40 Most Common Australian Slang Terms

G’Day! Buckle up your seat belts, mates, because you aren’t in Kansas anymore. Instead, you’re going to dive head first right into the ‘beauty’ that is Australian slang. Are you ready? Because this unique language will have you ‘gobsmacked’.

1. barbie - barbecue (Did you put the meat on the barbie?)
2. beaut - fantastic, great (Beaut throw, mate.)
3. bloke - man (Watch that bloke over there.)
4. bludger - lazy person (Don’t be a bludger!)
5. bottle-o - liquor store (I’m going to head to the bottle-o.)
6. brekky - breakfast (Do you want some brekky?)
7. bush - backwoods, hinterlands, away from civilization (He’s out in the bush for a few days.)
8. Captain Cook- a look (Let’s have a Captain Cook.)
9. coppers - police officers (I think I saw the coppers, mate.)
10. crikey - an exclamation of surprise (Crikey! That’s a big spider.)
11. daks - pants (Have you seen my daks?)
12. dodgy - suspicious (I don’t know mate, that looks dodgy to me.)
13. dunny - toilet (I need the dunny.)
14. fair dinkum - genuine (That bloke is fair dinkum.)
15. fair go - a chance, reasonable opportunity (Give that bloke a fair go.)
16. flannie - Flannel shirt (Where’s my flannie?)
17. flat out - busy (I can’t mate. I’m flat out.)
18. g’day - good day, hello (G’day, mate!)
19. give a bell - call on the phone (I’m going to give her a bell.)
20. gobsmacked - astounded (That gobsmacked us all, I think.)
21. hot under the collar - angry, worked up (Look at him getting hot under the collar.)
22. idiot box - television (You watch too much of that idiot box.)
23. jumper - sweater, sweatshirt (I’ve got to grab my jumper.)
24. knickers - underwear (Don’t get your knickers in a bunch.)
25. lollies - sweets, candy (Don’t give her any more lollies! She’s definitely had enough.)
26. mate - friend (Good to see you again, mate!)
27. mozzies - mosquitoes (These mozzies are bad.)
28. no worries - no problem (No worries, mate! We can try again tomorrow.)
29. outback - remote area (He lives in the outback.)
30. rack off - go away (Rack off! I don’t want to listen to you anymore.)
31. reckon - agree (I reckon we are all getting yelled at.)
32. ripper - fantastic (You have a ripper of a city.)
33. sheila - woman (Go talk to that sheila over there.)
34. she’ll be right - everything will be okay (Don’t worry, mate. She’ll be right.)
35. stoked - happy (I’m so stoked for you.)
36. spewing - upset or bothered (She dumped me! Ahhh spewing.)
37. ta - thanks (Ta for that.)
38. thongs - flip-flops (I’ve got to grab my thongs.)
39. whinge - complain (Don’t just whinge. Do something.)
40. wuss - coward (Don’t be a wuss, mate.)

If you’ve ever watched an Australian TV show or listened to one of your favorite Australian actors, the accent is hard to miss. It’s also very apparent that Australian English can seem like a whole other language. So much so that Australians actually have a name for Australian English called ‘strine’. Strine isn’t only quick, but the words run together like:

• Strine: Avva nysweegend
• English: Have a nice weekend.
• Strine: G’day mite, dosa fiver, wea?
• English: Good day mate, do me a favor, will you?

Could you just imagine trying to decipher that? Well, if you are planning a trip to Australia any time soon, you’ll definitely want to be prepared.

When planning a trip down under, be prepared for a colorful new vernacular. While Aussies speak English, the dialect and accent are unique to them. Trying to decipher what they are saying can leave you scratching your head. However, now that you have a bit of Aussie slang under your belt, you’re a bit more prepared.

Did you have fun learning slang? Don’t let the fun end here. Instead, jump into 30 examples of slang words. You might also enjoy checking out modern American slang.