In my journeys around the world and virtual travels across the broad expanse of the internet, it has come to the attention of myself and fellow Australians that many non-Australians are confused when encountering our local lingo. In Australian films and television, in chat rooms, message boards, social networks and news groups; in the cities of Europe, the thronged streets of Asia or anywhere in the great US of A, non-Aussies don’t know what we’re on about when we drop into the vernacular. Therefore, in the interests of fostering clear communication and nurturing positive global relationships, this will be the first in a series of infrequent articles in which we explain ourselves – it’s probably time we did anyway.
Firstly, a note about our sense of humor: it’s tongue-in-cheek, often delivered in a seemingly-serious or semi-serious manner and may be subtle at times. Don't take us too seriously unless it is blatantly obvious that we mean it to be (and we'll let you know if you miss it). Mild put-downs are endearments and therefore used with mates (friends) and rellies (relatives), and we tend to laugh at ourselves liberally.
In the interests of assisting all non-Australians who have occasion to interact with Australians in one form or another, this first article will concern itself with translations of common words or phrases. I hope this will be both helpful and entertaining for everyone. Please feel free to ask questions in the comment section below.
Geography
Sunburnt Country: Australia
Wide Brown Land: Australia
Downunder: Australia
(The Land of) Oz: Australia
God's Own (Country): Australia
Outback: the bush
The bush: wilderness
Common words and phrases
Aussie: pronounced ozzie with the stronger z sound rather than a soft s.
Lingo: language or, more precisely, vernacular.
G’day: hi, hello.
Barbie: barbeque, cook-out – pretty much any meal cooked out of doors is deemed to be a barbie.
Bloody: known as "the Great Australian Adjective", it is used for emphasis and frequently takes the place of 'very' as in: “That's a bloody great beer” = “That's a very fine beer so drink up and we'll order another”. It’s very rarely used as a swear word these days as there are so many much better ones out there.
Mate: this is the Australian catch-all for 'pal', 'buddy', 'bro', 'sister' and 'I don't know you but I'm being friendly and helpful and using 'mate' as an honorary term unless or until you prove to be otherwise'.
Bloke: male (man or boy)
Bastard: depending on context, it may be a massive put-down or an endearment as in "come 'ere mate, you old bastard". The tone of voice delivering the word will be your best indication of what is meant at the time.
Happy little vegemite: feeling good as in "I'm/he's/she's a happy little vegemite"
Rellies: all relatives both close and distant, including in-laws
Pollies: politicians
Bewdy: great!
Blood oath!: always spoken with passion, it means 'this is true', 'I agree'.
Flat out like a lizard drinking: very, very quick
Spit the dummy / throw a wobbly: to lose one’s composure.
No wucking forries: a Spoonerism
Strewth: an exclamation meaning "good grief!"
True blue: genuine
Too right, mate: couldn’t agree with you more.
Clearing up some potentially embarrassing misunderstandings
Thongs: footwear! These are what North Americans refer to as 'flip flops'.
G-string: lingerie (sometimes deliberately pronounced as written: linger-ee). These are what North Americans refer to as 'thongs'.
Thus, when an Australian invites you to admire their new thongs, they are not inviting you to rummage through their lingerie drawer!
Route: pronounced root not rout in Australia (and Britain) but has the same meaning.
Root: pronounced as written and, in addition to its common botanical meaning, is also a noun and a verb meaning 'sex'(n) and 'to have sex'(v). Therefore this poster of the Aussie wombat is considered to be hilarious in Australia:
When we hear of Americans rooting for their favorite sports team, we consider them to have enormous stamina, even by Australian standards! Please note that should you happen to find yourself in company with an Aussie at a sports event, we
barrack for our teams back home; rooting for them is not considered necessary, no matter how passionate we are about our favorite teams and players.
Should you come across some Aussie lingo and you’re not sure of the meaning, feel free to kosmail me for a translation.