Australians call British people "Poms" or "Pommies," a slang term that's been around over 100 years, with origins debated but commonly linked to "pomegranate" as rhyming slang for "immigrant," or the mistaken "Prisoner of Mother England" acronym, often used playfully but sometimes derogatorily, especially by older generations.
Pommy; Pommie noun
an English person, or more loosely, a person from Britain [AUSTRALIA, 1912] Originally used of English immigrants to Australia, it is a shortening of the now obsolete 'Pomegranate', rhyming slang for 'immigrant'.
British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, are the citizens and diaspora of the United Kingdom, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies.
To Aussies, England is known as the Mother Country. Although most Australians refer to it simply as England or UK.
The Australian National Dictionary explains that the Australian usages of mate derive from the British word 'mate' meaning 'a habitual companion, an associate, fellow, comrade; a fellow-worker or partner', and that in British English it is now only in working-class use.
You can call your best friend “mate” with great affection, you can address a complete stranger as “mate” in an unfamiliar encounter, “maaaaaate” can convey exasperation and saying it with speed and punch makes it abundantly clear that whoever you're addressing is most definitely not your mate.
"Ozzy, Ozzy, Ozzy, Oi, Oi, Oi!" is a popular Australian sports chant, a variation of the British "Oggy, Oggy, Oggy" cheer, used to express national pride and support for Australian teams, with "Ozzy" being slang for "Australian" and "Oi, Oi, Oi" a general interjection for enthusiasm or attention, much like "USA!". The chant involves one group shouting "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!" and the crowd responding "Oi, Oi, Oi!".
The terms pommy, pommie, and pom used in Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand usually denote a British person. Newspapers in Australia were using the term by 1912, with it appearing first in Western Australia, and was said to be short for pomegranate, with the terms "jimmy" and "jimmigrant" also in use.
According to Stephen Alomes, a professor of Australian studies at Deakin University, the chant represents "enthusiasm for the tribe" and a "celebration of 'us' ", but at the extreme may act as a symbol of aggressive nationalism and xenophobia.
Woop Woop is used to refer to a place in the middle of nowhere. People use it to signify that a location is far away, unfamiliar to them, and difficult to get to.
The vast majority of Australians are white. Of these, most are descended from people who originated in the British Islands (especially England). However, there are many large non-British European ethnic groups, as well. For instance, Italians make up about 3.8 percent of Australia's population.
Though the term “redcoat” has a negative connotation in the United States since it was worn by British soldiers fighting against US Independence in the American Revolution, it has a far more illustrious meaning in the former British Empire.
If you're calling someone in the UK and their number is '020 1234 5678', here's how to call them from Australia.
Common Australian slang for a girl includes "Sheila" (older, sometimes dated or slightly derogatory), "chick," or just using general terms like "mate," "gal," or "lass," with context and tone being important, but "girl" is still widely used; some slang, like "moll," can refer to a girlfriend or a promiscuous woman, while "bogan" describes an unsophisticated person.
The most Australian thing to say often involves casual abbreviations, laid-back optimism like "She'll be right" or "No worries," and unique slang for everyday items, such as "Arvo" (afternoon) or "Barbie" (barbecue), often delivered with "mate," making phrases like "G'day, mate, chuck us a coldie at the barbie this arvo?" quintessentially Aussie.
Another classic case of Australians shortening everything. Meaning 'thank you', ta is usually used for the times when you are in a rush or want to send a quick text to show your appreciation for something.
There are several folk etymologies for "pommy" or "pom". The best-documented of these is that "pommy" originated as a contraction of "pomegranate". According to this explanation, "pomegranate" was Australian rhyming slang for "immigrant" (like "Jimmy Grant").
A "bogan" in Australia (and New Zealand) is slang for an uncouth, unsophisticated, or unrefined person, often from a working-class background, characterized by specific tastes, fashion (like mullets, flannelette shirts), speech, and behavior, though the term can be derogatory, humorous, or even self-adopted, depending on context and intent, referring to a laid-back, anti-establishment attitude rather than just poverty.
A notable exponent of the term is Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle from George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion; "I ain't done nothing wrong by speaking to the gentleman". Ain't is a non-standard feature commonly found in mainstream Australian English and in New Zealand, ain't is a feature of Māori-influenced English.
White Australian
"Oi" has been particularly associated with working class and Cockney speech. It is effectively a local pronunciation of "hoy" (see H-dropping), an older expression.
The country has been referred to colloquially as Oz by people outside the country since the middle of the 20th century; and by Australians in more recent times. The Australian National University reports that the "word Oz reproduces in writing the pronunciation of an abbreviation for Aussie, Australia, or Australian.