Local words and expressions in Australia
Australia coverage currently connects 49 reviewed canonical words and phrases across 1 place: Australia. Each entry keeps its local geography and source context, so inclusion here does not imply that every expression is used nationwide.
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Reviewed words and phrases
Terms appear once on this country hub and link to their canonical dictionary pages.
ambo
In informal Australian English, ambo can mean an ambulance officer or paramedic and can also refer to an ambulance vehicle.
Australia · wordarvo
In Australian English, arvo is an informal noun meaning afternoon, especially in everyday expressions such as this arvo or Saturday arvo.
Australia · wordbathers
In Australian English, bathers is a plural noun meaning a swimming costume, swimsuit, or swimwear; survey evidence shows it is especially common in southern and western parts of Australia.
Australia · wordbikkie
In Australian English, bikkie is an informal noun meaning biscuit, typically a small sweet or savoury baked snack.
Australia · wordbogan
In Australian English, bogan is an informal and potentially insulting label for a person stereotyped as unsophisticated, poorly educated, or socially low-status in dress, speech, taste, or behaviour.
Australia · wordbottle-o
In Australian English, a bottle-o is an informal name for a bottle shop or liquor store that sells alcoholic drinks for takeaway purchase.
Australia · wordbrekkie
In Australian English, brekkie is an informal word for breakfast. Brekky, breaky, and breakie also occur as spellings. The form is strongly associated with Australian everyday speech but is now understood and used more widely in English as well.
Australia · wordcapsicum
In everyday Australian English, capsicum commonly refers to the sweet, hollow green, red, yellow, or orange vegetable that American English usually calls a bell pepper.
Australia · phrasecark it
In Australian slang, cark it means to die, break down, stop working, or fail. The subject can be a person, animal, machine, vehicle, device, or other thing whose life or operation has ended.
Australia · wordCBD
In Australian city and travel language, CBD is the routine abbreviation for central business district: the central commercial and office core of a city, often functioning in directions much like city centre or downtown in other varieties of English.
Australia · wordchook
In Australian English, chook is an informal everyday noun for a domestic fowl or chicken, especially the live bird; the word can also appear in established expressions such as chook raffle.
Australia · wordcossie
In Australian English, cossie is an informal word for a swimming costume, swimsuit, or swimwear garment.
Australia · worddemountable
In Australian school language, a demountable is a temporary or relocatable building, especially a portable classroom installed on a school site to provide additional teaching space.
Australia · worddoona
In Australian English, a doona is a soft quilted bed covering filled with down or synthetic material, broadly equivalent to what British English commonly calls a duvet.
Australia · wordEsky
In Australian English, an Esky is a portable insulated container used to keep food and drinks cold; the word comes from a proprietary name that became widely used in everyday Australian speech.
Australia · phrasefair dinkum
Fair dinkum is an informal Australian expression meaning genuine, true, honest, or the real thing. It can describe a person or thing as authentic and can also be used conversationally to ask for or react to confirmation that something is really true.
Australia · phrasefairy floss
In Australian English, fairy floss is the fluffy spun-sugar confection that American English usually calls cotton candy and British English commonly calls candyfloss.
Australia · wordfootpath
In Australian English, footpath commonly means the pedestrian path beside a road or street—the area that American English typically calls a sidewalk and British English often calls a pavement.
Australia · wordfooty
In Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia, and Tasmania, footy commonly means Australian rules football rather than football in a generic worldwide sense.
Australia · phraseice block
In Australian English, an ice block can mean a frozen flavoured-water confection, sometimes served on a stick, overlapping with icy pole, British ice lolly and North American popsicle.
Australia · phraseicy pole
In Australian English, an icy pole is a frozen sweet treat on a stick, usually made from flavoured water or juice and broadly comparable to a British ice lolly or North American popsicle.
Australia · wordjaffle
In Australian English, a jaffle is a toasted sandwich, especially one cooked in a jaffle iron or maker that presses and seals two slices of bread around a filling.
Australia · wordlolly
In Australian English, a lolly commonly means a piece of confectionery or candy, especially a wrapped sweet that is sucked or chewed; the plural lollies is extremely common in everyday food language.
Australia · wordMacca’s
In Australia, Macca’s is the familiar nickname for McDonald’s and can refer to the restaurant chain, a particular restaurant, or food bought from McDonald’s depending on context.
Australia · wordmate
In Australian English, mate is an informal noun for a friend or companion and a widely used form of address that can imply equality and goodwill. Depending on relationship, position, and delivery, the address term can also be ironic or confrontational rather than friendly.
Australia · phrasemilk bar
In Australian English, a milk bar can mean a small neighbourhood shop selling basic groceries, milk, bread, confectionery, drinks and other everyday items, broadly overlapping with corner shop or convenience store.
Australia · wordmozzie
In Australian English, mozzie is an informal noun for a mosquito. The form follows a productive Australian pattern in which a longer word is shortened and an -ie or -y ending is added.
Australia · phrasenature strip
In Australian street and council language, a nature strip is the public strip of land between a private property boundary and the road or kerb, often grassed and sometimes containing trees, utilities or a footpath.
Australia · phraseno worries
No worries is an informal Australian expression meaning that there is no problem or cause for concern. It is also commonly used as a friendly response to thanks or to indicate that a request can be handled.
Australia · phrasepower point
In Australian English, power point is a common term for the wall fitting or electrical socket into which a plug is inserted to connect equipment to the electricity supply.
Australia · wordrego
In Australian English, rego is the common informal shortening of vehicle registration and can refer to the registration itself, its renewal status, or the registration fee depending on context.
Australia · wordripper
In informal Australian English, a ripper is an excellent, impressive, or especially good person or thing. The word also appears in exclamatory expressions such as you little ripper to celebrate something exciting or successful.
Australia · phraseroad train
In Australian road vocabulary, a road train is a heavy-vehicle combination in which a motor vehicle or prime mover tows multiple trailers; the regulated Australian definition distinguishes road trains from B-doubles and other combinations.
Australia · wordrockmelon
In Australian English, a rockmelon is the melon that many other English varieties call a cantaloupe, typically with orange flesh and a netted or rough-looking rind.
Australia · wordrunners
In Irish English, runners commonly means athletic or casual sports shoes—the footwear that American English often calls sneakers and British English often calls trainers.
Australia · wordsanger
In Australian English, a sanger is a sandwich; the word is an informal Australian alteration of sandwich and can be used for many different fillings and styles.
Australia · phrasesausage sizzle
In Australian English, a sausage sizzle is an outdoor social event or barbecue where sausages are cooked and sold, very often as a fundraiser for a school, charity, club, community group or other organization.
Australia · wordservo
In Australian English, servo is an informal noun for a service station or petrol station—a place where road vehicles refuel and where convenience food, drinks, toilets, and other roadside services may also be available.
Australia · wordshout
In Australian English, shout can mean to pay for or treat someone to food, drink, or another small social expense. In phrases such as ‘my shout’ or ‘your shout’, the noun can mean a person’s offer or turn to pay, especially for a round.
Australia · wordsickie
In Australian English, a sickie is an informal term for a day of sick leave or absence from work on sickness grounds, especially in phrases such as take or chuck a sickie; depending on context, the phrase can imply that the person is not genuinely ill or lacks a sufficient medical reason.
Australia · wordsmoko
In Australian English, smoko is an informal work break or tea break, historically associated with smoking but now often used more broadly for a short rest and sometimes for the food or drink consumed during it. Major dictionaries also record the term in New Zealand English, so Maperla does not treat current use as Australia-exclusive.
Australia · wordswimmers
In Australian English, swimmers can mean swimwear: clothing worn for swimming, including forms that other English varieties may call a swimming costume, swimsuit, or swimming trunks.
Australia · phrasethe bush
In Australian English, the bush commonly means sparsely settled rural or wild country dominated by native vegetation away from major urban areas, with the exact landscape ranging from forest and woodland to other undeveloped country.
Australia · phrasethe outback
In Australian English, the outback means remote, sparsely settled country far from major towns and cities, especially inland rangeland areas; it is strongly associated with central deserts but also extends across semi-arid and tropical rangeland regions.
Australia · wordthongs
In Australian English, thongs commonly means light open footwear with a flat sole and a toe-post or strap between the big toe and the next toe—the footwear often called flip-flops elsewhere.
Australia · wordtogs
In Australian English, togs can mean a swimming costume or swimwear, with especially strong regional use in Queensland and parts of northern Australia; the same swimwear sense is also documented in New Zealand and Ireland.
Australia · wordtradie
In Australian English, tradie is an informal noun for a tradesperson, such as an electrician, carpenter, plumber, builder, or other skilled manual worker.
Australia · wordute
In Australian English, a ute is a light utility vehicle with a cab and an open cargo area or tray; in broad modern use it overlaps with what many other English varieties call a pickup truck.
Australia · wordyarn
In Australian English, yarn can mean to talk or chat, and to have a yarn means to have an informal conversation. The conversation may include stories or gossip, but the ordinary Australian sense does not require a tall tale and should not be confused with culturally specific First Nations yarning practices.
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