The Illustrated Dictionary of Australian English

Words and Phrases in Afferbeck Lauder

H

had the dick: ruined, busted, worn out, wrecked, no good
This car has had the dick.
hairy goat: a poor racehorse
If a horse runs like a hairy goat it won't be winning any races.
hairy leg: a railway fettler
nsw slang
hack it: deal with, cope
What's wrong mate, can't you hack it?
had it: to run out of patience
That's enough! I've had it!
half your luck!: good on you!
Short for I wish I had half your luck!
aussie slang since the 1930s
hammer: 1 to drive at speed
We were hammering up the freeway.
2 a persons' back
If someone is on your hammer they are following closely.
3 heroin
Colloquially known as smack.
rhyming slang: hammer and tack for back or smack
hammie: the hamstring
Usually referred to in a sporting context, especially footy.
What's happened to that player?
He's done a hammie!
handbag: an attractive male
Used by a woman as a showpiece at social functions.
aussie slang since the 1960s
handbrake: a wife or girlfriend
Referred to as an obstacle to enjoyment.
Davo's not coming, he's got his handbrake on tonight.
handle: a beer glass with a handle
About the same size as a middy or pot (10 fluid ounces or 285 ml).
See beer for more information.
aussie slang since the 1940s
handpass: a skill in aussie rules
In which a player attempts to deliver the ball to a teammate by holding the ball in one hand, and hitting it away with the other, clenched as a fist.
aussie rules
hanger: a mark in aussie rules football
Where the player seems to hang in the air.
aussie rules
hang on a tick: wait for a minute
happy as a bastard on father's day: unhappy, miserable
Possibly the only precise use of the word bastard in aussie english.
aussie slang since the 1950s
happy as a pig in shit: very happy
happy as larry: very happy
A Sydney street fighter named Laurence Foley, later a very successful prize fighter, who became wealthy enough to retire as happy as Larry at the age of 32.
happy chappie: a male who is very pleased
Frequently used in the negative.
His wife left him and he's not a happy chappie.
happy little vegemite: an australian
From an advertising campaign for Vegemite, it refers especially to a young aussie in a good mood
aussie slang since 1954
hard case: 1 a highly individual person
One who will not conform to what others think.
2 a hard drinker
aussie slang since the 1870s
hard stuff: alcoholic spirits
aussie slang since the 1830s
hard graft: hard work
aussie slang since the 1870s
hard word: ask forcefully for something
In the expectation that you will not be refused.
Often used specifically to refer to sexual favours.
The boss put the hard word on the new secretary.
aussie slang since the first world war
hard yakka: hard work
Especially manual labour.
From the aboriginal language Yagara, from the Brisbane region.
aussie slang since the 1880s
Harold Holt ∼ to do a Harold Holt: to bolt, to flee
Referring to the former prime minister who disappeared while swimming in the ocean.
rhyming slang: harold holt for bolt
have a go: to make a gutsy effort
The great Aussie barracking cry.
Have a go ya mug!
have a good head for radio: to have an unattractive head
Similarly: I've seen better heads on a glass of beer.
have a shot: to attack verbally
The boss had a shot at me for swearing.
aussie slang since the 1820s
have it off: to have sex
aussie slang since at least the 1960s
have tickets on yourself: to have an inflated view of yourself
Often displayed in the behaviour of tall poppys who seem to get above themselves.
hay burner: a horse, especially a racehorse
aussie slang since the 1920s
Hay, Hell and Booligal: hot uncomfortable places to be avoided
From the Banjo Paterson poem by this name.
Hay and Booligal are towns on the hot, arid inland plains of NSW.
aussie slang since the 1920s
hay ∼ hit the hay: go to bed

H

head 'em: From the aussie gambling game of two-up.
A person who consistently bets on heads is called a headie, as opposed to a tailie
1 to make the coins land with heads upwards
Come in spinner! Head 'em up!
2 to play the game
I always spend Sunday arvo heading 'em at the pub.
headless chook: to act without rhyme or reason
She was running around like a headless chook!
A chook is a chicken or fowl. aussie slang since the 1950s
heaps: a lot , many
I saw heaps of people today.
heart starter: early morning alcoholic drink
hen's night: 1a party for the bride-to-be
Exclusively for women, it is the female counterpart of the buck's night
2 a girls' or womens' night out together
herbs: 1 engine horsepower
This car has got plenty of herbs
2 fuel
Alluding to hay (fed to horses to give them energy) with a pun on horsepower.
I gave it the herbs and it took of like a rocket.
aussie slang since the 1950s
Hexham grey: a large and voracious species of mosquito
Found in the locality of Hexham NSW.
hey-diddle-diddle: 1 the middle
He's dobbed it straight through the hey- diddle- diddle
2 urination
I'm gunna have hey- diddle- diddle before we go.
rhyming slang: diddle for middle or piddle

H

hide: effrontery or impudence
An aussie original, from Jessie, a well-loved elephant at Taronga Zoo, Sydney.
He's got more hide than Jessie.
Struth, you've got a hide to ask me that! A similar phrase is more front than Myers
aussie slang since the 1900s
High Court: the federal supreme court in australia
high flyer: an adept at taking high marks
aussie rules
Hills Hoist: a rotary clothesline
A proprietory name, it is the standard backyard fixture throughout the country.
invented by lance hill in 1945

H

hoe into: to perform a task with vigour
Specifically, to eat with enthusiasm.
I was caught hoeing into a packet of chips.
aussie slang since the 1930s
holding: carrying a large amount of ready cash
Commonly in the question:
How are you holding?
Meaning: How are you off for cash? Also in the statement:
I'm holding...
Meaning: I'm carrying a large amount of cash.
aussie slang since the 1920s
home and hosed: finished successfully and done with
Originally said of a racehorse, having won by a great length.
Now applied to various situations.
Once we get this fixed we'll be home and hosed.
honky nut: a large gum nut from the marri gum
wa slang from at least the 1950s
hoofa: the game of aussie rules footy
wa slang
hoof it: to walk
The car won't start, we'll have to hoof it.
hooley dooley: exclamation of amazement
hoon: a lout or a hooligan
Especially a young male who drives dangerously, showing off his hotted‑up car.
hoop: a jockey
So called from the circular bands of their silks.
hooroo: goodbye, farewell
“Hooray” was recorded in The Bulletin in 1898 and is also used in NZ.
Unique to Aussie is the unaspirated version ooroo
aussie slang since 1916
hop in for your chop: to step up and take your fair share
hop into it: to tackle with gusto
Don't just stand there, hop into it!
aussie slang from the 1930s
hoppo bumpo: a schoolkids' game
A player with folded srms hops on one leg and trys to knock over other players similarly disadvantaged.
The aim is to bump opponents so that they lose their balance. Last person standing wins.
schoolkid slang since the 1950s
hops: beer
Hence to be on the hops means to be on a drinking spree.
horn bag: a female who is sexually attractive
horrie ∼ hozzo: a large and dangerous wave

Aussie diminutive, from horrendous.
surfie slang
hostie: a female member of an aircraft's cabin crew
A diminutive of airline hostess.
Hosties, along with male flight stewards, were renamed flight attendants in 1983, but the term is still in common use. aussie slang since the 1960s
hotel: often just a pub
hottie: 1 a hot water bottle; 2someone who is sexually attractive, a total hornbag
how're you going?: a greeting
The aussie equivalent of How are you?
How's it going?
How're you travelling?
It does not require a a precise answer.
aussie slang since the 1930s
howzat?: in cricket, an appeal by the fielding side

Made to the umpire to declare the batter out.; cricket slang
Huey: a name for the powers above
Used when encouraging heavy rainfall, good surf, or snow.
Send her down, Huey!
Whip 'em up, Huey!

H

hump: to carry, usually something heavy or bulky
He was humping a sack of potatoes.
To hump the bluey is to carry a swag and seek work.
humpy: rough bush shelter
Originally a native dwelling, made of branches and bark (particularly paperbark), with a standing tree usually used as the main support.
They are often built prior to the construction of more permanent buildings.

The word comes from the Yagara language in the Brisbane region. The term came to mean any temporary building made from available materials, including canvas, flattened metal drums, and sheets of corrugated iron.
aboriginal australian english
hurl: to vomit

aussie acronyms

HMAS: her (or his) majesty's australian ship
HSC: higher school certificate

Welcome to Australia!

This is a peculiar country where the principles of culture appear to have been turned upside down. Australians seem blissfully unaware of the achievements of their intellectuals… yet they will celebrate long dead horses, yobbo sportsmen, and bushrangers.

They often forget the words of their national anthem… yet it would be wrong to say they are not patriotic as a song about a suicidal sheep thief seems to instil them with a great deal of pride.

If they like you, they will not give you compliments. Instead, they might call you names like bastard or drongo — and then laugh at all the silly things you have done. If you have red hair, you might be called Bluey. If you are tall, you might be called Shorty. If you are quiet, you might be called Rowdy.

There is no better way of life in the world than that of the Australian.
I firmly believe this.

The grumbling, growling, cursing, profane, laughing, beer drinking, abusive, loyal-to-his-mates Australian is one of the few free men left on this earth.

He fears no one, crawls to no one, bludgers on no one, and acknowledges no master.

Learn his way. Learn his language. Get yourself accepted as one of him; and you will enter a world that you never dreamed existed.

And once you have entered it, you will never leave it.

Australian history is almost always picturesque; indeed, it is also so curious and strange, that it is itself the chiefest novelty the country has to offer and so it pushes the other novelties into second and third place.

It does not read like history, but like the most beautiful lies; and all of a fresh new sort, no mouldy old stale ones.

It is full of surprises and adventures, the incongruities, and contradictions, and incredibilities; but they are all true, they all happened.
Mark Twain, 1897

first australians

Long before a word of English was ever spoken in Australia, the Aboriginal languages were heard all over the continent.

Each group or mob has its own language, but those languages spoken close to what later became the main centres of European population were those which have had the most influence on modern Aussie English.

Aboriginal words are likely to have been absorbed into Aussie English as local leaders from both native groups and colonists tried to find some tentative common ground; and as the new arrivals sought to find names for the strange new things they were seeing.

Aboriginal words common in Aussie English include yakka, meaning work–common usage is the collocation ‘hard yakka’, and cooee, first used by Aboriginal people calling each other through the bush.

Also of Aboriginal origin is bung, from the aboriginal language Yagara in the Brisbane region, meaning "dead" and by extension "broken" or "useless".

Many place names are Aboriginal — the capital Canberra is so‑named because it means "meeting place" in Ngunnawal, the traditional language of the Ngunnawal and Gandangara peoples.

Commonly used Aboriginal words include many animal names, such as kookaburra, koala, wallaby and dingo.

animals of australia

immigrant influences

Whether convicts or willing migrants, the Europeans who found their way to Australia from the eighteenth century onwards came from a wide range of different groups.

At that time, there were great differences between different British English dialects, so that convicts from different regions of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland would all have spoken very differently.
Some would not have spoken English at all – being Irish or Scots Gaelic or Welsh speakers.

To understand each other, these groups would have begun to create a common language, and words from various dialects would have become part of a new slang and new idioms.

new australians

The children of those early settlers would have been keen to mark themselves out as Australians, rather than Irish or English, and that meant that new accents and speech patterns developed as quickly as the colony itself did.

It was almost as if an informal Australian school of English and Irish arrivals alike had set itself up. Words which found their way into the language via the convicts include tucker, an Irish word for food, and swag a word from the criminal underworld meaning a parcel of goods taken by a thief, but coming to mean a bushman's bag.

the gold rush days

This era brought words such as fossick into common usage.

the bushrangers

Many terms come from the bushranger tradition, such as bush telegraph, bail up, and game as Ned Kelly.

the first world war

WWⅠ added another layer of slang, such as dinkum , meaning genuine or real.

Australian English is peppered with unique slang words and particular types of phraseology such as strine and ocker.

diminutives in australia

The use of diminutive forms of words such as arvo for afternoon or barbie for barbecue is common. Some words, such as ute, from utility vehicle, a car with a tray back, have become universal.

While many languages make use of diminutives, Aussie English uses them extensively – there are over 5,000 identified diminutives in use in Australia.

let stalk strine!

Do you have a Gloria Soame?
What are sex?
What is an egg nishner?
And can you tell me where checque etcher londger ray?

Professor Lauder knows the answers‼

australian gazetteer

From Adavale (Qld) to Zeehan (Tas), this atlas will locate any town in Australia.

the most comprehensive atlas you have ever seen

australian colours

The Australian Independent Colour Standard AS 2700 was created in 1985. It is used in choosing colour schemes in the industrial, architectural, and decorative areas.

AS 2700 in HTML