Aussie Word of the Week Brace yourself for the cultural cringe. Out first word is crikey. This euphemism for the blasphemous exclamation Christ! isn't exclusively Australian but was taken on board by Aussie swearers with great gusto and could now be said to belong to Aussies.
Crikey. An exclamation of surprise.
Crikey. What it means: An expression of surprise. Nothing is more Australian than the word "crikey" — especially since it's associated with our beloved Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin (may he rest in peace).
"Crikey" is a "very British expression of surprise," according to the online English-to-American Dictionary at www.english2american.com. The Web author says, "A contributor tells me that he reckons it's derived from 'Christ kill me.
Crikey. It's similar to shouting "blimey!" to express surprise or shock. Steve Irwin popularised it. "Crikey, that's a huge spider!" - this means that the speaker is surprised or scared by the size of the spider.
Crikey. Some may argue that this isn't a swear word, but it's an important English word to recognized nevertheless. Crikey is often used to show astonishment and surprise, similar to the way the word 'Christ!' is used.
“Cripes” and “Crikey” are very British expressions of mild astonishment. They may be a euphemistic corruption of “Christ” or “Christ kill me.” “Crikey” is also very common in Australia and New Zealand — perhaps even more so than in Britain. Example: “Cripes! I've never seen a fish that large before!”
Crikey is an Australian electronic magazine comprising a website and email newsletter available to subscribers.
Interjection. (UK, Ireland, Newfoundland, Australia, New Zealand) An exclamation of astonishment. Crikey, mate, that ain't a knife, this is a knife!
Aussie Word of the Week
So if you did your fair dinkum, it meant you did your fair share of the work. Nowadays, it means true, honest and genuine and is often used accordingly.
People from Australia call their homeland “Oz;” a phonetic abbreviation of the country's name, which also harkens to the magical land from L. Frank Baum's fantasy tale.
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.
Australian. Edit. In Australia the word Minge refers to the female pubic hair and gets its name from the combination of the words Moot and Fringe.
The word Australia when referred to informally with its first three letters becomes Aus. When Aus or Aussie, the short form for an Australian, is pronounced for fun with a hissing sound at the end, it sounds as though the word being pronounced has the spelling Oz.
Chook: A chicken. In the show, it's wonderfully used in the phrase “made you look, you dirty chook.” See also: “Bin chicken,” an uncharitable name for the ibis, a bird whose long beak can make quick work of a rubbish bin. Dunny: A toilet, traditionally outdoors but more commonly now indoors.
Although the term "bogan" is understood across Australia and New Zealand, certain regions have their own slang terms for the same group of people. These terms include: "Bevan" or "Bev" in Queensland. "Booner" in Canberra.
Chewie: if someone asks you for some chewie, they're looking for a piece of chewing gum. Chuck a sickie: a worker who decides to take a sick day when they're actually in perfect health is chucking a sickie.
Yeah, nah. Kiwis are exceptionally agreeable, so even when they want to disagree with you, they'll throw in a "yeah" as well. Basically, "yeah, nah" is a non-committal way of saying no. As in: "Do you want to go for a hike this weekend?" "Yeah, nah, I'll think about it ay."
Australia in French is "Australie" and it is a feminine country.
Pronunciation. In Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, the word is pronounced /ˈɒzi/, hence the alternative form Ozzie; however, in the United States, it is most often pronounced /ˈɔːsi/ AW-see.
Aussie. Meaning: (Noun) Simply put, it's short for Australian. It is one of the most common words people use to refer to Australians, not only in Britain but in other parts of the world as well.
Bloomin'/Flamin': Adjectives, or words used to exaggerate something. Such as, “Wow!
The Australian accent got established fairly early and the majority of its influence seem to have come out of the English accent of the convicts and influences by Naval English and the Irish.
Early European settlers to Australia — many of whom were convicts — were from all over Great Britain and Ireland, and their speech patterns blended to form the new Australian accent.