While some Australian speakers would pronounce “no” as a diphthong, starting on “oh” as in dog and ending on “oo” as in put, others begin with an unstressed “a” (the sound at the end of the word “sofa”), then move to the “oh” and then “oo”.
Yeah, nah – 'yes, no' - became popular in Australia in the 90s and has continued to grow in use, both in Australia and overseas. Like all good things, the Kiwis claim it as theirs too, even using it for a major drink driving campaign.
If you say “no” with an extra syllable or two, chances are you are actually saying naur, an Australian-ism defined by its listeners, not its speakers, which continues to be one of the internet's favourite jokes.
The Australian accent is non-rhotic
The Australian accent is for the most part non-rhotic. This means that the pronunciation of the /r/ sound will never occur at the end of words.
Righto. Delivery is key here; it can mean “OK”, “Right, let's get going” or “I understand, but I'm not sure I believe you”.
While some Australian speakers would pronounce “no” as a diphthong, starting on “oh” as in dog and ending on “oo” as in put, others begin with an unstressed “a” (the sound at the end of the word “sofa”), then move to the “oh” and then “oo”.
"When you tell an Australian that there's an 'r' in the way we pronounce 'no' they're like 'Mmm… no, there's not,'" says Hume. That's because the Australian accent is non-rhotic, so an "r" isn't pronounced unless it comes before a vowel.
Zed is widely known to be used in British English. But it's also used in almost every English-speaking country. In England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Australia, India, Canada (usually), and New Zealand, Z is pronounced as zed. It's derived from the Greek letter zeta.
Strewth! A common word that Aussies use to express surprise, exclamation or disappointment. Similar to saying, “oh my god!”, for example. The more you use it, the more familiar you'll become with it.
Cheeky: Used widely in Aboriginal Australia, the word cheeky isn't only used to refer to insolence but also behaviour that is dangerous. A dog prone to biting people, for example, would be described as “cheeky”.
(UK, Australia slang, as a tag question) Contraction of isn't it. That's what I said, innit? (UK, Australia slang) Used as a replacement for any negative tag question, irrespective of person, number, and verb.
Sheila = Girl
Yes, that is the Australian slang for girl.
No worries is an Australian English expression, meaning "do not worry about that", or "that's all right". It can also mean "sure thing" and "you're welcome". Other colloquial Australian terms which mean the same thing include "she'll be right".
Break 'okay' down into sounds: [OH] + [KAY] - say it out loud and exaggerate the sounds until you can consistently produce them. Record yourself saying 'okay' in full sentences, then watch yourself and listen.
Hug an Australian Day is an international holiday celebrated every year on April 26. The idea is really simple; share a hug with an Australian friend. A hug is a physical display of affection.
Like the equivalent Australian term of “mate”, “bro” can be applied to all manner of people, with the difference in meaning only distinguishable by tone. There's “good to see you bro”, which should be taken as a friendly greeting.
Bludger. (Noun) A lazy person. “I'm running around like a headless chook organising this bloody barbie, and Johnno's just sitting there like a bludger!”
Why did Z get removed from the alphabet? Around 300 BC, the Roman Censor Appius Claudius Caecus removed Z from the alphabet. His justification was that Z had become archaic: the pronunciation of /z/ had become /r/ by a process called rhotacism, rendering the letter Z useless.
Australian English follows British spelling very closely but many common words are spelt differently in American English. Despite being spelt differently, the meaning of the word is the same. Australian and American English have different ways of spelling certain words, such as those ending with 'yse' or 'ise'.
Australians speak fast, 'chew' words and skip pronunciation of letters – combine this with their penchant for slang and abbreviations, and you have a language that's quite difficult to comprehend!
Swearing: Swearing is more common in Australia than in many other cultures. Television programmes are less censored and mainstream society is largely desensitised to words that foreigners may find vulgar. It is normal to hear an Australian swear at some point during a conversation.
Australian English can be described as a new dialect that developed as a result of contact between people who spoke different, mutually intelligible, varieties of English. The very early form of Australian English would have been first spoken by the children of the colonists born into the early colony in Sydney.