Australia · Australian Englishambo
noun · Colloquial
A paramedic; also the ambulance itself. Part of a large family of -o occupational names: firie, garbo, journo, muso, pollie.
Australia · Australian English
Australian Slang
Australian slang runs on two engines: shortening and irony. Almost any word can be clipped and given an -o or -ie ending, and the results are productive rather than fixed — speakers coin new ones on the spot and expect to be understood. The second engine is a habit of naming things by their opposite, which is why the tallest person in the room may be called Shorty.
Australians also use a small set of terms far more often than outsiders expect, and a larger set far less often than films suggest. Where a word belongs firmly in the second group, the entry says so rather than pretending otherwise.
55 terms, each with definitions and worked examples.
By topic
Each page below collects every Australian term we have on one subject, side by side.
Start with these
The terms below carry the most usage detail — register, origin and the situations where they go wrong. They are the ones worth reading in full before the rest.
All Australian slang A–Z
55 terms
Terms beginning with A
Terms beginning with B
barbie
noun · Colloquial
A barbecue — both the appliance and the social occasion.
bickie
noun · Colloquial
A biscuit or cookie.
+1 more sense
bloody oath
interjection, phrase · Informal
Absolutely; too right. An emphatic agreement.
Use with care
bludger
noun · Informal
Someone who avoids work and lives off others' effort. The verb bludge means to shirk or to scrounge.
Use with care
bogan
noun, adjective · Informal
A person seen as unsophisticated and working-class, identified by dress, taste and accent. Roughly Britain's chav or America's redneck, and carrying the same class contempt.
+1 more sense
Use with care
bottle-o
noun · Colloquial
A liquor shop. Off-licence in Britain, liquor store in the US.
brekkie
noun · Colloquial
Breakfast.
Terms beginning with C
cark it
phrase, verb · Informal
Of a machine: to break down permanently.
+1 more sense
Use with care
chook
noun · Colloquial
A chicken — the live bird and the cooked one alike. A chook raffle is a fixture of Australian pub life.
chuck a sickie
phrase, idiom · Informal
To take a day off work claiming illness when you are perfectly well.
chunder
verb, noun · Informal
To vomit, typically from drinking.
Use with care
crook
adjective · Informal
Ill, unwell. Feeling crook.
+2 more senses
Terms beginning with D
dag
noun · Informal
An unfashionable, socially awkward but likeable person. Affectionate — closer to 'dork' than to 'loser'.
+1 more sense
deadset
adjective, adverb, interjection · Informal
Genuine; genuinely. Deadset legend, deadset the best thing I've eaten.
+1 more sense
dob
verb · Informal
To inform on someone. Usually dob someone in. A dobber is the person who does it, and the taboo against it is taken seriously from primary school onwards.
dodgy
adjective · Informal
Suspect, unreliable, probably not above board. Shared with British English and used just as freely.
drongo
noun · Informal
An idiot. Dated but still in use, and rarely aggressive.
dunny
noun · Colloquial
A toilet, originally an outdoor one. Slightly rustic and slightly old-fashioned, but universally understood.
Terms beginning with E
Terms beginning with F
Terms beginning with G
galah
noun · Informal · guh-LAH
A fool; someone behaving noisily and stupidly.
goon
noun · Informal
Cheap boxed wine — specifically the silver foil bladder inside the box. Inseparable from Australian student culture.
grouse
adjective · Dated
Excellent, great. Dated — associated with an older generation, and now used by younger speakers mostly in knowing imitation.
Terms beginning with H
Terms beginning with K
Terms beginning with L
Terms beginning with M
Maccas
noun · Colloquial · MACK-us
McDonald's. Universal in Australia to the point that the company itself has used the name on its signage.
mate
noun · Informal
A friend, and the default way to address almost any man — and increasingly any person — regardless of acquaintance.
+1 more sense
Use with care
mozzie
noun · Colloquial
A mosquito.
Terms beginning with N
Terms beginning with R
rack off
phrase, verb · Informal
Go away; clear off. A mild, somewhat dated dismissal.
reckon
verb · Colloquial
To think or suppose. Where other varieties say 'I think', Australians say 'I reckon' — it is the default, not a flourish.
+1 more sense
rellies
noun · Colloquial
Relatives, family members — usually the extended sort who turn up at Christmas.
ripper
adjective, interjection · Informal
Excellent, terrific. Often as 'you little ripper!' — an exclamation of delight.
Terms beginning with S
sanga
noun · Colloquial
A sandwich. A sausage sanga — a sausage in a slice of white bread with onion and sauce — is the standard offering at community fundraisers.
schooner
noun · Colloquial · SKOO-ner
A glass of beer, 425ml in most of Australia. Beer glass sizes and their names vary by state, which is a live source of confusion for Australians themselves.
servo
noun · Colloquial
A petrol station. From 'service station', and the standard word rather than a jokey one.
she'll be right
phrase, idiom · Colloquial
It'll be fine; it'll work out. An expression of relaxed optimism, sometimes warranted and sometimes an excuse for not checking properly.
snag
noun · Colloquial
A sausage.
sook
noun, verb · Informal · rhymes with book
Someone who sulks or cries easily; a softie. Often affectionate, especially about children and pets.
+1 more sense
spit the dummy
phrase, idiom · Informal
To lose one's temper in a disproportionate, childish way.
stoked
adjective · Informal
Delighted, thrilled. Came out of surf culture and is now general.
stubby
noun · Colloquial
A short, squat 375ml bottle of beer. A stubby holder is the insulating sleeve that keeps it cold — an object of genuine cultural significance.
sunnies
noun · Colloquial
Sunglasses.
Terms beginning with T
thongs
noun · Colloquial
Flip-flops; rubber sandals held on by a strap between the toes. Not underwear — a misunderstanding that causes reliable embarrassment for visitors.
Use with care
tinnie
noun · Colloquial
A can of beer.
+1 more sense
too right
interjection, phrase · Informal
Absolutely; I agree entirely. The clean version of bloody oath.
tradie
noun · Colloquial
A tradesperson — electrician, plumber, carpenter and so on. Neutral and extremely common.
Terms beginning with U
Terms beginning with W
whinge
verb, noun · Informal · WINJ, rhymes with hinge
To complain persistently in a way that irritates. Distinct from a legitimate complaint — calling something a whinge dismisses it.
woop woop
noun · Informal
An imaginary place standing for anywhere remote and inconvenient. Out in woop woop means a very long way from anything.