Most first timers to Australia may be mislead into thinking its the wildlife to fear in Australia, though there is something to be more afraid of – understanding Aussie slang! Contrary to popular belief, Australians do not actually say “crikey” all the time and you will never see them “put another shrimp on the barbie”, it will be prawns or snags (sausages). Put simply, to save time and effort, Aussies shorten and put an ‘o’ or an ‘ie’ at the end of most words found in the English vocabulary. Until you become accustomed to this, it may just sound like a whole lot of gibberish, so below are a just a few slang words you are likely to hear in everyday conversations, or click here for two guys who sum it all up brilliantly. To see more of them, click here.

  • Ya – you.
  • How ya garn? – how are you going?
  • Straya – instead of pronouncing all the syllables in ‘Aus-tra-l-ia’, drop them and just say this.
  • Arvo – afternoon.
  • S’arvo – this afternoon.
  • Servo – service (petrol) station.
  • Bottle-o – bottle shop (where you buy alcohol).
  • Tradie – tradesman (builder, electrician, plumber, etc).
  • Chrissie – Christmas.
  • Barbie – barbeque.
  • Stoked – very happy.
  • Sickie  – day off work if you are sick.
  • Rooted – tired.
  • Macca’s – McDonald’s.
  • Dunny – toilet.
  • Cactus  – broken, dead.
  • Brolly – umbrella.
  • Yobbo – a loud, unsophisticated person.
  • Mozzies – mosquitoes.
  • Nuddy – naked, no clothing.
  • Sanga/sanger – sandwich.
  • Smoko – a meal, coffee or cigarette break.
  • Dunno – I do not know.
  • Dodgy – suspicious.
  • Righto – yes, all right.
  • Oldies – parents.
  • Gunna – going to.