Do you know your “yeah, nah” from your “nah, yeah”? Or your “woop woop” from your “wig out”? Australians have long prided themselves on putting their own twist on the English language. Across the English-speaking world, they’ve become famous for their penchant for shortening words like sunglasses to sunnies, swimsuit to swimmers, afternoon to arvo — the list goes on. Australians are famous for coming up with creative slang words and phrases.
And, over time, Aussie slang has become the subject of much entertainment online — with expressions often becoming TikTok trends ( No, Cleo! ) or seeping into popular culture. Amanda Laugesen, chief editor of the Australian National Dictionary, through the Australian National University (ANU) tells CNN Travel many Aussie expressions have roots in British English, but Australian English has also uniquely incorporated words from the country’s Indigenous languages. Fairness and anti-authoritarianism have become a common theme in the lingo as it has evolved over time, Laugesen says.
If you’re trying to apply for citizenship, or just planning to visit the southern land, these are some fair dinkum expressions you’d be nuts to not know. A yarn in Australia is another word for a chat. To have a yarn is simply, to have a chat.
A yarn on its own is a story. For example, someone might “have a yarn for you.” Doing the hard yakka in Sydney.
According to the ANU, yakka means hard work — or strenuous labor. The word was.