Someone's mate is their spouse, partner, boyfriend, or girlfriend. Your grandmother's long-term sweetheart is her mate. Awwww. A husband or wife is one kind of mate, and animals have mates too, chosen for reproduction and sometimes to assist in raising babies.
2. “Mate” What does it mean? Another word for friend. Common in Britain as well, but used even more enthusiastically by Aussies, who pepper the ends of their sentences with a longer, stretched out “maaaaate” that conveys friendliness and establishes a relaxed bond between the speakers.
Some people use mate as a way of addressing other people when they are talking to them. Come on mate, things aren't that bad. Someone's wife, husband, or sexual partner can be referred to as their mate.
A mate is a usually a co-worker, buddy or a spouse or lover, but sometimes it might be used to refer to recent acquaintance or even a stranger. But it implies some connection to you, and with that at least a modicum of respect. By itself, it is not disrespectful.
The Australian National Dictionary explains that the Australian usages of mate derive from the British word 'mate' meaning 'a habitual companion, an associate, fellow, comrade; a fellow-worker or partner', and that in British English it is now only in working-class use.
In Australia, the term mate is used a lot. There is a code of ethics in using it correctly, however. These are some guidelines to assist you: Men use mate, women NEVER do.
Friend = the 'neutral' word to describe someone you're close to. Mate = a more informal word for 'friend' (especially among men) and also a term of address for anyone the speaker is on good terms with (in the Commonwealth).
So, 'mate' is British slang for a friend. But, like a lot of British slang, mate is a word that is used as much sarcastically as it is sincerely. You're just as likely to call someone 'mate' when they're your friend as when they're annoying you.
Originally a British word. No “mate” is not commonly used in the U.S. to greet someone, especially a stranger.
Frequently used by adolescents when referring to a man known to them. "Old mate" or "old matey" is a substitute for using the man's name. Interchangeable for "bloke", "guy" or "fella": I saw old mate about signing up for the footy team.
Bunji: Aboriginal English for mate. Eg. “How're you doing bunji?” Corroboree: An assembly of sacred, festive or warlike character.
He loves you. He feels your energy you give out to him which is love. He's in love with you. You are very special to him.
“My research shows the British and Irish working-class introduced most of the swearing we have in Australia,” Krafzik says. “It was cemented in those early colonial days.” The British officer class tended to rotate in and out of the colonies. The working-class settlers – and convicts – stayed.
Mate/pal work just fine for ladies as long as they actually are your friend: best of mates, we're just mates, pals together and so on, but, mate/pal doesn't work as well as it does with men when the woman you are apologising to is unknown to you.
Mate The basic meaning in colloquial English of Britain and Australian is friend. It is usually masculine. The American equivalent is buddy. These two words can be used directly to a person known or unknown.
Mate is UK and Australian - as a form of address it words like "Dude". Someone hands you something you dropped in the street, you'd say "Thanks mate!".
Mate is another synonym for friend that you can use even if you don't know the person.
In Australia, a 'mate' is more than just a friend and is a term that implies a sense of shared experience, mutual respect and unconditional assistance.
But in his new book Mateship: A Very Australian History, Dr Dyrenfurth traces the term back to the very first white Australians - the convicts. "The convicts brought with them from Britain the term mate, and they used it amongst themselves," he said.
Aussie Nicknames for Girlfriends and Wives
There are many terms of endearment that can be used for the woman in your life - sweetheart, angel, boo, love, bebé (the latter nicked from Spanish nicknames).
Gubbah, also spelt gubba, is a term used by some Aboriginal people to refer to white people or non-Aboriginal people. The Macquarie Dictionary has it as "n. Colloq. (derog.) an Aboriginal term for a white man".
Pap(a) is also found as 'mother', mainly in Victoria. Other kinship roots (for grandparents) have been shown to have a split distribution with one root dominating in the east and one in the west for what is apparently a single proto-meaning.