In one of our previous articles we mentioned a couple of phrases that you will most likely hear (and in time use) when you’re studying English in the UK. And just like British-English, there are some pretty interesting (and useful) phrases in the Australian English dialect.
You can expect to make friends with locals when you’re studying English in Australia and a normal part of a social life is to have a drink or two and socialize. So when one of your Aussie friends approaches you with a question “Want to grab an amber fluid?” note that he/she is asking you if you would like to ‘Grab a beer.”. Now it appears that Aussies don’t shorten everything since ‘amber fluid’ is longer than simply ‘beer’. And where other would you grab that ‘amber fluid’ than in a ‘boozer’ or commonly known as ‘pub’.
Sometimes, if your friends are not available to have a drink with you, you can have a ‘drink with the flies’ or to put it otherwise, you can drink alone. This might not be the best way to do so, however it’s still a ‘beaut way’ (great way) of spending a hot afternoon on the beach. You can sit on the beach, enjoying your ‘grog’ (another phrase for liquor or beer) and enjoy the view. Also, make sure that you wear your ‘bathers’ (swimming costume) or ‘budgie smugglers’ (men’s bathing costume) so you can go for swim every once in while.
At night you might see a group of people gathering around a ‘bush telly’ which is another phrase for ‘campfire’ and enjoying a ‘cook barbie’ meaning chicken barbeque that somebody brought in their ‘esky’ which is a food/beverage container for picnics/barbeques.
We mentioned that you should have your bathers/budgie smugglers when on the beach. Also a pair of thongs and togs won’t hurt either. Under ‘thongs’ we don’t mean women lingerie; among Aussies the phrase ‘thong’ can also refer to cheap rubber backless sandals. And as for ‘togs’ that is also a similar phrase for a swim suit.
During your studies in Australia it might be advisable to visit some of the bigger cities like Sydney or Melbourne which fall into the ‘big smoke’ category since they are big cities.
These are just a few terms and phrases that you might find useful when among Aussies, however you will most likely hear more and different ones that are not included here. If you do, make sure to write them down so you can use it as reminder because the Australian slang can be quite extensive.
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Gostudylink provides English language courses in Australia. Thinking about studying English in Australia? Take a look at our recommended schools in Melbourne and Sydney.