A few weeks ago Nicole, Adam, and I battled a SWARM of mosquitoes — wait — MOZZIES. As I’m a full on Americaussie by this point, you should know I’ve been calling the blood-sucking pests “mozzies” as the Aussies do for months.
We drove from the Coonawarra region to Narracoorte and rocked up to the Narracoorte Showgrounds to camp for the evening ($16.50 for the three of us!). And before we could cook our dinner, 30+ mozzies had made Paul Heinz their new home — and our ankles their next meal. As the three of us whinged about the mozzies, we realized how much Aussie slang Nicole has learned in her first month in Australia…and how much I’ve picked up in the last year and now use without thought.
Mozzie = mosquito
Whinge = complain/whine
Esky = cooler (like you use for a picnic or camping)
Sunnies = sunglasses
Snag = sausage
Thongs = flip flops
Brekky = breakfast
Maccas = McDonald’s
Rock up = arrive/turn up
Heaps = many, lots of, very (Been using this one constantly since my first Australia trip in 2006. There may be “heaps of people” in a busy location. Or someone may ask “how many campervans did you see on sale on Gumtree?” and the answer may be “heaps!”. If someone had a really fun weekend, they might say it was “heaps good”.)
How you/ya going? = how are you? what’s up? — the casual greeting everyone uses (I was encouraged to use it at work so I find myself using it fairly often now)
Words that aren’t uniquely Aussie but still part of everyday life
Trolley = shopping cart
Queue = a verb (to stand/wait in line) or noun (the line)
Petrol = gas (for the car)
Other words/phrases I use from time-to-time
Good on ya = an encouragement, statement of approval/appreciation/respect, a sort of “good for you” or “way to go”
Give it a go = try, do it
Note: In sporting terms, a “try” is a 4-point score in both codes of rugby (rugby league and rugby union) — similar to a “touchdown” in American football…which the Aussies refer to as “Gridiron”
Virginia…South Australia, not USA
Rugged up = Putting on warm clothes for cold or windy weather, or wrapping up in a nice blanket/quilt/comforter
Doona = Quilt/comforter for your bed
Avo versus arvo
The three of us are in the supermarket buying groceries for dinner, and Adam mentions he’d like to split an “avo” with me. Nicole stops in her tracks. “An avo?”
“Oh, that’s short for avocado,” I explain. Nicole nods. “But don’t get that confused with arvo. That’s short for ‘afternoon’.”
“How do you get arvo from afternoon?!”
“I have no idea.” I’ve asked a few folks hoping there would be a story behind it and have yet to receive an answer other than “that’s just the way it is.” I suppose not everything has to make sense 🙂
Ones I don’t say but my Aussie friends use
Pash = passionate kiss
Servo = service/gas station (and here it’s a “petrol station” instead of gas station)
Skull (a beverage) = chug/down a beverage
Ute = literally a “utility vehicle” — mostly looks like a truck to me
No dramas or too easy = no problem, don’t worry about it, don’t mention it, you’re welcome — sometimes another way of saying the well-known “no worries”
Ta = a casual “thank you” (e.g., if someone passes you an item you’ve asked for, gives you your change, or brings you a food order)
Stuff up and stuff around = Mess up and mess around/goof off
Coffee and Beer
At home I might order a mocha, latte, or cappuccino from time to time. In Australia, I had to figure out if I was also interested in a “flat white” (a shot of espresso with steamed milk but with minimal or no foam/froth), “piccolo latte” (a single shot of espresso but with less milk than a latte and served in a smaller cup), “short black” (basic espresso), or “long black” (espresso with water, similar to an Americano). The piccolo latte is currently my drink of choice, but just last weekend, Adam introduced me to the “magic” — a term used in Melbourne to refer to a double shot latte, just in a smaller cup (so less milk).
I’ve had more coffee in the last year than I’ve probably had in my entire life. The same can’t be said for beer — I’m not a big drinker and have only started to appreciate beer in the last few years. But I have tried quite a few Aussie brews, usually by ordering a schooner (somewhere between a pint and half-pint — the perfect size!). And then there is a proper pint, middy, pot — too many for me to know and they even vary by state! As I’m obviously hopeless, read up on ordering the right size for you. In case you’re curious, my favorite is Boag’s Premium.
A few weeks have passed since the mozzie incident, and we’ve discovered more fun differences between American and Aussie speak — stay tuned for more!
Twitter Updates
Haha – great post! Also ‘good on ya’ can be used in this manner:
You: “I stubbed my toe on the kitchen bench”
Me: “Good on ya! Drongo”.
🙂
Haven’t heard it like that before — thanks Jack!!! You’re still my go-to Aussie slang master!
Love it! A bit of slang that really confused me at first was the Aussie use of the words “ordinary” or “average” to mean “bad.”
“How ya goin?”
“Ordinary, mate.”
Oh yeah — Adam uses that *all* of the time and it cracks me and Nicole up. It’s far from what the two of us girls would call ordinary.
I remember learning “ta” from you…I hadn’t heard it (or paid attention probably) until you mentioned it last winter. Can’t believe it’s been that long!
Haha, Chris Richardson had to school me in what a “ute” was. Love this post. Hope you’re imparting some yank slang to Adam.
We have him saying y’all (well, that’s more me), and he’s been *attempting* to put on an American accent. We have a few videos — be prepared to laugh.
Oh jeez, us Aussies must sound terrible! Hahaha.
I’m guessing I’ll get plenty more blank stares when I’m over in the US later this year, they may as well be two different languages. Happened to me a few times on my last visit there and these are just two that I remember.
Capsicum = peppers. Boy did I look like a fool in the line at Subway!
Lemonade = not Sprite. Ugh!
Fortunately I knew that a lite beer in America does not mean low in alcohol! Know someone who made that mistake haha.
Nooo, not terrible at all 🙂 I quite like it!
I’ve had folks laugh at me and I’ve laughed at myself, and it’s been fun to learn new words while we’re still speaking the same language…mostly 😉
I really love the Aussie slang, it can be really confusing though if you just arrived in Australia. I had a hard time understanding some people 🙂
the slang is like a new language
It can definitely feel that way!! I learned quite a bit when I was working.
As someone who didn’t bring much stuff home from Australia, I found the things I am still using most, 2 years later, is the slang!
“Ta”, “Full on” (aka: very busy), “Cheers”, amongst others slip into my everyday vocab. Love it!
Oh yeah, I forgot full on — using that ALL of the time 🙂 See, it’s become so common that I forget all about it!!
Haha I’ve learned quite a few of these the hard way…thank goodness for patient Aussie roommates!
Looking forward to having a chance soon to catch up with your posts now that you’ve settled for a bit 🙂
Interesting read. Nice work with the post 🙂
It’s strange seeing an outside-in view on the subject of slang. Some stuff I’d just taken to be normal vernacular like heaps and whinge. It’s amazing what you take for granted.
Have you gotten into the hardcore slang like “‘straya”, “‘ow ya gaan?” or the similarly applied “gaan ya mongrel!”, and the more generation & culturally specific “fully sick”? 🙂
I’ve heard the “straya” but not the other ones…granted, if I did, I probably had no idea what folks were saying and just did the “smile and nod” O:-)
Oh, also, regarding “arvo”, try saying “arfo” a lot or quickly and I think you’ll get why it became “arvo” 🙂
Oh! Also, the affectionate name trunctions like Gazza (Gary), Bazza (Barry), Shazza (Sharon) etc. or the other comment variant Timmo (Timothy), Tommo (Thomas), Jonno (Johnathan) etc.
Oh Lord! New language! TOO MANY NEW WORDS! *hides in closet*
LOVE this list girlie!
HA!!
Please give us some slang posts as you make your way around the world — videos with pronunciations too 🙂
Quite a few of them will look normal to any English person but I know thats not the case for some of you American folk – we learnt that in Chiang Mai.
I had to repeat the same sentence to an American guy 5 times before he knew what I meant the other day haha
Ta!
I learned quite a bit from my friends in England, so thankfully that’s helped me as I’ve traveled around — I fully expect to return home and mix up Aussie slang with what I’ve said my entire life 🙂
Pash as in, “He gave me a pash in the subway and everyone stared?” Something like that.
I love the word sunnies for sunglasses and also “Good on ya,” which I sometimes use in every day expressions. But if I’m being honest I don’t even know a single Australian so I should probably be banned from using their language.
That’s right Kyle — you’ve got it! How about using “pash and dash” in a sentence… first time I heard that I shook my head!
I’m jealous of all my Spanish speaking friends and wish I had kept up with it after college.
I am loving all the new Aussie slang I’m learning from you & Adam. 🙂 Mozzie is one I especially love saying & I’ll definitely bring home with me, as well as heaps. I’m also still trying to master the metric scale – gotta learn those temperature conversions! :-/
You’re doing so well too — and helping me realize things I’m saying without realizing it.
I think another post with pronunciation is in the cards…
I have friends from New Zealand and they use enough of these to get me laughing.
“chuck us me jersey” was the one that got me a few months ago. It took a few rounds to determine that my friend wanted me to pass him his shirt. Odd language the antipodeans.
Ha! I should know that andi had to read your explanation to get it!