After eight months on the road, we both let out a subtle sigh of relief upon landing in our first English speaking country. How nice, we thought, to have conversations more complex than the requisite Where are you from? Where are you going? What am I eating? exchange. We’d be able to read street signs and advertisements. Ask for directions when lost without having to engage in complicated hand rituals. Read labels on items at the grocery store.
For the first few days, our excitement was transformed into delight as our ears were suddenly immersed in the familiar. We could pick up bits of interesting conversation at the coffee shop, listen to the radio news reports and easily navigate our way around.
But then slowly, words that seemed familiar but not quite comprehendible began creeping up around us.
GFC?
Cracker?
Esky?
While Australia sounds like an English speaking country, and technically it is an English speaking country, to our American ears, it’s not quite the English that we were used to. Australians abbreviate EVERYTHING. I’m not sure how they evolved to be the most linguistically lazy people on the planet, but it seems that nothing and no one in Australia is called by its/their full name. The GFC that we kept hearing about on television ads against the newly proposed mining tax? That would be the Global Financial Crisis, Australians’ catch phrase for the worldwide economic recession. A tour guide named Shazza? Her birth certificate says Sharon but no one has ever called her by her given name. Not even her mother.
So here for your amusement (or in case you ever find yourself struggling to understand what an Aussie is saying to you) are a few of our favorite Australian words and phrases, translated for your American English ears:
- How ya’ going? = How are you?
- Love/Mate = Mr./Mrs.
- Bikkie = biscuit = cookie
- Iced Coffee = ice cream coffee float
- Reckon = I guess
- GFC = Global Financial Crisis
- Capsicum = bell pepper
- Beautiful (adjective applied to food) = delicious or good
- Footie = Australian Rules Football
- Cracker = great, wonderful, fantastic
- Esky = cooler
- Joey = baby kangaroo
- Rego = car registration
- Ute = utility truck. Sort of like a 1970s low rider pick up.
- Zebra Crossing = pedestrian crossing
- Mozzie = mosquito
What are your favorite Australianisms (or other isms from the many English speaking countries around the world)? Share in the comments below.
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We met many aussies on our RTW trip and one I just learned this week was, ‘What’s goss?’
Meaning, what is the gossip or news.
I was just at a hostel with some Aussies and Brits and we spent over an hour talking about the differences in what we say (I’m Canadian) my favorite is that rubber boots have a million names throughout the world.
A few we came across on a 5 week overland trip across Southern Africa with Brits, Kiwis and Aussies:
Pants – a terrible occurrence or experience as in “That movie was pants.” It is supposed to mean the incident is akin to messing your pants.
Right dribbler – a person acting in an extremely stupid manner. “That guy is a right dribbler”
(intended to imply that that the person is so impaired they drool on themselves.)
Lairy – Acting crazy, belligerent, or foolish. “The soccer hooligan got all lairy after his team lost.”
Minging – The state of being extremely dirty. “I was minging after that five-hour hike.”
Minger – A very dirty, stinky or ugly person. “Your ex-boyfriend was a total minger!”
Doing my head in – Something that is making you crazy. “These constant traffic jams are doing my head in”
Todd – that those are fantastic addition to the list. I can not wait to get back to Australia, or at the very least get to hang around some Australians so I can drop one or two of them. I think my favorite is minging. I hope to avoid being called that while on our current US camping road trip!