Barbie. “Barbie” is a short form of barbeque. In Australian English, “-ie” is also added to lots of abbreviated words. The word “selfie” is a good example of this; it was coined by an Australian man in 2002! How to use it: We're having a barbie tomorrow – do you want to come?
"Barbie" is Australian slang for barbecue and the phrase "slip a shrimp on the barbie" often evokes images of a fun social gathering under the sun.
a young woman or girl thought of as being variously superficial, vacuous, blandly attractive, etc. usually used with mild contempt or derision.
Barbie. (Noun) Abbreviation of 'barbecue'; seldom used in the same sentence as 'shrimp' (which isn't a word Australians use at all, by the way!). “Let's defo have a barbie this arvo.”
Bogan: Australian slang for a person whose speech, clothing, attitude and behaviour are unrefined or unsophisticated.
Let's start with the most common, most well-known, and most quintessentially Australian slang term for girls: Sheila. While everywhere else in the English-speaking world, Sheila is a specific person's name, in Australia it can be used to refer to any woman or girl.
Contributor's comments: The meaning of Bubs I grew up with is a baby, or quite often the youngest member of the family is called "bubs" from an older sibling.
A matilda is a swag, the roll or bundle of possessions carried by an itinerant worker or swagman.
Bloke is a slang term for a common man in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The earliest known usage is from the early 19th century, when it was recorded as a London slang term.
Aussie Word of the Week
This week, our word is tucker. This is some great Aussie slang for food that has been in constant use since the 1850s. The original meaning is of a meal, that is, something to be tucked away (in the stomach).
Cam. "playing with forces beyond your Ken" means "playing with forces beyond your knowledge", which means "you have no idea what/who you are dealing with". "your Ken can kiss my Barbie" is a witty play on words: Ken=knowledge but it is also Barbie's boyfriend: Ken.
Also in Australia, the word bloody is frequently used as a verbal hyphen, or infix, correctly called tmesis as in "fanbloodytastic". In the 1940s an Australian divorce court judge held that "the word bloody is so common in modern parlance that it is not regarded as swearing".
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”.
Is it good or bad if someone calls you a Barbie doll? That's not a bad thing. It just may be the way that person is saying that ur beautiful.
sprog – Semen. Also old Australian term for an infant, as in, "The misses just gave birth to a little sprog", or "The buggar's got 3 young sprogs at home".
Most commonly, stunner is used to describe a person—often not to their face. So, someone who is particularly attractive would be a stunner: “I met this total stunner the other night,” for example.
Australians use a couple of other colloquial words for a hen's egg. The Australian English word googie or goog is an informal term that dates from the 1880s. It derives from British dialect goggy, a child's word for an egg. A closer parallel to the jocular bum nut, however, is the word cackleberry.
If you call it a bum bag in North America or a fanny pack in Australia or the UK, you might get shocked looks or sniggers. To avoid awkwardness, some brands use “hip pack” or “waist bag” instead.
Flip-flops are also called thongs (sometimes pluggers) in Australia, jandals (originally a trademarked name derived from "Japanese sandals") in New Zealand, and slops or plakkies in South Africa and Zimbabwe. In the Philippines, they are called tsinelas.
Ask an Aussie to name a truly Australian word, and they might yell "Bonzer!" Bonzer, sometimes also spelled bonza, means "first-rate" or "excellent," and it is the Australian equivalent of the American "awesome": "It's a good clean game ... and the standard is red hot," Thies said.
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”.
“Bugger” is common in both Aussie and British slang, and vaguely refers to someone or something that is annoying. Calling someone a bugger can be used affectionately or derogatorily. The general expletive can be used in any situation, and roughly means,“F*** off/me” or “Well, I'll be damned!”