Luvlee Photography

{ Being an Aussie Part 2 }

It had to come sooner of later.. and with all those friendly folk in the US checking out my blog ( I love you all!) I had to include a little dictionary to not only help translate but in aid of a good laugh. This blog entry is dedicated to all the crazy guys and gals I met in Grand Rapids, namely Miss Rachel, oh what laughs we had! So here we go, now with the strength of being home in Australia i am ready to tackle it! Comments welcome and Aussie (pronounced Ozzie) girls feel free to add!


The Basics of Aussie Slang
Australian culture and customs are unique, but not as unique as the Australian language. Our own style of English is so full of colloquial expressions, slang words and slang phrases it is enough to confuse other speakers of English quite easily.
So just so you don't look like a complete drongo here are enough Aussie words to help you get by in Australian society! Now, the accent, well thats another story...

The really basic basics.

• G’day is hello, pronounced Gidday which is a shortened form of Good Day, and used mostly in informal situations. More formally we would say Hello, Good Morning, Good Afternoon, or the likes.
  

• Goodbye is, um, er, Goodbye. Although some people say Hooray, pronounced ‘ooray.
  

• Bloke is an Aussie male who generally is a hard worker and does the right thing. Eg., "Bill’s a Good Bloke".
  

• Mate is Friend, mainly for males. Everyone in Australia is mate, so we would often say "G’day mate" or "Thanks mate".
  

• Onya means Well Done, a shortened form of Good On You.

Abbreviations

For some reason Australians shorten words wherever possible, particularly peoples names. They are generally shortened to one syllable if possible, and then have a suffix added to the end. Here are a few examples:-

• "a"

A Cup of Tea or Coffee becomes a Cuppa.

• "ie"

Angela becomes Angie.
Australian becomes Aussie
Barbecue become Barbie
Elizabeth becomes Lizzie
Football becomes Footy, pronounced with a soft "T" somewhere between T & D.

• "o"

Burgess becomes Burgo
Johnathon becomes Johnno
Smoko means a break from work for a smoke, which now means a tea break even if you don’t smoke.

• "zza" or just "z’

Marion become Mazza or Maz
Sharon become Shazza or Shaz

Thanks aussieslang.com you're ace!

Now you practice.. your own name will work a treat.

Now for some sayings and translation.

No worries mate (one of my fav's) Everything will be ok my friend, no problem!

Ankle biter	Small Child
Arvo	Afternoon, "I'll be there this arvo."
Away with the pixies	Daydreaming
Aussie (pronounced Ozzie)	Australian
Back of burke	Way away from civilisation
Bathers	Swim trunks
Billy	A metal can to boil tea over a fire
Biscuits	Cookies
Bitumen	Asphalt road
Bloke	Man
Blowies	Blow flies
Chook	Chicken
Chrissie	Christmas
Cocky	Cockatoo
Cuppa	Cup of tea or coffee
Dag (Just for Rachel)	Amusingly uncoordinated, "he's such a dag" or Dork.
Daks	Underpants
Dinki-di	Something good from Australia
Didgeridoo	Aboriginal wind instrument
Dob (in)	Snitch (most Australians won't)
Fair dinkum	Someone or something genuine
Fairy Floss	Cotton candy
Footy	Australian Rules Football
G'day	Australian for hello
Good on ya	Good job, good for you
Grog	Alcohol
Happy as Larry	Very happy
Icy pole	Popsicle
jelly	jell-o
Jumper	Sweater
Lollies	Candy
Mate	Friend
Mozzie	Mosquito
Nong/Prawn/Noodle	Idiot, silly billy, "you nong!"
Hooray	Goodbye
Prezzies Prawn	Presents Shrimp
Rello's	Relatives
Sacked	Fired from your job
Scones (short O)	Biscuits
My shout	I'll pay this time
Stickybeak	Nosy person
Snag	Sausage
Shonky	A questionable deal
Ta	Thanks
Tea	Dinner
Tucker	Food

So what do ya reckon?! I hope you have all tried Vegemite since last we spoke.. If you dont have access let me know and I'll post you some! Luv Lee :p