The History Of Australian Slang
“Slang is a language that rolls up its sleeves, spits on its hands and goes to work”, said Carl Sandburg. The slang of every country is quite a reflection of their culture. How people use the words, and how they play with words, says a lot about them.
The heaven down under also has its way of playing with words. Australia has a rich slang, the Australian English that shares a close identification with the British English, though there are a few differences.
It wouldn’t be wrong if we say that the Australian slang is somewhat a reflection of the history of the country. A few of its words are derived from the Aboriginal language, for instance, ‘corroboree’, ‘didgeridoo‘ and ‘boomerang’. The words like gold rushes and bush ranging say a lot about the history of Australia.
The History Of Australian Slang
The vocabulary of Australia is an amalgamation of many other vocabs. The rich vocabulary features words from different dialects of British English, Gaelic languages, Polynesian languages and Indigenous Australian languages.
Karl Lentzner’s Dictionary of the Slang-English of Australia and Some Mixed Languages was the first dictionary of Australian slang which was released in the year 1892.
A very interesting fact about Australian slang is that the words have nicknames. The Australians have a way of shortening the long words and using them in their day to day slang. For instance, “Afternoon” is “arvo, “Swimming trunks” is “swimmers”, “Journalist” is “journo”, “Sunglasses” is “sunnies”, “Mosquito” is “mozzie”, “Postman” is “postie and there are many more to mention. It would take me forever if I mention them all. Dictionary of the Slang-English of Australia and Some Mixed Languages by Karl Lentzner was one of the first dictionaries of Australian slang in 1892.
Another very interesting fact that many of you aren’t aware of is that the word “Selfie” which acquired a position in the Oxford Dictionary in 2013, has its root in Australia. The credit goes to Nathan Hope and Australian who posted this word on an online forum with a picture of his lips. The popularity of this word today is well known.
The Australian slang is not just limited to Australia, it has been influencing the English language for many decades. It is evident by the fact that many Australian English words are getting updated in Oxford’s Online Dictionary.
Also See: Top 10 Slang Words To Try In Australia
Some Words Of Australian Origin
Digger- An Australian soldier
Outback- Sparsely populated, remote area
Jackaroo- An agricultural worker
Fair go-Â A fair deal
Yobo-Â An obnoxious and loud person with no social and behavioural skills
Some Words of Irish and British Origin
The word Sheila is Australian slang for woman. It is derived from the name of Irish Girls’.
Creek, a small river in Australia, is a watercourse that flows into the sea, in England.
Billy is a cooking pot made of enamel or tin with a lid and wire handle. It is usually used outdoors for making tea. The word has Scottish origin, where billy means ‘cooking utensil’.
Must See: Australian Slang and Its Influence on the English Language
Cool Aussie Slang
It cost big bikkies, meaning it was expensive
Rapt as a dunny roll, meaning very happy
Let’s have a Captain Cook, meaning let’s have a look
Mad as a cut snake, meaning very angry
Flat out like a lizard drinking, meaning busy
Australian slang is, what I call “cool” and is gaining momentum worldwide, but the best part is that it is still rooted in its history.
Main Image Source: Wikipedia
Also see: Australian City Life – How Is The Culture Same And Different to Other Cities
