G'day (guh-day) / Hello. The words 'good' and 'day' jammed together to form Australia's most common greeting.
Ask an Aussie to name a truly Australian word, and they might yell "Bonzer!" Bonzer, sometimes also spelled bonza, means "first-rate" or "excellent," and it is the Australian equivalent of the American "awesome": "It's a good clean game ... and the standard is red hot," Thies said.
Australians say "cool" as "ripper" or "heaps good" in slang.
Mate. “Mate” is a popular word for friend. And while it's used in other English-speaking countries around the world, it has a special connection to Australia. In the past, mate has been used to address men, but it can be gender-neutral.
These Australianisms have been largely replaced by the international cops, coppers, pigs or bacon. However the older, more affectionate wallopers is also still used.
Let's start with the most common, most well-known, and most quintessentially Australian slang term for girls: Sheila. While everywhere else in the English-speaking world, Sheila is a specific person's name, in Australia it can be used to refer to any woman or girl.
1. 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”. So feel free to use this one from day 1 and watch the smiles around you as people respond with, “g'day mate”, which means “hello, friend”.
Linguists also believe the high-rising can serve other purposes. A rising intonation at the end of a statement (giving directions, for example) implicitly asks the listener to confirm that they understand what they've been told. Alternatively, it can be used to stop an anticipated interruption.
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”.
It is usually performed by a crowd uniting to support a sports team or athlete. The alternate is for an individual to chant the line "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!" and the crowd to respond with "Oi! Oi! Oi!".
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.
Pommy or pom
The terms pommy, pommie, and pom used in Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand usually denote a British person.
Aussie Word of the Week
To arc up means to become upset or livid with anger, to 'flare up' like a welder's torch.
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”.
This makes the /l/ sound like /ʊ/. The tendency for some /l/ sounds to become vowels is more common in South Australian English than that of other states. Milk, for example, in South Australia has a vocalised /l/, leading to the pronunciation [mɪʊ̯k], whereas in other states the /l/ is pronounced as a consonant.
Also, we don't refer to gasoline as “gas” in Australia. We call it “petrol”… unless it's diesel. We often have a mini-market inside each gas station that sells food and offers other services.
Most commonly, stunner is used to describe a person—often not to their face. So, someone who is particularly attractive would be a stunner: “I met this total stunner the other night,” for example.