Aussie, Aussie, Aussie - Oi, Oi, Oi!!

Alright kids, I've been collecting Aussie sayings & slang on post it notes on my desk for 2 weeks now (creepily writing down words and phrases as I over hear them in the office, kind of like overheardinny.com), and I think I'm ready for the 1st installment of Aussie Lingo. I'll try to put some asterisks by some sayings, as some of them may be trademarked by Jake 'Joy' Tucker, AJ 'Turn it Up' Kwong & Dan 'Bish Bash Bosh' Smith, and not Oz as a whole...but still they're too good not to add to the list.

'Cheeky' - one of my faves, because it's so versatile, and can be used in a lot of different instances...cheeky beer, cheeky coffee, cheeky little monkey, def - bold, imprudent & saucy.

'Dodgy' - another fave, can be used to describe many things.

'Bogan' - maybe a little 'trashy'...officially described on an Aussie site as 'person who takes little pride in his appearance, spends his days slacking and drinking beer', eg. Loren was telling Jake there were a lot of bogan people at the zoo. Jake's response, 'were they American?' my response - 'eye roll' - pretty universal....think he got it.

'No Dramas', or 'Shouldn't be a Drama' - Obviously interchangeable with no worries or no problem, but no dramas sounds just a bit better....I'll let you know if I have any dramas. Alan Cumming had a skit talking about a lady down in Melbourne that had one word answers for everything, mostly 'No's, and then at the end wrapped the conversation up with 'Shouldn't be a drama'...in her thick Aussie accent.

'Heaps' - Thanks heaps, heaps to do, heaps of fun...works in place of a lot or tons.

'Bits & Bobs' & 'the Whys & Where hows' - these may be a Dan Smith special - but I think it means the odd & ends and ins & outs of jobs...ie. 'I don't want to get into the whys & where hows'

'How you going?' - general greeting, similar to how are you, or how are you doing...but 'how you going?' - still throws me off a bit. :) and the reverse, 'What's doing?' - similar to 'what's going on?' or 'How's tricks?' - more of a Dan / English saying, but still used by other 'Blokes' too :)

'Touch wood' - AKA 'knock on wood'

'Done as Dinner' - Done & Done

'G'day Mate' - yup, actually used here. More often just 'mate' is used though.

'Give me a Bell' - as in 'Give me a bell this weekend' vs give me a ring or a call at home.

'Captain Cook' - translates to "I'm going to go have a look at ____' or go check something out.

'Esky' - is a cooler, think cold climates & eskimos I guess...similar to 'kleenex' in the US where the brand name becomes the generalized trademark for something.

'Arvo' - means afternoon - when making plans to go to the beach in the arvo, or arvo drinks. Or what are you doing this arvo? (hmm...not quite sure the first time I heard it since, I didn't know what avro was..) :)

'Piss' - Drunk. 'hit the piss', 'sink some piss', 'get pissed'...also see 'piss off' or 'rack off', I've heard this one in England before too - thinking it was a British saying.

Speaking of Brits - 'Poms' - British people, 'Yanks' - Americans.

'Skoll it' - pronounced 'skull it' - means to chug.

'Get this place humming' - get the party started.

'Boardies', 'Swimmers', 'Cossies' (as in swimming costumes) & 'Bathers' - all terms for swimsuits - but I'm yet to hear anyone say the word swimsuit once.

'Frothed out' or 'Frothing at the mouth' - totally excited / super jazzed.

'I reck' or 'I reckon' - just like it sounds - but not coming from a Southern Bell, used in everyday conversation.

'Just as an aside' - side note.

'Killin' it' - similar to rocking out.

'Barbie' - BBQ - as in 'put another shrimp on the barbie' - yup, real deal.

'Fair dinkum' - kind of like the 'real deal' I think, or a statement of confirmation, being sure no one's pulling your leg, like, 'no, really?'

'Devo', 'Amaze', etc. - basically any word that can be abbreviated, is. 'I'll be devo if we don't get tickets' - 'that would be amaze' - devastated, amazing...no need to finish the whole word.

'Rude not to' - used kind of as a confirmation, or a 'let's do it' - like, 'You reck we should?' 'it'd be rude not to'

'Joy' **- think this is more of a WA or Perth saying, or maybe just a Jake Tucker saying, but I've adopted it thanks to Jake, Loz & Bron - it just means great or amazing. You can describe anything as being 'joy' though - food, wine, clothing, situations ie. 'This wine is joy' or 'You think we should go to the beach this arvo?' 'Oh - the beach would be joy.'

'Turn it up' **- Definitely an Australian saying, but a favorite of AJ Kwong's, so I think of it more as an AJ-saying. 'Oh, turn it up' - kind of means, 'get serious' or 'get out of town' if someone says something ridiculous to you, auto response - 'turn it up.'

'Bish Bash Bosh' **- This is a Dan Smith special - an English saying - I had to look it up online for a good definition - it's used to describe the efficiency of a process you have just explained, ie 'So there you have it. Clutch down, 1st gear, handbrake off and you're away. Simple as that, bish bash bosh.' Big fan of this one!

I'm heading up to Queensland this wknd, so I'll report back if I hear new slang from any of the 'Banana Benders' (def - Queenslanders) up that way.

But if your thirst for Aussie slang still isn't satisfied...check out more here: http://www.koalanet.com.au/australian-slang.html