First Nationslanguages around the country

Words and Phrases

barramundi ∼ barra
a large freshwater fish
barramundi A silvery-grey food fish of excellent quality, Lates Calcarifer is found in coastal rivers and estuaries of tropical northern Australia and the Indo‑Pacific.
bilby
either of two australian bandicoots
bilby Especially the rabbit-eared bandicoot Macrotis lagotis, a burrowing marsupial of woodlands and plains of drier parts of mainland Australia.
There were originally two species but the Greater Bilby is now commonly referred to simply as 'the Bilby' because the Lesser Bilby Macrotis leucura became extinct in the early 1950's.
They feature in the songs and stories of First Nations people, who refer to them by up to 20 different names.
Also known as dalgyte in Western Australia and pinky in South Australia.
billabong
a pool or lagoon
billabong This word translates to:
dead river – when the water flow ceases
with Bila meaning river and Bong / Bung meaning dead.
boobialla
salt-tolerant fruiting shrub
boobiallaBoobialla varies in form from a prostrate shrub to a small, erect tree growing to a height of 6m (20 ft). The purple fruit is edible, and is good for making jams and jellies.
boobook
type of owl
boorie, jarjum
boy, child
brolga
one of australia's largest flying birds
brolga
buka
a cloak
Usually made from kangaroo fur.
bung
incapacitated, exhausted, broken
My car has gone bung.
bunji
mate, close friend, kinsman
bunyip
a mythical man-eating amphibious beast
bunyip
Said to inhabit rivers and deep pools, it is not to be confused with the yowie.
charge-up, charge
drink alcohol
cooee ∼ within cooee
come here, at hand, imminent
Are we within cooee of getting this done?
coolamon
wooden vessel
Used to hold liquids or babies.
corella
white cockatoo
corroboree
sacred or festive assembly
country
land, home
deadly
excellent, fantastic, cool
Deadly is used by many Aboriginal people to mean excellent, or very good, in the same way that wicked is by many young English speakers. She was a deadly spunk in an even deadlier skirt. The word has crossed-over into the speech of white adolescents, especially in the NT. aussie slang since the 1980s
dingo
the native dog
image A wild dog, Canis lupus dingo, brought to Australia about 4000 years ago by Indonesian seafarers. Usually tawny-yellow in colour, with erect ears, a bushy tail and distinctive gait, and with a call resembling a howl or yelp rather than a bark.
Linguists think that the term dingo was only used for the domesticated, camp dog.
See warrigal for the wild animal.
dubbay, dub
girlfriend, female partner
doori ~ doot
sex
galah
a fool , an idiot
imageThe bird referred to is the grey‑backed, pink‑breasted cockatoo Eolophus roseicapillus, occurring in all parts of Australia except the extreme north-east and south-west. Get out of it, you great bloody galah. first recorded in this context in the 1850s
gammon
to lie or tell fibs, to pretend, a fake
This word has survived over the years as a part of First Nation language, from where it has now been re-adopted into Aussie English, epecially in areas close to First Nation communities, such as northern Australia.
gibber
a small stone suitable for throwing
There are a number of similar words for this same item from all over the country, such as gonnie, all of which come from First Nation languages.
goona
shit
Wurundjeri melbourne region
gubba
white person
Usually used derogatorily.diminutive: government ≈ gubba
gunjies
police
gunyah
hut, shelter
Dharuk sydney region
humpy
rough bush shelter
humpy 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 term came to mean any temporary building made from available materials, including canvas, flattened metal drums, and sheets of corrugated iron.
Yagara brisbane region
jarrah
hardwood tree, Eucalyptus Marginata
kaya ⁓ palya ⁓ yaama
hello
koala
a tailless, grey, furry, arboreal marsupial
image The koala, Phascolarctos cinereus of eastern Australia, is about 75 cm long.
Although superficially similar to a small bear, there is no zoological justification for the expression koala bear.
kookaburra
a large kingfisher
image With a cry resembling laughter, the iconic aussie bird.

kumanjayi
substitute name for a dead person
Western Desert central australia
about 600 000 square kilometres
kurrajong
bottle tree
kylie
a term for what is known elsewhere as a boomerang
lingo
language
Watch your lingo in front of the children.
lowan
mallee fowl
luderick
black fish
Gunai
mallee
eucalypts with thick multi-stemmed roots
marlu
kangaroo
kangaroo
marri
red gum ( bloodwood tree ) native to wa
mia mia
hut
Gunai south-east vic
mish
mission
Koori+ others
mob
any group of people or animals
An aboriginal australian english word referring to any group sharing similar interests or peculiarities.
Mob o' sheep
They're a weird mob down in Melbourne.
Ring the mob that fixed our car.
moolah
money
imageWe've got enough moolah for a truckload of piss!
Koori+ others
namma hole
natural well in a rock
nawa
yes
Dhurga nowra to jarvis bay nsw
nulla-nulla, waddy
wooden club, hunting stick
numbat
small, slender marsupial with white stripes on its back
pademelons
a small forest-dwelling macropod
pukamani
funeral rite
Tiwi timor sea nt
quandong
an australian tree of the sandalwood family
image With a red fruit containing an edible kernel.
quokka
a short-tailed scrub wallaby
rarrk
cross-hatching design in art
Yolngu arnhem land nt
shame, shamejob
that's embarrassing
Sorry Business
ceremony and rituals associated with the death of a loved one
tidda
girl, female friend, best friend
Koori+ others
tjukurpa
dreaming, traditional law
Western Desert much of the desert of wa, sa, and the nt
tuart
large hardwood tree, eucalyptus gomphocephala
unna
that's right, yeah
Noongar
Nunga, Ngarrindjeri, Yolngu
wallaby
a small or mid-sized macropod
imageThe young are known as joeys, like many other marsupials.
Adult males are referred to as bucks, boomers, or jacks.
Adult females are known as a doe, flyer, or jill.
A group is called a court, mob, or troupe.
Forest-dwellers are known as pademelons
Although most species are small, some can grow up to two metres from head to end of tail.
Their powerful hind legs are not only used for bounding at high speeds and jumping great heights, but also to administer vigorous kicks to fend off potential predators.
wallaroo
mountain kangaroo
wallawani
hello
Dhurga nowra - jarvis bay
waratah
red-flowering tree ~ emblem of nsw
warrigal
wild dingo
image The term warrigal was applied to any wild animal.
It eventually applied to anyone living in a wild state.
See dingo for the domesticated animal.
wombat
They are sturdy, stout marsupials that grow to about 1.3 metres long and weigh up to 35kg. They are very elusive and rarely leave their burrows before dusk.
wombat Sometimes their burrows are large enough for people to crawl through.
In 1878 a trooper hid in one from the Kelly gang.
Wombat Species
1 the southern hairy‑nosed wombat
Occurs in southern SA, south-eastern WA, and western Vic — the smallest of the three species.
2 the northern hairy‑nosed wombat
Lives in grasslands, and acacia and eucalyptus woodlands — the largest of the three species. It is now one of the rarest animals in the world, with only about 80 northern hairy‑nosed wombats living in central Qld.
3 the common wombat
Occurs in south-eastern Australia. It has coarse hair and a small tail.
wonga wonga
pigeon or vine
woomera
a type of throwing stick
Traditionally used for hunting, with a notch at one end for holding a dart or spear, thus giving increased leverage in throwing.
yabba ∼ yabber
to talk too much
Stop yabbering will ya?
yabby ∼ cherax destructor
a freshwater crayfish
Native to central and eastern mainland Australia, and have been introduced into WA and Tas.
image Yabbies are also known throughout the country as crayfish or simply cray, not to be confused with lobsters or rock lobsters which are marine creatures.
The confusion arises from the fact that rock lobsters are called crayfish in Tas, SA, and NSW.
Known colloquially by various regionalisms australia-wide as lobsters which is shortened to lobby  in Qld, crawbob  in NSW & Qld, crawchie  in coastal Qld & north-east NSW, craybob  in south Qld & NSW, and craydab  in NSW & the ACT.
To the neophyte they are often confused with the yabby and thus their names are used interchangeably.
yakka
hard work , especially manual labour
That was hard yakka, mate.
Common usage is the colloquialism hard yakka , or in the phrase all yack and no yakka , describing someone who talks about what they're going to do instead of doing it.
Yagara/Yuggera brisbane region
yarraman
horse
Yuggera, Wakawaka s.e. qld
yarran
small hardy tree, often used as fodder and for firewood
yidaki
a wind instrument
The instrument was originally used only in Arnhem Land, but became commonly known in Australia as the didgeridoo .yidakiThe Yolgnu word for the instrument has become widely known in recent decades, and was popularised by the music group Yothu Yindi, formed in 1986, whose members were Yolgnu speakers.
Yolngu arnhem land nt
yowie
a mythical beast, an unidentified australian hominid
One of several names for an Australian folklore entity reputed to live in the Outback.
One story about the name, a variant of yahoo, suggests that the creature is a part of the Dreamtime.
Akin to the sasquatch or yeti, and not to be confused with the bunyip.