Who knew we had a national dictionary? Well apparently we do and it received a face lift yesterday to include 6,000 new slang terms for tucker, bronzed aussies, political lingo, local words and phrases, but most importantly it included Indigenous words.
The Australian National Dictionary was initially released in 1988 but the Australian National University (ANU) thought it was about time it reflected and documented the behind the scenes culture of Aussies.
So forget wrestling crocs and riding kangaroos, the real culture lies in the ‘bogans’ and the ‘housos’ eating the legendary ‘chicko roll’ and playing a bit of ‘goon of fortune’ out the back. A long with eastern suburbs mums drinking ‘babyccinos’ in a bid to ‘keep the bastards honest’, as they observe the local ‘ranga’ ‘checkout chick’ serving the ‘tradie’, who looks as ‘dry as a dead dingo’s donger’.
But more importantly Indigenous words such as minga (a tourist), yidaki (a Didgeridoo) and bunji (a mate) were also some of the words to be added. These also included some other terms that were derived from the traditional custodians such as Deadly and Invasion Day.
Here’s a list to help you brush up on your Aussie slang:
Tucker:
Battered sav, boston bun, chateau cardboard, chocolate crackle, copha, dagwood dog, Devonshire tea, fairy bread, kransky, long black, neenish tart, nibblies, short soup, snag, snot block.
People:
Bush baptist, callithumpian, chardonnay socialist, firie, grey nomad, Mexican, Mrs Kafoops, mungo, pube, rurosexual, saltwater people, seachanger, seppo, skip.
Phrases:
Your blood’s worth bottling; do a Bradbury; carry on like a pork chop; couldn’t run a chook raffle; happy as a bastard on father’s day; straight to the pool room; it would kill a brown dog.
Indigenous Words:
akudjura (a bush tomato), bilma (a clapstick), dayang (a heath mouse), gubinge (a kind of plum), jarjum (a baby or young child), kumanjayi (a substitute name for a person who has died), migaloo (a white person), rakali (a water rat), tjukurpa (the Dreaming).
Political Lingo:
Aspirational voter, branch stacking, captain’s pick, Hawkespeak, Howard’s battlers, mortgage belt, negative gearing, scrutineer, tent embassy, true believer, two-party preferred, wombat trail.
Local Terms:
Jennings German (ACT), stubloon (NT), goose club (Qld), double-cut roll (SA), yaffler (Tas), hook turn (Vic), skimpy (WA).
