Australian Slang Dictionary

G'day !

For those who are curious about the Ozzie lingo ...
http://www.koalanet.com.au/australian-slang.html

Ah, the language of my youth !

Hi Krystyna, hi everyone,

Thanks for the key document!

There we see how difficult it is to understand Ozzies: in addition to the accent, there're special words, expressions... one must stop Ozzies at every word to look up in the dictionary LOL

> Bastard : term of endearment
Sometimes dodgy and dangerous to try to speak Australian English.
> Built like a brick shit house
> Bush telly
> Bushman's hanky
> Cockroach
> Who opened their lunch?
> Mappa Tassie
> Nipper

Many expression are very funny and need long explanations

G'day Gérard, g'day everyone,

When I look at these expressions (that I now rarely use) I wonder how foreign visitors can cope in Australia.
They are very funny, and so localised to Australia ... not even New Zealanders can understand !
You will notice that in Australian vernacular, we like to shorten the nouns, transform the spelling, and put Y or IE or another vowel on the end, eg
television = telly
biscuit = bikky or bicky
handkerchief = hanky
grandmother = granny
cup of tea = cuppa
breakfast = brekky or brekkie

The same for first names, eg
Christine = Chrissy
Margaret = Marg or Margie
Peter = Pete or Petey
Dorothy = Dorrie or Dotty
Michael = Mike or Mick or Mickey
Matthew = Matt or Matty
Gerard = Gerry

Muriel, I think you would be called Mu
Gérard = Gerry
Ghislaine = Jizzy
Florent = Flo or Florry

So be warned, if you visit Australia, prepare to be confused !!!

G'Day Kryssie!

I don't like Gerry that much since you explained to me it was the pejorative name you gave to Germans during WWII...
In addition, I guess it means dumm/idiot!!
Thank you!!

> cup of tea = cuppa
I'm wondering about your suffix -a.
You seem to use it for lots of endings:
- for example, my nephew likes to replace "-er" with it, like in eva/ever, neva/never, etc.
- "-a" stands for "of" here in "cup of..." such as kinda/kind of
- you Australians, like to use ya instead of you in seeya or others.

Do you tend to replace any vowel with -a? how handy!!

Is a "backpacker" (young traveler around OZ) an australian word?

Howdy Florent,

> young traveler around OZ
I think Krystyna is no longer on line, so I respond:
Not only around Oz.
Backpack ("sac à dos") is an English word (British, American...) so I guess it is an Australian word as well.
Hence Backpacker ("routard") also is.

Both words are normal ones, I mean not informal in my dictionary.

Another word of the family is "backpacking" which is another word for "randonnée" and to go backpacking can be translated into "faire de la randonnée".

Some retired australien sell their own house to buy a van to turn around OZ during years. Can we call them "backpackers" or "bobo" like in France (BOurgeois BOhème)?

Hi Florent,
We would call them a "caravanner", even if they tow a caravan behind their car, or drive a van that is like a "home on wheels" !
A backpacker is someone who travels with just a sac-a-dos and usually very cheaply, taking buses and trains and sleeping in youth hostels.

Hi Florent, Krystyna, hi everyone,

Admin a écrit:... Can we call them "backpackers" or "bobo" like in France (BOurgeois BOhème)?

Speaking of "BoBo", I wonder if Florent wouldn't rather mean "HoBo" which is an urban vagrant ("clochard", "vagabond").

I like the way the aboriginals translate the "Uluru" (the huge red rock in the middle of ) It's called "Ayer Rock" like ."higher rock". Is there other word that sound like kids?

Hi Florent,

Interesting theory, but unfortunately not quite correct !
The "Ayers" in Ayers Rock is pronounced like "ères"

In 1873, the surveyor William Gosse sighted the big rock and named it Ayers Rock in honour of the then Chief Secretary of South Australia, Sir Henry Ayers.
The aboriginal name as always been Uluru.

When in Oz, I visited this area where the rock is situated.
If you like nature I suppose it is quite impressive, as it is huge and imposing and in the middle of nowhere ...
but "not my cup of tea" (meaning it is not something I particularly like) as there are no big shops, no wifi, and no air-conditioning !!!
LOL ... I am proud to say I am a capitalist consumer who cannot live without my "big city" luxuries !

G'Day Krystyna, Florent, everyone,

@ Florent: sounds you pronounce your H's the French way!

Here's your stuff

Along with the page on Wikipedia -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uluru

@ Krystyna: you'll see a kangaroo...

G'Day Krystyna, Florent, everyone,

Now, look at that pic! It was shot by a friend who's just back in France after the "66" on a Harley...



Francis took lots of lovely photos and might have stopped at every mile! lol