The Ultimate Guide To Aussie Slang For American Tourists

We were waiting at the baggage claim in Newark Airport when I turned to my brother and said "You want to hear something funny? We did all of this traveling over Europe saw the Colosseum, Eiffel Tower, the Red Light District in Amsterdam and so much more. We saw all of these historical landmarks in Europe, yet we learned heaps more about Australian culture than we did about European culture."

Along our journey, we made great friends with a group of Australians who stayed with us throughout half of our trip. Although it was difficult to understand our friend's accent at first, we started to understand more as we spent more time together. For half of our trip we had breakfast, lunch, and dinner with Australians, so naturally, we started to become better at understanding each other's lingo. Below is a list of Aussie slang that my brother and I picked up from our best Aussie mates:

"Reckon"

Another way of saying "I bet," "I think," or "I believe." Although I have never used this word, it was the one word that they used for almost every sentence. For example, I reckon that the best way to get to Movida is to ask the waiter in front of the restaurant.

"Mate/Lad"

A term of endearment used to describe your friends. For example, Sam and Thomo are my good mates.

"Birds"

A word that Australians use to describe females. Someone might say "Hey, Joe, did you see that bird over there?"

"Air Con"

In the States, we usually refer to the Air Conditioning as the A/C but my Aussie mates call it the Air Con.

"A boot"

Refers to the trunk of a car.

"Chop"

Another way of saying "hook up." For example, Tom chopped Catelyn last night.

"I didn't come here to fuck spiders"

An expression that means that you came here for a reason. For example, we were out in Munich and Joe asked us if we wanted to get some beers. Sam replied: "I didn't come here to fuck spiders."

"Piss"

Another word for drunk. For example, "Dylan broke his neck on the sink while he was on the pisser."

"Boog"

Another word for shit.

"Groog"

Another word for alcohol.

"Barby"

The Australian way of saying BBQ. "Thomo told us that Australians don't actually eat shrimp on the barby."

"Holliday"

Another way of saying vacation. For example, Sam said, "We are on Holliday so we might as well lighten up and have some fun."

"Tenner"

Another way of saying a perfect ten. For example, the bird that Joe chopped last night was a tenner.

"Cutting Shapes"

Dance moves. Before we would go out Thomo would ask Joe 'Aye Joey we going to cut some shapes tonight?'

"Welly"

Another word for rain boots.

"Hooning"

Driving crazy. The drivers in Naples, Italy were hooning.

"Ripper"

Real good. After Joe told the bus a joke, Thomo said "that's a ripper."

"Starkas"

Another word for naked.

"Kit"

Clothes.

"Hell For Leather"

To the max. "For fourteen days the back of the bus went hell for leather."

"Bender"

Weekend turn up. Being drunk for a whole weekend.

"Sunnies"

The Australian term for sunglasses. "Joe was very happy bought a pair of sunnies in Florence for 2 euros."

"Budgy Smugglers"

Another term for Speedo. "In France, the men really liked to wear the Budgy Smugglers."

"Franger"

Condom. "Eugene blew up a franger on the bus and started tossing it around right before we left. Nice."

"Choof Off"

To leave. "I wanted to rest up before Amsterdam so I told the mates that I was ready to choof off."

"Gangy"

A woman that sleeps with a lot of men, or, slut.

"Spuds"

Another word for potatoes.

"Cass"

Casino. "There was a $17 entrance fee for the cass in Monte Carlo."

"Shithouse"

Terrible place. "The masquerade party we went to in Venice was a shithouse."

"Cut Snake"

Going all in. AKA going ham.

"Dot"

Asshole. "The other guys on the Contiki tour were a bunch of dots."

"Dots"

Cigarettes.

"Mozzie"

Mosquito. "I didn't have one problem with the mozzies in Amsterdam."

"Kicking Goals"

Doing well. Me: "Thomo, how you doing mate?" Thomo: "Kicking goals."

"Mad Cunt/Top Bloke"

The definition of a big baller. Someone that everyone wants to hang out with. For example, Thomo is a mad cunt because he bought the most expensive bottle of champagne in Movida on the French Riviera.