| Aussie Words |
Definitions |
Comments |
| g'day |
A greeting |
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| gaffer |
(Lesser) Boss … usually a supervisor or shed boss |
N. English dialect - US usage is head lighting tech on film set … thus "gaffer tape" - specially made to hang film lights from rough surfaces |
| galah |
Noisy parrot, thus noisy idiot |
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| game |
Brave |
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| gander |
Have a look |
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| gaol |
Australian and British variant spelling of "jail" |
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| garbo |
Garbage collector |
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| garbo, garbologist |
Municipal garbage collector |
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| gibber, gibby |
Stony desert (that's originally a 'gibber plain' or 'gibber country - 'gibber' i |
Sydney region Aboriginal word for stone (Dharuk - 'giba') |
| gidgee |
Rough, dry country, characterized by tough acacia scrub called gidgee |
Aboriginal (Yuwaalaraay) word for 'spear wood' |
| give it a burl |
Try it, have a go |
|
| give it away |
Give up |
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| goanna |
Australian monitor lizard |
Adaptation of S. American 'iguana' |
| going "troppo" |
Going tropical; laid-back and fun-loving; insane |
|
| good oil, good gits |
Useful information, a good idea, the truth |
Good guts? |
| good on ya! |
Well done! |
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| good on you |
Good for you, well done |
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| good possie |
Advantageous position |
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| grazier |
Large-scale sheep or cattle farmer |
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| greenhide |
Tough, untanned leather |
Equivalent to US "rawhide" |
| greenie |
Environmentalist |
|
| grizzle |
To complain |
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| grog |
General term for alcohol, but typically beer |
Interestingly, it was originally RN term for rum, watered down to prevent sailors saving their ration up for a bender (after Admiral Grogham) |
| grouse |
Very good, unreal |
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| gum sucker |
Resident of Victoria |
|
| gumtree |
Eucalyptus |
Smoothbarked eucalypt, not a stringybark or messmate |
| gun |
Champion (shearer) |
|
| Gunyah |
Aboriginal temporary shelter (also gunya, guneah, gunney &c) |
Aboriginal (Dharuk): 'ganya' |
| gutzer |
Some plans don't work out or to have an accident (to come a gutzer) |
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| gyno |
Gynaecologist |
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| handle |
Beer glass with a handle |
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| hard yacka |
Hard work |
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| hatter |
Person living alone and rough in the bush - maybe crazy |
"Mad as a HATTER" |
| heaps |
A lot |
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| hire |
To rent, as "to hire a car" |
|
| his nibs |
The boss |
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| homestead |
Residance of a station (ranch or farm) owner or manager |
|
| hooley |
Wild party |
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| hooly-dooly |
An expression of surprise |
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| hoon |
Idiot, hooligan, yahoo |
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| hooroo |
Goodbye |
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| hotel |
Often just a pub |
|
| hottie |
Hot water bottle |
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| how are ya? |
Standard greeting |
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| hq |
Second most revered Holden car |
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| hump |
To carry |
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| humping bluey |
Carrying a swag, travelling rough and light (looking for work - or tucker) |
|
| humpy |
Temporary, makeshift dwelling (originally Aboriginal shelter, gunyah) |
Aboriginal (Jagara): 'yumbi |
| icy pole |
Popsicle, lollypop |
Ice block, where I came from |
| identity |
Celebrity |
|
| iffy |
Doubtful, questionable |
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| illywacker |
A con man who preyed on the gullible at country shows/fairs |
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| in full feather |
In fine health |
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| in yer boot! |
An expression of disagreement (archaic) |
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| it's a goer |
Something that will definitely occur |
|
| Jack Shay (Jack Shea) |
Quart pot, metal drinking vessel / container |
Rhymes (to the Irish) with tea (pot) |
| jack-in-the-box |
Person who can't sit still |
|
| jackaroo |
A male station hand (a station is a big farm/grazing property) |
In station life, Jackaroo has long meant an Englishman getting 'colonial experience' (often not paid … but ate with the magager, not the men!) [Originally, ie very early colonial, it meant a white man living beyond the boundary of settlement - possibly Aboriginal word 'dhugai-iu', (Jagara)] |
| jillaroo |
A female station hand |
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| jingoes! |
Exclamation of wonder |
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| jocks |
Men's or boys' underpants |
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| Joe Blake |
Snake (rhyming) |
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| Joe Bloggs |
The average citizen |
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| joey |
Baby kangaroo, still in the pouch |
Originally baby possum - trans. to kangaroo, then any young marsupial … eventually comes to mean child! |
| johnny cake |
Small, thin, loaf of damper (bush bread) |
Trans. from US flat oat cake |
| journo |
Journalist |
|
| jumbuck |
Sheep |
Probably an Aboriginal word for 'cloud' or 'mist' (a distant mob of sheep?) |
| jumped-up |
Full of self-importance; arrogant |
|
| kanga or kangaroo |
Shoe |
|
| keen as mustard |
Enthusiastic |
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| kelpie |
Australian sheepdog originally bred from Scottish collie |
Breed is descended from champion short-haired collie named 'Kelpie' |
| kerb |
Alternative Australian and British spelling of "curb" |
|
| kerbside quiche |
Vomit |
|
| kerfuffle |
Argument |
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| kero |
Kerosene |
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| kick |
To share or join in |
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| kick-in |
To provide your share |
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| kindie |
Kindergarten |
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| king brown |
Type of venomous snake or tall bottle of beer |
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| kip |
Sleep or nap |
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| kiwi |
New zealander |
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| knackered |
Worn out, rooted |
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| knackers |
Testicles (also love spuds, nuts, nads) |
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| knock |
To criticise |
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| knock back |
Refusal (noun), refuse (transitive verb) |
|
| knocker |
One who criticises |
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| kombi |
Multi-purpose van-like vehicle, often modified so the back seats were folded dow |
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| koori |
Aborigine (mostly south of the Murray River) |
Also all of NSW (except for Yuin in south east) ... Murri -then Bama to north in Queensland - Yura, then Nunga to west, in South Australia |
| lair |
Layabout, hooligan |
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| lairise |
To behave in a vulgar, flamboyant manner |
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| lamb-brained |
Stupid |
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| lamington |
Sponge cake cut into squares, covered in chocolate and coconut |
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| larrikin |
Ruffian or hoodlum, but viewed with some admiration |
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| lay-by |
To put a deposit on an article so a shop will hold it |
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| licensed |
Legally permitted to sell alcoholic drinks |
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| like a bandicoot on a burnt ridge |
Lonely and vulnerable |
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| lingo |
The language |
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| lippy |
Lipstick |
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| liquid laugh |
Vomit |
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| lob, lob in |
Drop in to see someone ("the rellies have lobbed") |
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