In Australia, "cunt" (often spelled "kunt" in some contexts or phonetic spellings) is a highly versatile but strong slang term, used as a deeply offensive insult, a term of endearment among close mates (especially men), or sometimes in queer/feminist reclamation, but its usage depends heavily on context, tone, and relationship, often considered taboo in polite company and strongly associated with working-class or regional culture.
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.
A vulgar slang word for a woman's genitals or a person you dislike, cunt is a contender for most offensive word in English. The c-word should be avoided at all costs. This is one of the most disliked and inappropriate words around.
Here are 5 common Aussie slang words/phrases: G'day (hello), Mate (friend), Arvo (afternoon), No worries (no problem/you're welcome), and Barbie (barbecue), with many Aussies shortening words (like Brekkie for breakfast, Servo for gas station) and using colourful terms for everyday things.
Australia/New Zealand
Also in Australia, the word bloody is frequently used as a verbal hyphen, or infix, correctly called tmesis as in "fanbloodytastic". In the 1940s an Australian divorce court judge held that "the word bloody is so common in modern parlance that it is not regarded as swearing".
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.
Bugger. (Noun/verb/adjective) A mild profanity that's also one of the most versatile words in Australian English. Exclamation; “Bugger! I dropped some more avo on myself.”
"Oy oy oy" in Australia is most famously part of the patriotic chant "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi!" used at sporting events to show national pride, but "Oi" also functions as a general Australian informal interjection, like "hey" or "excuse me," to get someone's attention. The chant itself comes from the British "Oggy Oggy Oggy" cheer for Cornish pasties and became popular in Australia after the 2000 Olympics.
G'day means “Good Day.”
The $10 note is referred to as a "tenner" or again, less commonly, a "Blue Swimmer", other variations of this nickname exist such as the "blue grenadier", it may also rarely be called a "blue tongue", in reference to the Australian blue-tongue lizard.
NMU is an acronym used to mean Not much, you.
broad (US, slang) chick (slang) covess (UK, archaic) dame (US, dated slang) donna.
The Oxford English Dictionary states that the ultimate etymology is uncertain, but that the word is "probably cognate" with a number of Germanic words with meanings involving striking, rubbing and having sex or is derivative of the Old French word that meant 'to have sex'.
Missus. A person's wife or girlfriend. I'm taking the missus out for their birthday.
Coming from the Irish name Síle, it translates to “blind one,” a unique choice is baby's spirit is like a bright, blinding light. Sheila also comes from the Latin name Celia, which means “heavenly.” It is also a slang term used in Australia and New Zealand to reference a woman or girl.
Pommy or pom
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. The term Ten-pound Pom refers to British (subsidized) migrants to Australia and New Zealand after World War II.
(good day): Used interchangeably with hello and hi, but more characteristically Australian/New Zealand, and perhaps the most informal of these options. Also used in the constructions G'day, mate (a greeting to a friend or acquaintance) and G'day, stranger (ironically, to a friend not seen in some time).
y'day yesterday
Source: A Dictionary of Abbreviations Author(s):
Aussies speak a unique dialect with plenty of distinctive features. With diverse influences including Irish, Chinese and various Aboriginal languages, it's hard to see how it could be otherwise.
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.
"Oi oi oi baka" is a viral TikTok trend where someone (usually a high school student) gets up on a chair, desk, or table and shouts "Oi oi oi baka!" at school or in public. It may be inspired by a character named Bakugou from an anime called My Hero Academia. In Japanese, the phrase means, "Hey, hey, hey, idiot!"
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.
On finding payable amounts of gold, they were heard to call out: "fair dinkum". This was interpreted as: "genuine gold", "real gold" or "true gold". With time, "fair dinkum" came to be used as an expression of "honest" and/or "true".
Australian and New Zealand coarse slang. To have sexual intercourse with (a person).
Woop Woop (wop-wops in New Zealand) is an Australian term meaning a place that is a far distance from anything.