There are so many words that Australians either pronounce differently, shorten, or just have all together their own slang for. So here are some of the many fun words and phrases that Australians say differently than Americans.
Australian English or the Australian accent comes out of their history of being colonized by England and Ireland in 1788. There was a range of dialects from the various parts of those two countries. Aussie children then eventually grew up speaking a new dialect out of the various ones they were surrounded by.
The Australian accent is non-rhotic, meaning that the “r” is pronounced immediately before a vowel. They also use a lot of elongated vowels and they love to shorten common words. It gives a surfy laid back vibe and makes it really fun to hear them speak.
Pronounced differently
No
Mate
Aunt
Butter
Water
News
Paper
Tomato
Leisure
Vitamin
Letter
Garage
Yogurt
Tuna
Drawing
The Days of the Week
Different or shortened words
Hello – G’day
Breakfast – Brekkie
Afternoon – Avo
Friend – Mate
Man – Bloke
Women – Sheila
Dog – Dogo
Chocolate – Chokkie
Cookies – bikkie
Ketchup – Tomato sauce
BBQ – Barbie
Pickles – Girkins
McDonald’s – Maccas
Take out – Takeaway
Yummy – Yum-o
Pharmacy – Chemist
Sunglasses – Sunnies
Australian football – Footie
Mailman – Postie
Trader – Tradie
Truck Driver – Truckie
Sandals – Thongs
Angry or upset – Cut
Lots or many – Heaps
Fool – Goose
Trunk – Boot
The woods or outside of the cits – The bush
Sick Day – Chuck a Sickie
