizard drinking

Working extremely hard.

As cross as a frog in a sock

Extremely and sometimes vocally angry ‘She got as cross as a frog in a sock what she found out her snags were gone’

Give it a burl

Try out something ‘Give the Chinese food a burl child.’

Gobsmacked

Astonished or surprised ‘I am gobsmacked at the size of the masion’

Grouse

Very good. ‘The soup is grouse’

Journo

Journalist

Frog and toad

Road ‘I have hit the frog and toad to my rellos’

Facey

Australian slang for Facebook

Kangaroos loose in the top padlock

Acting foolish, weird. ‘Brandy has kangaroos loose in the top padlock’

Milk bar

A local store. And not, they don’t sell milk bars. A milk bar is where you can get the essential stuff like glue, newspaper, etc. ‘The south Wales Milk bar is pretty stocked’

Moolah

Money. ‘ Bring some moolah with you’

Goss/John Dory

Gossip/story. ‘Any new goss about Kate?’ or ‘What is the John Dory today?’

O.S

Overseas ‘I am leaving for O.S next week’

Porky pie

a lie ‘He’s feeding you with porky pie’

Port

Suitcase/luggage ‘you forgot your port mate

Make a quid

Make a living. ‘Are you making a quid now?’

Reckon

Yes, Means they are willing. ‘Will you like to go window shopping with me?’ ‘Reckon!’

She’ll be right

It will be alright. ‘Don’t worry about the situation, and she’ll be right.’

Aussie salute

Australian Aussie Salute means to wave away flies. I was out yesterday night, and I couldn’t stop doing the Aussie salute

Sanger

Sandwich. ‘I love sangers!’

Hard yakka

Hard Work. ‘taking care of the children was hard yakka’

Spewin’

Extremely angry ‘She is spewin’ stay away from her’

Stickybeak

A nosy person ‘you are a stickybeak’

Strides

Pants. Did you see that nice blue strides

Tinnies

Australian slang for Can.

Tinny

A boat

Waggin’ school

Truancy. ‘You are waggin’ school again?!’

Have a captain cook

A glance or brief inspection. ‘We had to take a captain cook on the next servo’

Put a sock in it

Shut up. This is used for insults. Therefore, be careful when you tell someone to put a sock in it.

Crickey

An expression of surprise.

Wonky

Not stable. ‘His car was wonky that I had to pray for dear life

Wuss

Australian slang for a coward ‘you are such a wuss

Bloody

Aussie slang phrase for very ‘That’s is bloody lit!’

Booze bus

Police vans used for catching drunk drivers. boozer

Cactus

Dead or broken ‘His car was cactus’

Coppers

Policeman

Fair dinkum

Honestly, genuine ‘you went home yesterday, fair dinkum?’ ‘Fair dinkum kate!’

Good on ya

Well done ‘good on ya on winning the marathon Beth’

Mongrel

Someone who is annoying or is being a dick ‘Rack off, Mongrel!’

Nuddy

Nuddy. ‘Don’t open the door! I am nuddy.’

Rack off

A mild way to tell someone to f*ck off.

Sheila

Woman ‘Yes, the club is full of beautiful sheilas’

Slab

A carton of beer ‘All I want to do this arvo is to sink a slab and smash a pizza.’

Stuffed

Tired

True blue

Truly Australian ‘Did you see he handled the ball? He is a true blue!’

Yous

Plura for you ‘Yous all are not going?’

It’s your shout

Quite British, but it is used as an Australian slang tool When someone says it is your shout, it means it is your turn to pay the bills.

Chuck a blocky

go through a block or when you are trying to locate a house. ‘G’day Mate, I’m tryna chuck a blocky’

Rightio

Okay

Plastered

heavily drunk ‘He is plastered’

Woop woop

Middle of nowhere ‘He lives in woop woop’

Ambo

Ambulance

Chook

Chicken

Hooroo

Goodbye

Rello

Relatives

Tradie

Tradesman

Blue

Fight. ‘He had a blue with his wife’

Fair suck/fair go

To be treated fairly.

Not the full quid

crazy or stupid

Jillaroo

a female trainee station manager

Crickey Mate! That Was A Bonzer Ride!

I wish we never come to the end of the journey! Australian Slang Words are rich, funny, and unique to Australians. I know you’ve learned one or two slang you can throw around to sound more like a native. Because you enjoyed these Australian slang words so much, there is a grouse app where you can learn the English Language and over 60+ languages. I know mate, it is bonzer!

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Ling Learn Languages
Ling Learn Languages

Written by Ling Learn Languages

Ling is a game-like language learning app with a pack of 60+ languages. You will learn languages in fun ways!