1. G’day: hello; howdy; greetings
2. How ya goin'?: how are you?
3. Bob’s your uncle: there you have it; that’s that.
4. Off like a bucket of prawns in the Alice: used to describe food that is spoiled, as if it has been sitting out in the hot sun in Alice Springs, a town in the middle of the desert
5. Slow as a wet week/wick: interminable; boring
6. Done like a dog’s dinner: finished; completed
7. Skull: to drink a beer really fast
8. Long drop dunny: outhouse
9. Esky: cooler; ice chest
10. Arvo: afternoon
11. Tinny: can of beer or an aluminum boat (depending on the context)
12. Wingeing Poms (pronounced WIN-jing): the English, who are universally regarded by Australians as whiners and complainers
13. Flash: upscale; top notch; fancy
14. Wheelie bin: large outdoor trash can which can be rolled to the curb.
15. Schooner: A glass containing 500 milliliters of beer
16. Tucker: food
17. Togs: swimsuit
18. Bugger off: an expression of annoyance e.g. get lost; take a hike
19. Pash: kiss
20. Any word abbreviated by adding “y” or “ie”: brekky (breakfast), Chrissie prezzies (Christmas presents), sunnies (sunglasses) mozzies (mosquitos)
An example (with sincere apologies to my Australian friends):
G’day Johno. How you goin? I’ve just bought a flash new tinny, mate and I’m gonna take it out on the lake this arvo. Be sure to bring your sunnies, your togs and an esky, mate. But leave that potato salad from last week behind, it’s off like a bucket of prawns in the Alice, so chuck it in the wheelie bin. It’ll be slow as a wet week if we don’t catch any fish, but we can always skull a few tinnies, mate. Be sure to use the toilet before you show up, because the long drop dunnies are smelly and I don't want to listen to you wingeing like a Pom. And the mozzies are brutal...bring some insect repellant so they’ll bugger off. Afterwards, we’ll head to the pub for some tucker and a few schooners…there’s a waitress there I’d like to pash.
This explanation of Aussie slang is done like a dog’s dinner. Bob’s your uncle.
Speaking of colloquialisms, here's a video I shot of the 2 bus drivers who took us on a tour of Uluru a.k.a. Ayers Rock, then cooked dinner for the entire group afterwards:
Hey John - love it! I will make sure Steve reads it. He will like your colloquialism paragraph too, except for the "smelly" part. You must change that to "on the bugle" or "on the nose". Much more likely to be said by a bloke.
ReplyDeleteLove ya! Nancy
I'm dying to know the origin of, "Bob's your uncle." :)
ReplyDeleteCurious: Anyone ever call you 'Seppo' when you were out there?
ReplyDeleteBob’s your uncle.
ReplyDelete