When visiting a new holiday destination, there’s no better way to feel like a true local than learning a few common phrases and words. While Australians may not have their own language, these residents certainly have their fair share of slang terms that may not be familiar to all visitors.
To help you fit in, here’s our guide on how to speak Aussie.
Bonzer – Good, excellent. “That cafe over there does a bonzer brekky.”
Brekky – Breakfast.
Dunny – Outside toilet.
Frothy – Beer. “Chuck us a frothy out of the esky.”
Esky – Insulated food and drink container. “Don’t forget your esky for the picnic!”
Stubbie holder – Insulated holder to keep ‘frothies’ cool.
Slab – Carton of beers a.k.a frothies.
Hooroo – Goodbye.
What’s the John Dory? – While you may know this as a fish, John Dory also rhymes with story. So if someone asks ‘what’s the John Dory’, they’re simply asking what’s going on.
Cricky – An expression of surprise.
Snag – Sausage “Throw a snag on the barbie!”
Barbie – Barbecue.
Thongs – Flip flops/sandals “Don’t forget your thongs and togs for the beach!”
Togs – Swimwear.
Arvo – Afternoon. “What are you up to this arvo?” “Ah, I’m chockers mate.”
Chockers – Extremely busy.
Grommet – Young surfer.
She’ll be right – Everything will be okay.
Hard yakka – Hard work.
Fair dinkum – Used to emphasise the truth. “I’m feeling a little crook.” “Fair dinkum, you did eat a lot of snags at the barbie.”
Crook – Unwell/sick.
Heaps – A lot. This is a phrase you’ll hear ‘heaps’ on your East Coast travels.
Spit the dummy – Become angry/lose one’s temper.
Woop Woop – The middle of nowhere. “Johnny lives in the woop woop.” Don’t get confused though, this isn’t ‘one’ place, many people can live in different ‘woop woops’.
When saying the above words and phrases, remember the following rules to really nail delivery:
- Turn a hard ‘A’ sound into ‘aye’. For example, mate = m-aye-te.
- Instead of saying the letter ‘i’ as ‘eye’, adjust your pronunciation to take on the ‘i’ sound in ‘oil’. For example, ‘she’ll be r-oi-ight.’
- Change ‘oo’ sounds into ‘ew’ sounds. For example, school becomes ‘sk-ew-l’.
The above words and phrases are just some of many other slang terms you may hear on your East Coast travels, but with a little practice, you’ll be sounding like a true Aussie in no time! Get in touch with the Aussie experts at East Coast Car Rentals for more advice and car hire needs.