Delivered in their distinct and beloved accent, an Australian’s every day language is peppered with unique and often entertaining words that don’t make sense to an outsider. During your internship in Australia, you will discover that, straying from the official English language, Aussie slang plays a key role in the country’s identity and culture. Often ranging from region to region, the unique words Australians use conversationally have become an endearing aspect of local culture. These words’ origins vary, deriving from convict culture, Aboriginal languages, the Australian gold rush, among other historical and cultural moments.
As an intern abroad in Australia, it’s your goal to try and master, or at least decipher, this fascinating language “down under”. These local colloquialisms are part of what make Australian culture unique. Learning them will bring you closer to the culture and make you feel firmly integrated into Australian society. For navigating the workplace, after office fun and travel we’ve assembled the following:
An official guide to Aussie slang for interns abroad in Australia
At the office:
G’Day – greetings, hello, short for the interjection “good day”
Arvo – afternoon
Yakka – work
Tradie – a tradesperson, often trades also have their own names like a carpenter would be a “chippie”, an electrician is a “sparky”
Sickie – day you take off work when you’re ill
Ta – thank you
She’ll be right, she’ll be apples – it’s all going to be OK
Uni – university, college
Out and about:
Chockers – extremely full, bursting at the seams
Esky – cooler, portable ice chest, ice box
Ripper – fantastic, really great, same as “bonzer”
Full as a centipede’s sock drawer – stuffed or quite full
Bog in – like “dig in”, a start to eating vigorously
Stone the crows – used to express awe or amazement
Mad as a meat-axe – insane, really crazy
Chokkie – chocolate
Popular as a rattle snake in a lucky dip – someone who isn’t very popular
Fair dinkum – genuine, authentic, true
Bush telly – campfire
Sweet as – very cool or awesome, the adverb “as” is often added to the end of adjectives for emphasis like “common as” or “lovely as”
Places:
Servo – a gas or petrol station
Unit – apartment
Macca’s – the good ole golden arches aka McDonald’s
Op shop – thrift or vintage store, short for “opportunity shop”
Sources: australianexplorer.com, mentalfloss.com, koalanet.com.au, BBC, australia.gov,
Photo 1. based on Pebbly Beach Kangaroos Australia – 095, by Kyle Taylor, CC-by-2.0
Photo 2. based on outback landscape, by live_free_or_die_77, CC-by-2.0
Photo 3. based on Melbourne, by
Peter Mackey, CC-by-2.0
