Australians call breakfast "brekkie" (or "brekky") as part of a broader, casual slang habit of shortening words with an "-ie" or "-y" ending, a linguistic trait reflecting Aussie informality, mateship, and efficiency, though the practice originated in Britain. It makes language feel friendly, relaxed, and less stuffy, common with words like "arvo" (afternoon) and "sunnies" (sunglasses).
According to Corpus of Global Web-Based English (GloWbE), Australia leads the world in the use of both terms, with “brekky” being slightly more popular. Here's the chart for “brekkie”: Although Australia has outstripped both countries, the abbreviations started out in Britain and Ireland.
So, moving on. Which one should it be? Well, there's no ONE suggested word, but there seems to be two. Macquarie and Oxford Dictionary list “brekky” and “brekkie” as the officially recognised forms.
🥐 BREKKIE = breakfast (very British!) If you hear someone say “Fancy some brekkie?” — they just mean breakfast.
chiefly British slang : breakfast.
Australians never call it breakfast. We call it brekkie. Big pancake brekkie. So another cool little slang word pattern you'll notice in Australia are these words that end with the sound E.
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 understanding of it as something more substantial than a cuppa came about in the early 1800s in northern communities where dinner was still enjoyed at midday and families would have something lighter after work, accompanied by a pot of tea.
In Australian, New Zealand, and Falkland Islands English, a smoko (also "smoke-o" or "smoke-oh") is a short, often informal break taken during work or military duty, although any short break such as a rest or a coffee or tea break can be called a smoko.
While skipping breakfast is not recommended, good nutrition is not just about the number of meals you have each day. If you don't have breakfast, aim to make up for the nutritional content you missed at breakfast with your lunch, dinner and healthy snacks.
Various studies have found a range of disadvantages of skipping breakfast: More likely to be overweight. Less likely to meet recommendations for fruit and vegetable consumption. More likely to consume unhealthy snacks.
The most common Australian slang for toilet is dunny, especially for outdoor or rustic toilets, while loo is used more generally for indoor ones, similar to British English; other terms include the slightly dated thunderbox, or simply asking for the "bathroom" or "lavatory" (lav).
Reckon: saying 'I reckon' is a very Australian thing to do. It basically means 'I believe' or 'I think'. Rellies/relos: the slang term for your relatives or family members. Ripper: another way to say great.
Kiwis love to shorten words and add "-ie" or "-y" to the end, like "brekkie" for breakfast or "lolly" for sweets. This is called diminutivisation and is common in informal speech in New Zealand, Australia, and Scotland.
The word is luncheon. It's an older term for the midday meal. It's sometimes used for a more formal or ceremonial lunch.
Australians call dinner "tea" due to British working-class traditions, where the main midday meal was "dinner," and a lighter, later meal (often with tea) was called "tea" or "high tea," a custom that took root in Australia, especially in rural areas and among older generations, signifying the main evening meal. It's a cultural holdover from colonial times, linking the meal to the popular drink, with "dinner" sometimes reserved for more formal occasions or used by middle/upper classes.
Three key etiquette rules for afternoon tea are: don't stick out your pinky finger; stir gently in a back-and-forth motion (6 to 12 o'clock) and place the spoon on the saucer; and eat foods in the proper order (sandwiches first, then scones, then sweets) using your fingers for most items, but a fork for messy things like scones.
The most Australian thing to say often involves casual slang like "G'day, mate!" or "No worries, she'll be right," reflecting a laid-back, friendly culture that shortens words (arvo for afternoon, brekkie for breakfast) and uses unique phrases like "Fair dinkum" (really/truly) or "Bloody oath!" (yes, absolutely) for emphasis. It's about being informal, positive, and using unique terms for everyday things like a "barbie" (BBQ) or "sunnies" (sunglasses).
"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 most common Australian slang for a sandwich is "sanga," often used for a regular sandwich, and "sausage sanga" for a sausage sandwich, while a toasted sandwich is a "toasty," derived from shortening words and adding a vowel sound (like servo for service station or avo for avocado).
Missus. A person's wife or girlfriend. I'm taking the missus out for their birthday.
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.
Aussie Slang – Expressions (A-Z)
Crack the whip – telling someone to hurry up!