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How to use Australian slang like a local

= Alcohol
Crook = Ill or Sick
Dob = Tell On
Fair Dinkum = Fair enough or that's true
Dunny = Toilet
Blower = Telephone
Sanger = Sandwich
Yewy = U-turn on the road or Turn about in events
Snag = Sausage
Chunder = Sick
Loose = Mashed / Drunk
Smokes = Cigarettes
Heading Out = Going Out
Cane Juice - Bundaberg Rum
Bloody Oath - Bloody Hell

Those are the most common slang terms you'll find in use throughout Australia. As with any country however, do be prepared for slight difference in dialect depending on the region you visit. Slang changes in our own towns and countries on such a frequent basis that I think most of us are able to adapt to such changes pretty quickly these days. Here in England, when I was younger we referred to people who use others for money as "pikey" but now we say "scrounger" or "skank". In America, exactly the same kind of progression takes place year by year. We're all therefore relatively accustomed to having to change and update our vocabulary on a regular basis; we just don't often stop to consider this.

The most important thing to remember in trying to pick up the local dialect is that you need to listen properly when people are talking to you. You'll soon realise that different people are all using the same slang terms in the same or similar contexts which should be enough help for you to then use them yourself.

132077_m Learn more about this author, Eleanor O'Donnell.
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Below are the top articles rated and ranked by Helium members on:

How to use Australian slang like a local

  • by Jimmy Nightingale

    Well, I am a local. True blue, ridgey didge, dinky di, 100 per cent pure Aussie, so it's easy for me. I can just speak the

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  • 2 of 15

    by Jishi Santos

    How to use Australian slang like a local.

    Like a local! Well we are all local and have different ways of communicating English

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  • 3 of 15

    by Barry Williams

    I assume you are a tourist and you want to communicate with Australians using Australian slang. My advice to you is not

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  • 4 of 15

    by Eleanor O'Donnell

    The vast majority of slang terms used by native Australians mirror those used by the English. In particular, abbreviations

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  • 5 of 15

    by Mark Walker

    This is a guide to using Aussie slang like a local. First of all, you must learn to use the word Aussie in the right context.

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How to use Australian slang like a local

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