If you’re heading Down Under for a holiday, cast your eye over these popular Australian slang terms to make sure you can converse with the locals! Australia holidays are all the better for getting involved in local life:
Arvo: the afternoon. “Are you going to the beach this arvo?”Barbie: a barbeque. “We’re having a barbie at the beach this arvo”
Corker: something great. “That barbie this arvo was a corker!”
Fair dinkum: genuine, or true. “This is the best barbie I’ve ever been to!” “Fair dinkum mate!”
Galah: a silly person. “Why aren’t you coming to the barbie this arvo, you big galah?!”
G’day: hello. “G’day mate, welcome to the barbie!”
Icy pole: a popsicle or ice lolly. “I’ll have a strawberry icy pole please!”
Lob in: to drop in on something/someone. “Why don’t you lob in at the barbie this arvo? It’ll be a corker!”
Oldies: parents. “I’ll have to ask my oldies if I can come to the barbie this arvo”
Plonk: cheap wine. “Can you bring a bottle of plonk to the barbie this arvo?”
Sheila: a woman. “There was a beautiful sheila at the barbie this arvo”
Strewth: exclamation of disbelief. “Strewth, that sheila at the barbie this arvo was a corker!”
Tucker: food. “The tucker at the barbie this arvo was delicious!”
How to pull the lingo off:don’t attempt the accent – it’ll sound contrived, and in the worst case scenario you might sound like you’re being sarcastic or taking the mickey out of your new Aussie pals! Instead, use your knowledge of Australian slang to understand what the locals are saying to you (nothing makes you seem like more of a tourist than saying ‘pardon?’ over and over!), and only use the occasional slang word if the situation is appropriate. G’day is quite easy to slip in whenever you enter a shop or bar, and doesn’t sound too silly in a British accent. Lots of Aussie slang is essentially a shortened form of a British word (such as ‘barbie’), so you may even find that you’re using slang terms without even realising it!
Photos: -yuri-, john white, tim phillips, Kenny Teo, CubaGallery.
