Australians have long been famed for their rich and
varied vocabulary of slang expressions, but experts say a new generation of
Australians is coining fewer of them and borrowing more from abroad.
Australians have always had a way with words.
The underlying principle of speaking the lingo down under seems to be:
if in doubt, shorten it.
"Afternoon" to "arvo". "Journalist" to
"journo". "Swimming trunks" to "swimmers".
"Sunglasses" to "sunnies". "Postman" to
"postie". "Mosquito" to "mozzie". The list is
endless.
Aussies can also have a charming turn of phrase. The recent Australian
budget was recently branded "as popular as a Polly Waffle in a public
pool".
A Polly Waffle was a marshmallow chocolate bar on sale in Australia
until 2009 - but because it was brown and cylindrical the term also came to
refer, with lavatorial humour, to something else. A Polly Waffle in a pool is
not popular at all.
A taste of
strine (Aussie slang)
- Don't come the raw prawn with me - don't try and put one over on me
- Go off like a bucket of prawns in the sun - cause a commotion
- His blood's worth bottling - he's an excellent, helpful person
- It cost big bikkies - it was expensive (bikkies = biscuits)
- Let's have a Captain Cook - let's have a look
- Dry as a pommie's bathmat - thirsty
- Flat out like a lizard drinking - flat out, busy
- Mad as a cut snake - very angry
- Rapt as a dunny roll - very happy
- Budgie smugglers - tight-fitting skimpy swimming trunks
- Doovalacky - thingummyjig, whatsit
- Dunny - toilet
- Sangers - sandwiches
- Snag - sausage
There can be few languages, or dialects, with a stronger history of
slang than Australian English.
"Australian slang really seems to have built up a head of steam in
the late 19th Century," says Tony Thorne, linguist at Kings College London
and author of the Dictionary of Contemporary Slang.
This was partly down to the fact that the kind of people who went to
Australia, tended to come from places with rich local linguistic traditions like
Scotland, Ireland and the East End of London, he says.
What is your favourite example of Australia slang, and why do you like
it?
Please tell us using the form below.
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