Aussie Slang

You know that you are in Australia when you see a lot of people speaking with a lot of weird words and expressions. But do not worry, you will get used to them eventually!

A lot of international students find it difficult to understand the ‘Aussie’ expressions or better known as ‘Aussie Slang’ at the beginning although in the cities you will not be confronted by complete conversations in ‘Aussie slang’, it is mainly in the country areas that you may think they speak in code!

Don’t be too concerned if you don’t understand what people are saying in the first few weeks, you will soon get to know some of the most popular slang words. Sooner or later we all speak a little bit of Australian at least!

Here you can find few tips to better understand Aussie expressions:

• They love to contract words. For example, “G´Day” instead of “Have a good day” or “See ya” instead of “see you later”. They even say “Mackers” instead of “McDonalds”.

• A lot of words end with “y” or “ie”. They say “breakky” instead of “breakfast” or “cabbie” for “cab driver” and “bicky” for “biscuits”.

• Be patient, have fun, listen to them and do not be afraid to ask the meaning of an Aussie slang word. Just be aware that most of the time they do not know why they speak like that!

• Try to practice these words but just remember that it takes time and skill to speak like a real Aussie.

We all use some form of slang in our own country so why not teach yourself a little bit of the Aussie slang to help you along…trust us it is fun!

Here is a quick guide to some of the more common Aussie slang words: