Strine
words and definitions
| Avagooweegend
| In long
winded English, 'Have a good weekend'. Who needs those unnecessary letters
and spaces?
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| Bath
| The everyday
tub of water in which you clean yourself. To give somebody a bath, though,
does not necessarily mean washing them. It does mean cleaning them up, though,
as in belting them in a game or a fight. To come out in front by a large
margin. 'I'm gonna
give you a right bath, mate!'
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| Bikkies
| The diminutive
form of the word 'biscuits'. Anzac bikkies, Tim Tam bikkies, chocolate
teddy bear bikkies...the phrase 'tough bikkies' implies the same as 'too
bad, put up with it'. We do not have 'cookies' in Australian. The day
we do is the day we've officially given in to American television.
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| Boomer
| An adult
male kangaroo, generally a very big one. Santa Claus is rumoured to exchange
his reindeer for six white boomers when he delivers presents Down Under.
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| Box,
The
| The television.
It's shaped like a box. Often called 'the Idiot Box', the Box is an even
shorter term for it.
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| Buckley's
| Buckley's
chance or none. To have Buckley's is to have very little chance of success.
In 1802 an expedition left New South Wales to reach Port Phillip Bay in
present day Victoria with 300 convicts. One of the convicts was William
Buckley. On Christmas Day, 1803, he and two convicts escaped. They starved
and were never seen again. Until 1835 when a wild man was found with W.B.
initialled on his body. William Buckley had somehow survived living with
aborigines for 32 years and had all but forgotten how to speak English.
His name lives on as a reference to any pursuit that has a forlorn or slim
chance of success or survival.
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Bugger
| Usually
a term of endearment, but can also be used when angry.
'You little bugger!'
'I'll thump the bugger!'
It can also be used
as a verb, meaning to damage something, or to go somewhere. 'Oops...buggered
it up.'
'Bugger off!'
There is also a mysterious
place called 'buggery',
which Australians might tell you to go to if you annoy them too much.
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| Captain
Cook
| Captain
Cook officially discovered the east coast of the Australian continent in
1770 and claimed that entire coast for England, although other parts of
the country were discovered as early as 1606, by the Dutch, no less! Therefore,
he is a prominent figure in our history. He was killed in the Sandwich Islands
(Hawaii) by the natives. In rhyming slang though, his name means something
different. To 'have a Captain
Cook' is to have a look. It can also be shortened
as in 'have a Captain's'.
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| Champers
| Champagne,
or, if you're really feeling familiar, bubbly. Pronounced with a soft 'ch',
not a hard sound.
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| Chook
| Specifically,
a female chicken. Chooks also refer to the entire flock, roosters and chicks
included. Usually called with the repetitive phrase of 'Here,
chook chook chook chook chook!' Any elderly
lady can also be referred to as a chook. In this case, the term can be endearing
or mildly insulting.
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| C'mon
| Another
example of the Strine habit of contracting words. The short, quicker way
to say 'come on'. For those who are familiar with tennis, you've probably
heard Lleyton Hewitt shout it out whenever he wins a point, game, set, match,
bet or fight...heh...go little Lleyton! 'C'mon!'
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| Cornstalk
| Not in common
usage much now, but this used to be an early term for a colonial (anyone
from Australia). Australian born, Australian bred, Long in the legs and
Thick in the head. Also a generally tall person with light hair.
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| Digger
| The quintessential
Australian soldier. Folklore has it the name arose because the ANZACs were
forced to dig their own trenches under heavy fire when landing at Gallipoli
in 1915, hence the name 'Digger'. There are references to diggers in the
earlier Boer War as well. The name could have come from the gold era of
the 1850s as well. The digger is brave, resourceful, cheery, and above all
loyal to his mates, and will follow a man who leads with character, not
class. To earn the nickname 'Digger' is generally high praise indeed.
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| Drongo
| A foolish
person incapable of carrying out any task they are given. This term also
closely resembles a 'galah'. 'He
did what? Aw, the silly drongo!'
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| Duck
| Yes, okay,
it's a kind of water bird that goes 'quack'...but in cricketing terms,
it means being dismissed without making any runs. Score a duck egg (or zero),
and you are out for a duck. Suffer the misfortune or complete lack of skill
to go out without making any runs on the first ball and you are out
for a golden duck. Usually quite embarrassing. Fortunately it was not a
feeling I ever experienced in my one year of junior cricket. Mind you, a
high score of 18 and an average of about 5 is nothing to cheer about either,
but at least when I went out, I had at least made something!
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| Dunny
| The toilet,
the long drop, the throne, the holy seat, Parliament, the crapper, the thunderbox,
the loo, the toot, the little room, and called the bathroom by Americans.
I don't know why. Our bathroom is the place where you wash your hands, brush
your teeth and get yourself clean. Strange ways, eh?
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| Fair Dinkum
| To be 'fair
dinkum' is to be honest and true. It can also be used as an exclamation,
or when enquiring about the truthfulness of a topic. 'Fair
dinkum?'
'Yeah, fair dinkum!'
'Are you fair dinkum?'
'Yeah! He fair dinkum did!'
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| Galah
| A bird of
the parrot family, mainly of pink and grey colouring resembling a cockatoo.
When used in regards to people though, it means foolish or silly.
'Did you see that galah? What
a dill!'
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| G'day
| The great
Australian greeting. G'day is simply a shortened form of 'good day'.
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| Goat
| An often
fiery milk and wool giving animal similar to sheep, although they seem to
prefer blackberries than grass. Any old person may also be referred to as
a goat, not usually politely. Your goat is also something that the actions
of others may get on, or cause to annoy you, and they should really stop
if they don't want you to give them a hiding. 'Your
nagging is really starting to get on my goat!'
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| Goog
| An egg.
Usually used in the phrase 'as
full as a goog'. You can also be called a goog
if you are foolish or silly. It is usually used endearingly in this context.
On a side note, an egg, while being a goog, can also be referred to as a
bumnut.
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| Gutless Wonder
| Anybody who
is particular disappointing, scared or weak-hearted, but who never the less
has managed to survive despite his short comings. If you pull out of something
you may be referred to as a gutless wonder.
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| Hooroo
| Goodbye.
See ya later.
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| House Sports
| In many primary
schools, house sports are held each year. There are four teams, and the
children are assigned to each team for the duration of their time at school.
The houses usually are coloued Red, Blue, Green and Yellow. Occasionally
they are given names as well. Each year the House Sports are held and the
winning colour House wins a pertetual plaque for that year. There name is
engraved upon it, and they have bragging rights until the next House Sports
are held the following year.
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| Howzat
| The generic
cricketing term used to beg the umpire to give a batsman out. Apparently
it's Strine for 'How's that?' but I've never actually heard a cricketer
use that entire phrase. 'Howzat'
is also a pretty cool song by the group Sherbet.
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| Jake
| Okay. Everying
will work out for the best. 'She'll
be jake.'
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| Lofty
| A short
person. Obviously. What's wrong with that? Redheads get the nickname Bluey.
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| Mozzie
| Mosquitos.
Those annoying little insects that whine in your ear when you're trying
to get to sleep on warm nights and then take a hearty suck of blood from
your body. Generally annoying is the common mozzie.
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| Oi!
| A quick
holler or yell to get someone's attention. You should always have
the exclamation mark at the end of any sentence beginning with oi!
'Oi! What's Davey Jones doing
with an icy pole?'
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| Pong
| An unpleasant
smell, although not really foul. There is a definite difference between
saying something pongs and saying something stinks or reeks. And no, it
is not a very early computer tennis game.
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| Pull your
head in
| Stop making
such a spectacle of yourself. To keep out of the spotlight before you do
something you're going to regret later. Basically, you might be told to
do this if you're getting a little too big for your britches...
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| Slab
| A slab could
be several things. It could be the concrete base of a house or shed before
construction, or a term for burying somebody (as in slabbing them or putting
them into the ground with a headstone). More commonly though, a slab is
a carton of two dozen beers. A slab is so much better than a six-pack, and
looks better carried on your shoulder.
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| Snag
| The humble
snag is simply a sausage. They are also known as 'bangers' and 'mystery
bags' because you can never really be sure exactly what meat is inside them.
A staple at any fair dinkum barbie, the snag is a favourite part of a meal,
especially if you're a kid. 'Dead Horse' (sauce) is optional.
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| Struth!
| The great
Australian exclamation. A similar equivalent is 'stone
the crows.'
It's original meaning came from the contraction of 'God's Truth', hence
the spelling. It
is strongest when said on its own, and loses some strength when put into
a sentence. 'Struth!'
'Struth, I gotta go, hooroo.'
It is pronounced
with a hard 'u' sound, not a soft one. As in 'strEWth'. Get it right.
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