G’day mate: making sense of Australian slang

Australia may be an English-speaking country, but even other English speakers can find Aussies hard to understand. While the language is similar to British English, there are lots of everyday words that are unique to Australia.

Here’s our handy guide to the most common Aussie slang words to get you ready for your stay.

Arvo: afternoon

Brekkie: breakfast

Chockers: very full

Crook: feeling sick, e.g. “I’m a bit crook”

Barbie: barbeque; an outdoor stove for cooking meat

Bloke: man

Bottlo: bottle shop, liquor store

Chuck a sickie: take the day off work when you’re not actually sick

Cranky: grumpy

Chrissie: Christmas

Dag: an uncool, but likeable, person

Footy: Australian Rules football

Mob: a group of people

Mozzie: mosquito

No worries: forgiveness or reassurance, e.g. “You’re welcome”, “Don’t worry about it”, “Yes, I can do that.”

Piker: someone who cancels at the last minute or leaves an event early

Postie: postman

Rapt: very pleased

Rellie: relative

Sanga: sandwich

Servo: service/gas station. Also called a petrol station

Squiz: a quick look, e.g. “Take a squiz at this”

Stoked: very pleased

Ta: Thanks