Time For Some Slang

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Richie

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For some reason we humans get a kick out of corrupting the English language with what we call slang. A lot of the early slang words came from sailors on British merchant ships. One of the most common is sling yer hook. . the modern parlance is to hurry along. The original connotation is to do with where you hung your sleeping hammock. Then came the East London Cockney rhyming slang. Let's take a butchers hook . Meaning lets take a look.
Australia picked up some of its slang from the English but it does have much of its own home grown sayings.
Here are a small portion.. Note how we tend to abbreviate many common words. Is this uniquely an Australian trait. Perhaps.


  • A Cold One/ Amber Fluid – Beer
  • Ankle Biter – Child
  • Arvo – Afternoon (S’Arvo – this afternoon!)
  • Aussie Salute – Wave to scare the flies
  • Bail – To cancel plans.
  • Barbie – Barbecue
  • Bathers/Swimmers/ Male or female swimsuit. Budgie Smugglers – Male swim briefs.
  • Beauty! – Great! Most often exclaimed as “You Beauty” Also Ripper.
  • Bogan – This word is used for an uncouth or unsophisticated person regarded as being of low social status.
  • Booze Bus – Police vehicle used to catch drunk drivers
  • Bottle-O – Bottle Shop, basically a place to buy alcohol
  • Brekky – Breakfast.
  • Brolly – Umbrella
 
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NZ tend to have a lot that are the same as Aussie... here's a few others though :

She'll be right - that's fine or everything will be ok
Bowser - petrol station
Chilly bin - Cooler/esky
Jandals - Flip flops/thongs
knackered - Really tired
Bach/crib - Holiday home
Stubbie - Bottle of beer
Bring a plate - Bring a shared dish of food to a party
No worries - no problem
Wop Wops - middle of nowhere
Snag - sausage
Togs - Swimsuit
Hard Yakka - hard work

Slang changes a bit throughout the years... a popular one that the kids use these days is Sweet As - that's great.
 
NZ tend to have a lot that are the same as Aussie... here's a few others though :

She'll be right - that's fine or everything will be ok
Bowser - petrol station
Chilly bin - Cooler/esky
Jandals - Flip flops/thongs
knackered - Really tired
Bach/crib - Holiday home
Stubbie - Bottle of beer
Bring a plate - Bring a shared dish of food to a party
No worries - no problem
Wop Wops - middle of nowhere
Snag - sausage
Togs - Swimsuit
Hard Yakka - hard work

Slang changes a bit throughout the years... a popular one that the kids use these days is Sweet As - that's great.
Not heard of chilly bin or bach/crib. Our middle of nowhere is similar. We say woop woop or backa beyond.
 
I think you call a chilly Bin an Esky... as for the holiday homes it's called a bach in the North Island & a Crib in the south Island.
 
Some really good slang there guys, some I've never heard of.
I'll post some cockney slang a bit later on, I'll be on the road again shortly. 🚛
 
Plates of meat.....Feet
Apples and pears......Stairs.
Mince tart.....Fart.
Dog and bone.....Phone.
Trouble and strife....Wife.

Here is some rhyming slang that the cockneys use 😆
 
NZ tend to have a lot that are the same as Aussie... here's a few others though :

She'll be right - that's fine or everything will be ok
Bowser - petrol station
Chilly bin - Cooler/esky
Jandals - Flip flops/thongs
knackered - Really tired
Bach/crib - Holiday home
Stubbie - Bottle of beer
Bring a plate - Bring a shared dish of food to a party
No worries - no problem
Wop Wops - middle of nowhere
Snag - sausage
Togs - Swimsuit
Hard Yakka - hard work

Slang changes a bit throughout the years... a popular one that the kids use these days is Sweet As - that's great.
I've heard you guys call sausages snags, is it something to do with surprise packages?
I once saw the actor who played Joe in neighbours describe it on TV.
 
Basically in NZ if you have a plate of sausages you can snag or grab one for yourself before you hand the plate around to others.
 
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Plates of meat.....Feet
Apples and pears......Stairs.
Mince tart.....Fart.
Dog and bone.....Phone.
Trouble and strife....Wife.

Here is some rhyming slang that the cockneys use 😆
Rhyming slang is great... haven't heard of the mince tart one 😁
 
A few years back we met Chris & Liz who are now very good friends of ours - they had just moved from Manchester, England to NZ... we invited them to a barbie, they asked us what would you like us to bring, we told them a plate, when they arrived they just had a plate only, took us a while to stop laughing, then we explained to them Bring A Plate means you bring a plate that has food on it. ☺
 
A few years back we met Chris & Liz who are now very good friends of ours - they had just moved from Manchester, England to NZ... we invited them to a barbie, they asked us what would you like us to bring, we told them a plate, when they arrived they just had a plate only, took us a while to stop laughing, then we explained to them Bring A Plate means you bring a plate that has food on it. ☺
😆😆😆
I would've done exactly the same!
 
Basically in NZ if you have a plate of sausages you can snag or grab one for yourself before you hand the plate around to others.
Is it true that you guys have shrimps on your barbies? I like shrimps when I have seafood salad, quite expensive here though.
 
Coffin Dodger.....A pensioner.
Do One......Get lost.
Maxwell.....Pension.
Brown Bread....Dead.

More rhyming slang 🤗

Whistle and Flute...Suit.
Rhythm and Blues......Shoes.
New Delhi....Belly.
Rock and Roll.....Dole.
 
Plates of meat.....Feet
Apples and pears......Stairs.
Mince tart.....Fart.
Dog and bone.....Phone.
Trouble and strife....Wife.

Here is some rhyming slang that the cockneys use 😆
Coffin Dodger.....A pensioner. I like that.
I want to see some Cornish slang Jessica. If not that some from the north country.
 
Some Aussie phrases you may find bizzare.

Fair go, mate. Fair suck of the sauce bottle. Fair crack of the whip
generally means that you want to be treated fairly.

A few stubbies short of a six-pack. A few sandwiches short of a picnic
Is someone perceived as being a little slow

Tell him he's dreaming.
you're suggesting that the other side is not offering a fair deal.

A Dog's breakfast
Not in order, a shambles.
 
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