Lyrics & Knowledge Personal Pages Record Shop Auction Links Radio & Media Kids Membership Help
The Mudcat Cafesj


Aussie Glossary

contains exact

Aussie English
Skip to:  A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z 

Aussie Words Definitions Comments
ocker Uncultivated or boorish Australian  
off-sider Assistant or partner  
oil Information  
old man Large (animal) as in 'old man kangaroo … by tranference (and pidgin use?) = large Old Man Plain', in "Across the Western Plains", means 'the big, wide plain'.
oldies Parents - "I'll have to ask my oldies"  
on a good lurk To have a good job  
open slather Without restrictions  
OS Overseas  
outback The bush, or uncivilised uninhabited region  
overlander A drover, herding cattle or sheep hundreds of miles over land  
owyergoin How are you going? Often used with "g'day" and "Mate"  
oy! An ocker's call; hey!  
oyo On your own (flat or apartment)  
Oz Australia, as in Oz-tralia  
packed out Filled to capacity  
packet Large some of money, an envelope  
paddock Field or meadow In Australia, that COULD be 1000 square miles!
pademelon, paddymelon Small (potorid) wallaby … Aboriginal word (Dharuk - 'badimaliyan') Confused with inedible African cucurbit, growing feral in Australia - 'Paddymelon'
pally On friendly terms with  
paper yabber Letter  
parcel Package  
pash Passion, infatuation  
pastoralist Large-scale grazier  
patent pill machine Revolver Image goes back to loading a cap-and-ball revolver
pav Pavlova - a rich, creamy Australian dessert  
pavement pizza Vomit  
pavlova Traditional Australian meringue and cream dessert, named after Russian ballerina  
pearler Excellent (Purler?)
peel Shear (a sheep) "Peel the wooly overcoats of those monkeys!)
peeler policeman (Anglo-Irish, from Sir Rober Peel)
pen Shearing position or job (= 'stand')  
perve (noun & verb) Looking lustfully at the opposite sex  
pester Annoy or bother someone (Standard English?)
petrol Gasoline  
piccaninny Native child (International colonial) W. Indian creole from Spanish 'pequeno'
piece of piss Easy task  
piffle Nonsense  
pig's arse! I don't agree with you  
piker Someone who doesn't want to fit in with others socially, leaves parties early  
pinch To arrest  
pineapple, rough end of Stick, sharp end of; misfortune  
pink (verb) Shear closely (so close that the pink skin shows through the wool)  
pinkie Wine - local - young (bit short of the Beaujolais mystique) Term occurrs in song 'Ard tac', inter alia
pint pot Tin-plated cooking/storage/container - specially made, not improvised like a billy Sometimes fits snugly inside the quart pot - horsemen's model is oval to pack better in saddlebag
piss Alcohol, usually beer  
piss turn, piss up Boozy party  
piss weak No good, gutless  
pissed Drunk  
pissed off Annoyed  
pivot on Consider  
plant the foot (to the floorboards) Drive fast  
plonk Cheap wine (contemptuous contraction of "vin blanc")  
plurry (alledged) pidgin for "bloody" The Oxford blames this one on the New Zealanders and Maoris?
poddy dodger Cattle rustler Strictly, someone pinching unbranded calves from careless neighbours
poker machine, pokies Slot machine or fruit machine but with playing card pips  
polly Politician  
pom, pommy English person Imperfect rhyming slang = pomegranate - 'immy-granate'
pommy bastard An Englishman  
poofter Homosexual  
port Suitcase (portmanteau) Not a Sydney term - common everywhere else
possie Position  
postie Postman, mailman  
pot 285 ml glass of beer (Victoria and Queensland) And the Sydney Journalist's Club
pozzy Position - get a good pozzy at the football stadium  
prad A horse (From Dutch 'paard')
prang Accident or crash  
prezzy Present, gift  
prog Food Old Englis, ex Norse
pub Any hotel  
puddle Wash soil in tubs or troughs for gold ('often preparatory to cradling')  
push Group or gang of people, such as shearers  
putt-putt Any small vehicle  
QANTAS Acronym for Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Service  
quack Doctor, especially if not very good  
quart pot Tin-plated cooking/storage/container - specially made, not improvised like a billy  
quick smart In a hurry  
quid, make a Earn a living - "are you making a quid?"  
quid, not the full Of low IQ  
quids A lot of money  
rabbiter Person trapping, poisoning or shooting rabbits for pay, bounty or skins  
rage Party  
rainbow sneeze Vomit  
rapt Delighted, enraptured  
ratbag Someone who does not behave properly  
raw prawn, to come the To bullshit, to be generally disagreeable  
razoo Fictitious coin, as "I haven't a brass razoo"  
reckon! You bet! Absolutely!  
red poppy The one at the top whom Aussies like to give a hard time Tall poppy (syndrome)?
rego Registration, as in car rego  
rellie Family relative  
remittance man (Generally) Englishman whose family are prepared to pay him to not to come home  
rhino Money (real money, not the cockies' 'shinplasters'!)  
ridgy-didge Original, genuine  
right Okay ("she'll be right, mate")  
ring-in Impostor, unauthorised  
ringer Fastest sheep shearer  
ringer (Queensland) Stockman, cattle drover (required to "ring, mill & circle cattle")  
ripper Great, fantastic  
road train Big truck with many trailers  
roly-poly Australian tumbleweed (roley-poley, rolly-polly)
Skip to:  A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z 

List Full Glossary

Many thanks to John in Brisbane for this concept and the initial data, and to Bob Bolton for additions and comments.