DOWN UNDER LINGO or How to speak Australian

When you are in the "Land of Oz" or "Down Under", there are a few words and phrases you might expect to hear. G'day mate! Ow ya goinn'? Orright? - A typical Australian greeting. No worries mate! - A typical Australian reply. She'll be right mate! - A frequently used reply to any problem, big or small. "Too right" or "fair dinkum" could be roughly translated as "you bet". If you travel in the country you are "in the bush" or "outback". If you go a really long way into the bush you might reach the mythical "Black Stump" which is about as far inland as you can go. Any place on "the other side of the Black Stump" is a really long way inland. If you're "roughing it" (camping) with your "swag" (sleeping bag) you could run into a "Joe Blake" (snake) when your having your "tucker" (dinner). Toilets in the bush are usually pretty basic and called "dunnies", never bathrooms which is where you find the bath. If you get lost you are "up the creek" or "up a gum tree"(in trouble). If you meet someone whose a bit crazy, he or she is "a galah". Some one who is clever has "no flies on him/her". An unsophisticated Australian is called an "ocker" or "yobo". A crazy Aussie is "mad as a meat-axe". A dishonest one is "as crooked as a dogs hind leg". In Oz. if a man refers to "trouble and strife", he is talking about his wife. "Billy lids" are the kids. Women are known as "sheilas"; men are "blokes". If you go to the beach, which most Australians do often, watch out for the "noah's arks" (sharks). So "hoo-roo mate" or "ta tar" (goodbye) and remember, always pronounce Aussie as in "mozzie" (mosquito).