OZ Slang

One and a half years have passed and I still don’t sound like an aussie (even a bit!) and I still am having a hard time understanding the accent. Most of my colleagues in my department are either Asian or American so I don’t get to deal a lot with Aussies unless I’m talking or visiting clients which are very rare and on those rare occasions, embarrassingly to say, we sometimes end up writing emails. Every conversation would start with saying hi and followed by how are you or G’day mate (pronounced as Gu die Myt). Australian vocabulary may also differ from American English like a bell pepper is a capsicum in OZ. There are still a lot to learn but below are some lists of Aussie Slang that I hear once in a while:

Arvo: Afternoon

Barbie : barbecue – Aussies love anything grilled, steak or sausage (straight from the fridge), tomatoes (pron with a short ‘a’) etc

Bikkie : biscuit

Boozer : a pub. Bottle shop : liquor shop.

Brekkie : breakfast

BYO : unlicensed restaurant where you have to Bring Your Own grog, also similar party or barbecue. Most restaurants have BYO so you can bring your own wine, drinks, etc

Chewie : chewing gum

Chokkie : chocolate

Chrissie : Christmas

Coldie/Grog : a beer. OZs love beer so much that they even have it during lunch break

Exy : expensive.

Fairy floss : candy floss, cotton candy

G'Day Mate : hello buddy/friend!

Heaps : a lot, e.g. "thanks heaps"

Kindie : kindergarten. To enroll your kid as kindie, they have to be at least 5 yrs old.

Lollies : sweets, candy. Originally, I thought it was lollipop

Maccas (pron. "mackers") : McDonald's (the hamburger place).

No worries: No problem
Postie : postman, mailman

Prezzy : present, gift
Reckon! : you bet! Absolutely! I always here this word!

Sickie : day off sick from work (chuck a sickie = take the day off sick from work when you're perfectly healthy!)

Sunnies : sunglasses

Ta: thank you
Uni : university