History UsefulNotes / AustralianSlang

* ''Servo'': Convenience store.

* ''Aunty'': Creator/TheABC, Australia's state broadcaster. The British sometimes use the same expression to refer to Creator/TheBBC.

* Creator/TheABC ("Aunty") maintains a massive database of Australian slang, [[http://www.abc.net.au/wordmap/ broken down by region]]. It's particularly important when talking about drinking -- in some places, a glass of beer can be a ''schooner'', in others a ''middy'', in still others a ''pony''. It can be helpful finding out what a "deadly treadly" is before it kills you.

* ''Bugger!'': Expression of something gone seriously wrong. Identical to the British and New Zealand usage. ''Cf.'' American "OhCrap". Also used as a commiseration (''e.g.'' "I burnt my dinner last night." "Oh, bugger.") or combined with "up" as a phrasal verb for when you've gone and made a complete mess of something (''e.g.'' "Well you've gone and buggered that up now, haven't you?").

* ''Bodgie'': Formerly, the Australian term for the 1950s Teddy Boy subculture. The DistaffCounterpart is a "widgie."

* ''Pingas'': Slang for MDMA. Unrelated to the {{mondegreen}} from ''Memes/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' made famous on ''WebAnimation/YouTubePoop'', nor is it pronounced the same.

* ''Football'': Can refer to [[NamesTheSame multiple different sports]], all technically different codes of football. In much of the country (especially Victoria), it refers to UsefulNotes/AustralianRulesFootball, which itself can also be called "AFL" after its most prestigious league. But in Queensland and New South Wales, "football" can refer either to Aussie rules or to rugby, which itself can be either UsefulNotes/RugbyUnion or UsefulNotes/RugbyLeague. "Footy" as short for "football" usually refers to Aussie rules. UsefulNotes/AssociationFootball, or "football" in the British sense, is usually referred to as "soccer" like in America, but even then the term "football" can be used to refer to it if the context allows for it (''e.g.'' if Australia are in the UsefulNotes/FIFAWorldCup). "Football" in the American sense is almost always called "UsefulNotes/AmericanFootball" or "gridiron football", even though the occasional Aussie has played in the NFL.

* ''Bunyip'': A mythical beast, the Australian equivalent of the BigfootSasquatchAndYeti (although Myth/AboriginalAustralianMyths have no shortage of weirder creatures). The term "bunyip" comes from ''some'' Aboriginal language, but good luck finding out which one; it's usually translated as "spirit", but a more accurate translation might be "monster". If you ask three people to define a Bunyip specifically, you'll [[AllTrollsAreDifferent get five different descriptions]] -- it can be anything from a little nuisance to UltimateEvil. Some tribes identified the bones of the now-extinct "giant wombat" ''Diprotodon'' as being those of the Bunyip.\\

* ''Hump'': To hump something (usually something large and bulky enough to be held against the torso or slung over the shoulders) is to carry it. To ''get the hump'' is to be disgruntled.

** ''Googly'': A style of bowling where the ball winds up swinging
from the batter's off-side to their leg-side (similar to a slider); metaphorised into describing a deception or unexpectedly-troublesome problem.

* ''Bugger!'': Expression of something gone seriously wrong. Identical to the British and New Zealand usage. ''Cf.'' American "OhCrap". Also used as a commiseration (''e.g.'' "I burnt my dinner last night." "Oh, bugger.")

* ''Gosford skirt'': A DangerouslyShortSkirt. Named after the town of Gosford on the central coast of New South Wales, just south of another town known as The Entrance; the skirt is so named because it [[UnusualEuphemism stops just south of The Entrance]]. The "Gosford gap" is what other places may call a "box gap".

* ''Bodgie'': Formerly, the Australian term for the 1950s Teddy Boy subculture. The DistaffEquivalent is a "widgie."

* ''Chookas'': A term of endearment & drinking toast mostly heard amongst the queer community.

* ''Chookers'': A drinking toast mostly heard amongst the queer community.

* ''Cockie'': A farmer.

* ''Chippie'': A carpenter.

* ''Sparkie'': An electrician, or indeed anyone whose work is in the electricity industry (such as linespeople).

* ''Bung'': As an adjective, broken-down or malfunctioning ("The car's gone bung"). As a verb, to place or put something in somewhere ("Bung your plate in the sink, love)."

The related term "Bunyip aristocracy" was coined by journalist Daniel Deniehy in the 19th century in criticism of attempts to codify an Australian system of titles, suggesting that such an aristocracy did not exist and might as well be a myth. It's still thrown around in modern-day UsefulNotes/{{Australian politics}} at people who have fanciful notions of being an upper-class [[QuintessentialBritishGentleman quintessential gentleman like you see in Britain]], most famously used by (left-wing) Labor Prime Minister Paul Keating at one of his (right-wing) Liberal opponents.

* ''Deadly'': In Aboriginal English, very good or cool. The annual awards for artistic & charitable achievements in the Indigenous community are known as the Deadlies. Similar to Afro-Caribbean "wicked." Don't be surprised if you see this word appear in slogans or adverts.

* ''Drongo'': An idiot or no-hoper. This term is distinctly out of fashion. Supposedly comes from the name of a 1920s racehorse who always finished its races near the back of the field.

* ''Humpy'': A primitive outback dwelling, often no more than a dome-shaped mound made of corrugated iron, hessian sacks, and earth. Cf. British "bothy" or American "cabin".