“How ya goin'?” “How ya goin'?” is the ultimate Aussie greeting. If you're not from Australia, this mash-up of “How are you?” and “Where are you going?” might leave you a little perplexed. If it helps, think of how the Brits say “y'alright?” - it requires no detailed response.
So when people want to know what's going on, or they're requesting the “goss” (gossip), they ask what the John Dory is.
Hooroo = Goodbye
The Australian slang for goodbye is Hooroo and sometimes they even Cheerio like British people.
1. Good on ya! A general term of appreciation directed at people who've done something well or nice, like buying another round of drinks or cooking dinner. Add “mate” or “love” to the end for extra points.
“Hard yakka” means work hard. The word “yakka” – which first appeared in the 1840s – derives from the word for work (yaga). It comes from Yagara, an Indigenous language in Australia.
Let's start with one of the most famous Australian slang phrases: 'No worries'. It's said to be the national motto of Australia. This expression means “do not worry about it”, or “it's all right”.
This phrase has nothing to do with swimming or life-saving, as in, “did you get to that surfer before the shark?” “no, he was too far out” = incorrect. “Far Out” is said when you really can't believe something.
G'day. One of the first things you'll hear when in Australia, is the classic “G'day, mate”, which is basically the same as saying, “good day”, or “hello”.
Dating back to the 17th Century, to bilk is to cheat, swindle or to evade a payment on a debt. Eelie is an obsolete Aussie underworld slang word for a confidence trick or the ruse by which a swindle is affected, probably extracted from eelerspee, an obsolete word for a con artist.
It surely sounds strange to those who are familiar with American or British English, but it is a very common expression in Australia. G'day is a shortened form of 'Good Day' and it is the equivalent of 'Hello. ' Mate means friend or buddy and it can be used to address your friend or a total stranger.
Ta. 'Ta' means 'thank you'.
“Have a good one”
Have a good one means to have a nice day. This is a common caravan park saying and something you might hear fellow camp mates say often.
Too easy means something along the lines of that is easy to do and no problem (also known as no wakkas!). Example: After ordering a coffee, the waiter tells you that it is “too easy”. This means it is dead or it has broken.
If you say “no” with an extra syllable or two, chances are you are actually saying naur, an Australian-ism defined by its listeners, not its speakers, which continues to be one of the internet's favourite jokes.
While some Australian speakers would pronounce “no” as a diphthong, starting on “oh” as in dog and ending on “oo” as in put, others begin with an unstressed “a” (the sound at the end of the word “sofa”), then move to the “oh” and then “oo”.
The most common verbal greeting is a simple “Hey”, “Hello”, or “Hi”. Some people may use Australian slang and say “G'day” or “G'day mate”. However, this is less common in cities. Many Australians greet by saying “Hey, how are you?”.
Yeah nah yeah = yes.
The most popular names in our dataset are largely drawn from the Hebrew Bible, with Michael, David, Sarah and Jessica topping the list. There also appear to be few names from a non-European origin in the data, with Mohammed one of the exceptions.
Contributor's comments: The meaning of Bubs I grew up with is a baby, or quite often the youngest member of the family is called "bubs" from an older sibling.
Aussie Word of the Week
Australia's colourful bank notes are known by many colloquial names. The twenty-dollar note is referred to as a lobster, while the fifty-dollar note is called a pineapple, and don't we all want to get our hands on a few jolly green giants, that is, hundred-dollar notes?
Munted (mun-ted) / Drunk.