"Couldn't organise a root in a brothel" is the standard description of someone deemed incompetent. It's often spiced up by adding "with a fist full of fifties" to the end of it.

@1949cr

2 ай бұрын

It's a "root in the Mallee" to us Victorian's. Once the most common vegetation in that area.

@shaneannigans

2 ай бұрын

I use this with the "fist full of fifties" addition quite often 😂

@gregiles908

2 ай бұрын

With a rager and 10 bored girls winking at him

@TheZeroAssassin

2 ай бұрын

I tend to go with "Couldn't organise a root in a monkey whorehouse with a handful of bananas"

Want to impress an Aussie then slip in a reference from the the movie "The Castle" Favourites are : "That's going straight to the pool room" "Tell him he's dreamin" "Dale dug hole" “how's the serenity?” "He's an ideas man" "It's the vibe" Pays to watch the movie for context.

@robertmorris6529

2 ай бұрын

Aahh , so that's where Albo got his idea for Referendum reasoning from !

@roadie3124

2 ай бұрын

I love that film.

@carolinegawecki668

2 ай бұрын

Not forgetting, what's this love, chicken...

@jusjohnson6410

2 ай бұрын

@Dug6666666 One of my favourite movies of all time, without a doubt! So utterly quotable..😂 I've been known to say these 4 phrases (and all yours too, lol) rather frequently ~ "It's Mabo" "It's what you do with it, Luv" "Jousting sticks???" "Its good luck, if the trunk is up"

@shegocrazy

2 ай бұрын

'kn oath you're right.

Legend has it that Bob Hawks (our Prime Minister in 80s) said at a high level government meeting in Japan, “We’re not here to buggerise around”. That phase was then translated in Japanese as, “The Prime Minister’s delegation is not here to have homosexual sex”. Aussies; refining the English language since 1901…

@sharonjack6815

2 ай бұрын

And the time he referred to employers as ‘bums’ when Australia II won the Americas cup if staff were chastised for taking a day off

@hardy9429

2 ай бұрын

I think it was "play silly buggers"

@CBM_Walks

2 ай бұрын

@duckmcf (can't be more Ozzie than that name lol). You're close enough. Exact: "I am not here to play funny buggers with you". Translated as, "I am not here to play laughing homosexuals with you." That's from The Age, & other News mobs have very similar. "laughing" is dropped out a lot tho. So may not have been said. Worth checking out that Age Article. Funny things in it; Title Foreign affairs to remember. By David Humphries. September 1, 2007 Was a "Queensland senator,.. two Finnish diplomats... an attractive Australian woman pursued by an unwanted suitor" & whatever you think that story might be, it goes completely elsewhere lol (& it is a lol).

@duckmcf

2 ай бұрын

@@CBM_Walks Thanks for the correction. I didn’t think had that quote exactly right…

@carolcox302

2 ай бұрын

Whatever he said, the translation is wonderful. 😂Poor Japanese.

We’ve been teaching my new boss from Singapore some slangs and she’s been getting the intonation right and all. We’ve had some exasperating dealings with colleagues who failed to deliver on some minor tasks. I was so proud when she said, “They couldn’t organise a piss up in a brewery!” 😂

@sharonjack6815

2 ай бұрын

We’ve always said couldn’t organise a root in a brothel

@christopherharvie8716

2 ай бұрын

A less crude version of that is “couldn’t organise a cake stall/meat raffle”

@4abetterfuture

Ай бұрын

@@christopherharvie8716 + chook raffle

@MrCros1970

Күн бұрын

@@christopherharvie8716 or the ruder version "a root in a brothel"

Think of a lizard drinking, not walking. To drink, a lizard has to be flat out on it's belly. So, hence the term, flat out like a lizard drinking.

@JulianFlorance

2 ай бұрын

Some lizards/amphibians absorb water through their skin so when they're really thirsty/exhausted they'll flatten out in a pool of water to rehydrate.

@Janine-rl1ix

2 ай бұрын

Yep. Nothing to do with speed- when lizard (pretty low to the ground anyway) gets down for drinking -now THAT’S flat out.

@gardenersgraziers7261

2 ай бұрын

FLAT OUT = LOOK at the Lizards Tongue = IT is Flat Out Going Like the Clappers

@AussieFossil

2 ай бұрын

The phrase alludes to the rapid tongue-movement of a drinking lizard. It's not meant to be a yeah/nah thing. Small lizards run very fast and do everything fast, especially drinking, to get back into hiding from predators A.S.A.P.

@Quasnob

2 ай бұрын

Thank you. Needed to be said.

Can't add a comment right now because I'm "busier than a one legged man in an arse kicking contest".

@jusjohnson6410

2 ай бұрын

😂🤣 Cassic! Lol

@NoMusiciansInMusicAnymore

Ай бұрын

Have you been busy have ya?

@jimmiepoggin

Ай бұрын

One armed paper hanger with the crabs!

@hogtownhenry

Ай бұрын

Or a one legged tightrope walker or a one armed piccolo player.

Am a Queenslander who emigrated to Tassie (climate change refugee), and heard a good comeback to the "two heads" which is "You must be a mainlander because if you had two heads you wouldn't have chosen that one."

@BushTerrors

2 ай бұрын

Gold

@politicfish925

2 ай бұрын

Climate change is fake and ghey

@keithad6485

2 ай бұрын

Good comeback! Said to an NZ Kiwi one day, 'so you are from the eighth state of Australia?' He replied, 'Ahh, you must be from the West Island.'

@roadie3124

2 ай бұрын

40 odd years ago, I was working in a team doing a 5 year IT strategic plan for a major company in Bell Bay. I asked one of the local guys why most of the office people wore roll-neck sweaters. Quick as a flash he responded with "It's to hide the operation scar" (where the other head was removed). He then told me that most of the people working for the company had small farms where they kept sheep and goats. 🤣

@siwelb08

2 ай бұрын

@@keithad6485 They’d’ve done well to also point out to you that Australia only has six states 😄

"Mad as a cut snake" has to do with mad = angry, not mad = crazy.

@hardenbergia

2 ай бұрын

Yes, my thoughts too. "Mum is as angry as a cut snake!" Means we broke a window playing cricket or stepped on her petunias. Snakes can be angry, but a snake that has a cut would be furious!

@siwelb08

2 ай бұрын

My grandma used to use it to mean crazy; she’d use it in the same rant about someone she thought was ‘cuckoo’, as in ‘mad as a hatter’ and ‘mad as a two-bob watch’, and yes, I heard such a rant once. When I think of a cut snake, I think of it writhing around like, let’s say, a committed mental health patient on a bad day.

@1949cr

2 ай бұрын

Yeah my thoughts too. Pissed off is close.

@davidkelly3779

2 ай бұрын

Nah, it really does mean they are crazy. You city folk are so funny!

@1949cr

2 ай бұрын

​@@davidkelly3779 why would a cut snake be crazy? It refers to the thrashing around of a snake. Cold blooded means it takes forever to stop thrashing around.

‘Shit me to tears’ is another good one.

@VanillaMacaron551

2 ай бұрын

Was that a song?

@rhonafenwick5643

2 ай бұрын

@@VanillaMacaron551 Yep, by The Tenants. Top tune :)

@shaunstelfox1718

2 ай бұрын

It's one I use all the time

@simonbutler6019

2 ай бұрын

He needs a vegimite sandwiche

@emceeboogieboots1608

2 ай бұрын

​@@rhonafenwick5643FFS, gimme a break😂

A favorite of mine: "Come on, were not not playing for sheep stations here.' Means relax and stop taking what we are currently doing so seriously.

@danielponiatowski7368

2 ай бұрын

wasnt that from that board game, squatter or something. like monopoly but with stations etc.

@Boom0640

2 ай бұрын

Yeah it was Squatter l played when l was a kid..hated it because of all the sheep pieces? But not sure if it came from that?

@garthpetch4173

2 ай бұрын

@@Boom0640 Pre-dates Squatter. I heard it first from my father (born 1915) shilst playing penny Poker with his mates and somebody taking time to decide whether he should call

@johnwatters6922

2 ай бұрын

I think it originated around the time of the Korean War when the price of wool skyrocketed to "a pound for a pound" or about $55 per kg in today's money. Sheep stations were suddenly hugely profitable.

@onarandomnote25

2 ай бұрын

Then there's the opposite: "C'mon mate, we're not here to f**k spiders"

One of my favs is "don't p155 in my pocket and tell me it's raining".

@terrychapman5466

2 ай бұрын

"don't p155 in my pocket" also means "Don't butter me up"

@leecarter2900

21 күн бұрын

This is one of my faves as well and you dont gt a whole lot more Oz than that.

"Way to buggery" is an expression used by older Australians when travelling to a place that's a long way away as in "This place is way to buggery". My mother uses it all the time.

"Ahh for f**ks sake" is one of my personal favourites. 😂🇦🇺

@Boom0640

2 ай бұрын

Haha..mine to..and l don't really get it??

@johno9507

2 ай бұрын

@@Boom0640 Me either, just one of those things that rolls off the tongue when something bad happens. 😀

@geoffcapper5025

2 ай бұрын

@@Boom0640 it would be a creative adjustment of "for Christ's sake", asking for divine intervention, which we use a lot as well.

@Boom0640

2 ай бұрын

@@geoffcapper5025 Yeah agree l reckon one is used for a depressive moment the other for that bloody frustrating moment...

@gregwilson6306

2 ай бұрын

Another one is " it's like trying to put a pound of butter up a a cat's arce with a feather"

Another slang term for being busy is: "running around like a blue arsed fly". My Mum used to say that but I think it's not really in use any more. Whatever a blue arsed fly was, I'm sure it moved really fast. One of my favourite slang terms is: "I'm so hungry, I could eat the arse off a low flying duck!" 😂

@JustJokes-bw4fs

2 ай бұрын

From Google....If one is running around like a blue-arsed fly you are not running around in the same way the fly would run around, but you are running around in the way the fly will fly around- hectic, hurried, noisy, maybe a little annoying and typically not - as far as one can tell - getting much done.

@baabaabaa-yp2jh

2 ай бұрын

A Blue Arsed Fly is a blowfly mate🪰... Australias National Bird.

@ozboomer_au

2 ай бұрын

Also, both in Oz & in the UK, there are bluebottle (blue, duhh) & greenbottle flies- their tail ends are the colour.... 😊

@sevysnape

2 ай бұрын

I've only ever heard so hungry I could eat the crutch out of a low flying duck, or so hungry I could eat a horse and chase the jockey

@MajorMalfunction

2 ай бұрын

@@baabaabaa-yp2jh The "Dunny Budgie".

Being English & living here for over 40 years.....I’ve heard so many Aussie slang sayings.....one of my absolute favs & there are so many this one ‘cracks me up’ Short arms, long pockets’ means the guy doesn’t but his round of drinks when it’s his turn....& finally in the same vein ‘Wouldn’t shout if a shark bit him’......thank you....

@Jackripster69

2 ай бұрын

lol yes both good old pub classics those

@philcrowley

2 ай бұрын

And for those thta lack generosity, "If he was a ghost he wouldn't give you a fright."

@jemfly1062

Ай бұрын

​@@philcrowley A beaut, that! And what about 'So mean that he wouldn't give you a light for your pipe if his house was on fire'.

My favorite, and funniest thing I've heard an old man say, was directed towards the town gossip who was walking toward us with a beaming smile.. Old mate says "oh here he comes.. the fkn galloping earwig". 😂😂

"As crooked as a dog's hind leg", was a popular one when my father was talking about politicians.

@erroneouscode

2 ай бұрын

and car salesmen.

@kwakagreg

2 ай бұрын

​@@erroneouscodesome people said as straight as a dog's.......

@mr-mysteryguest

2 ай бұрын

My mum used to say that about parking...

One of my favourites…when something is very obvious……it is said to stand out like dogs balls.

@sevysnape

2 ай бұрын

I've only ever heard 'sticks out like dogs balls'

@geoffc5196

2 ай бұрын

@@sevysnape Yes I’ve heard that too. Never sure which it should be.

@liamgross7217

2 ай бұрын

If it’s good. “A ball tearer”

@robbieoneil5945

2 ай бұрын

@sevysnape, We used to say to people that are always trying to stand out in a crowd & constantly want to be the center of antention all the time by wearing flashy Clothes like a bright yellow or Red suit or even flashier that it looks like it was made from their Grandmothers' loungeroom carpet that "YOU STICK OUT LIKE A SHITHOUSE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SIMPSON DESERT".

@glenohara6563

2 ай бұрын

stands out like dogs ball on a cat.

I gave a French mate who was working here for a couple of years a book containing a thousand different Aussie sayings. He opened to a random page and it read "I have been running around like a fart in a colander looking for a hole to get out" which obviously went right over his head. Once I explained it he absoulately cracked up and for the rest of his time in the country (and probably after he went home) he looked for any opportunity to drop it into a converstaion. People got more laughs from watching him than the actual saying itself as he had no idea of context he would even drop it places like management meetings.. Lucky he didnt open the book to the page about the spiders or his visit may have been shorter.................

@carolcox302

2 ай бұрын

🤣🤣🇦🇺🇫🇷🤷‍♀️

'A few roos loose in the top paddock' meaning mad, mentally ill, out of control.

@freeman10000

2 ай бұрын

My favourite 😊

@mariaobrien1747

2 ай бұрын

a few snags (sausages) short on the barbie;

@Steve21945

2 ай бұрын

@@mariaobrien1747a few sangers (sandwiches) short of a picnic

@axelknutt5065

2 ай бұрын

@@Steve21945a few cans short of a carton

@BushTerrors

2 ай бұрын

In the US, this would apply to many a Trump devotee

I love Bob's ya uncle.. And our ability to take out the word "Of" in the sentences Drank a bottla beer...grabed a cana beer.

@rodhmu

2 ай бұрын

I love 'Bob's your uncle'

@arthurross8553

2 ай бұрын

@@rodhmu I recently heard someone do something rather un-Aussie and lengthen that one to "Roberts your mother's brother"

@therealbushmanpat

Ай бұрын

or "Robert's your aunty's live in lover" ;)

@eddykate3700

Ай бұрын

@@rodhmu When I was real little and anyone'd say, "Bob's your uncle," I would cry and say, "No! he's me DAD!" But I got a few people back when I was older and they'd ask "Where do you live?" I'd say, "I live at the Post Office." They'd say "Nah, where do you live, not where do you gettcha mail." I'd let them ask a cuppla more times and then sweetly say..."I actually DO live AT the South Post Office!"

Throwing a tantrum is Chucking a tanty. Spitting the dummy. Or chucking the toys out of the pram.

@njsmkmmsthatsit3518

2 ай бұрын

Chucking a wobbly.

@sharonboyle3573

2 ай бұрын

Having a hissy fit

@sharonboyle3573

2 ай бұрын

Having a hissy fit.

@MrCros1970

Күн бұрын

"taking their bat and ball home"

If you've seen a pork chop on a BBQ spitting, hissing and shaking around you'll understand.

Describing someone lazy "I've seen more go in a stop sign".

@suekaraiskos7104

2 ай бұрын

😂

@dougstubbs9637

2 ай бұрын

Describing a slow coach…three seconds slower than a statue.

@stewartdavies929

2 ай бұрын

Wouldn’t work in an iron lung

@joshuawoodbridge6267

2 ай бұрын

The Opposite: "What is he/she doing, tryna' break the land speed record?"

@jirup

2 ай бұрын

They sent him for an xray to see if there was an ounce of work left in him.

If someone asks you if you want a drink you might answer “does the Pope shit in the woods?” It means - of course. It’s an ironic mix of “is the Pope Catholic” and “does a bear shit in the woods”.

@jamesspry3294

2 ай бұрын

Or, is a bear catholic!

@user-Dadbod_Hiker

2 ай бұрын

Are the Kennedys gun shy?

“Got the rough end of the pineapple” is another one.

@user-Dadbod_Hiker

2 ай бұрын

But both ends of a pineapple are rough 😉

@eddykate3700

Ай бұрын

@@user-Dadbod_Hiker I was a midwife and have heard childbirth described as "like shitting a pineapple out backwards." It's a pretty spot on explanation, especially if you're female.

I love our Aussie banter --- Angry/mad - "Going off like a frog in a sock" Scared - "Nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs" Drunk - "Full as a boot" or "Three sheets to the wind" Fast - "quick as a stocking off a duck's lip" Stupid or dumb -"Thick as brick" or "Thick as two short planks"

@alexsmith5501

2 ай бұрын

There's also "nervous as a butcher's thumb".

@LordKerry

2 ай бұрын

We use to say Full as a Copper's boot

@jaceyray

2 ай бұрын

I'm as dry as a dead dingo's donger

@stirrer4151

2 ай бұрын

When somebody is dressed up well but you have to give them a cheeky dig - " Flash as a rat with a gold tooth." Teenage boys after a growth spurt = " All prick and ribs like a starving dingo."

@christopherharvie8716

2 ай бұрын

Would say going off like a frog in a sock is actually just very excited. Not mad/angry A lot of the others here are sayings from the UK.

F*ck me dead is typically used to signal frustration at someone's incompetence.

@mikenewman4078

2 ай бұрын

Or disbelief.

@SaintKimbo

2 ай бұрын

It has many uses, lol. Frustrated, Surprised, Shocked, it's very flexible.

@erroneouscode

2 ай бұрын

@@SaintKimbo Another of which is sarcasm as in eff me dead if I should be expected to know that.

@rainbows_trees_clouds_dais1766

2 ай бұрын

​@@SaintKimboagreed. It's like sh@t and f÷ck... we use it in so many different contexts.

@shmick6079

2 ай бұрын

It can be that too

I've heard quite a few 'Aussie-isms' in my 50 years of being, but one I'd never heard before was from a Victorian Biker staying at my Sister's Fiancé's house. We'd just finished a Sunday Roast for lunch and this bloke leans back and says "I'm as full as a fat lady's undies!"...I near on fell off my chair I was laughing so hard.

@carolcox302

2 ай бұрын

Oh my word. That is pure gold🤣

@alexandramcleod2079

2 ай бұрын

Full as a goog - goog is chicken wonder where that one comes from 😘💥

"Wouldn't pull the skin off a custard" when describing a car with a not very powerful engine. "Wouldn't pull the hat off your head" is another variation.

I'm an Australian from French parents,you think you have it bad,when i was a kid,between my parents broken english and all the slang.....believe you me it was hard going....but my favorite would would have to be "is the Pope a catholic",for example ; would you like a beer ?" the reply would be ,is the Pope a catholic...meaning yes.

@terrychapman5466

2 ай бұрын

Does the pope wear a funny hat

@stephenwagener349

2 ай бұрын

And now - is the pope a catholic - nah he’s a satanist.

@villainjohnnoel8075

2 ай бұрын

. there you go,you're starting to understand Aussie humor..

@kelbatt7729

2 ай бұрын

it's more used as a way of sayin' "did ya have to ask me?" than a straight , yes

@jamessakker2117

2 ай бұрын

Are the Kennedys gun shy?

You should have seen the reaction from my doctor when I told him that I wasn't ready for a wooden overcoat priceless😂

@carolynnoelwhite5575

2 ай бұрын

Another one to tell your doctor was "feeling as crook as Rookwood". Rookwood being the local cemetery in here in Sydney.

@keithad6485

2 ай бұрын

Only heard that for the first time recently.

Aussies seem to keep coming up with new slang words and expressions all the time. Dunny budgies for blowflies is a good one. But I like" the hamster is dead but the wheel is still turning," used when someone has absolutely no idea what you are talking about.

One that I haven’t heard for a long time is “As camp as a row of tents. I used to live in London and passed on a few of our sayings to an English work colleague. This one cracked her up…

@nobodyhome8148

2 ай бұрын

Pink tents 😉

@9psi

2 ай бұрын

“Camp as a scout jamboree” too

@carolcox302

2 ай бұрын

My word, that takes me back. Gay didn’t exist. Lesbians were butch or femme. Can’t remember what the boys were called.

@ricklorimer9984

Ай бұрын

C.A.M.P. .. Campaign Against Moral Persecution. British in origin. Probably the oldest pro gay organization. Hence the word "camp" came to mean homosexual. End of history lesson.

And the other oldies here may remember asking a parent what something was and them answering "a wigwam for a goose's bridle" ( i.e. none of your business, don't ask)

@voxac30withstrat

2 ай бұрын

There was also one about grinding smoke but I just cant quite get it to come back to me

@VanillaMacaron551

2 ай бұрын

@@voxac30withstrat Sounds like one of those apprentice "jokes", eg go out the back for a long weight, get the striped paint, etc.

@jaynewheatland8197

2 ай бұрын

Exactly! My mum said that to us when we where only knee high to a grass hopper. I'm 67 and she's in Heaven ❤

@oldigger7060

2 ай бұрын

I remember that one well. By the time you tried to work out why a goose would need a bridle (and why such a thing would be kept in a wigwam) you would have forgotten your question. Used by older family members when a child overheard adult talk and asked awkward questions.

@baabaabaa-yp2jh

2 ай бұрын

Put some jam on ya nose.. stickybeak!!

One of my favourites is "it's windy enough to blow a dog off a chain".

@clydesimpson1462

2 ай бұрын

It was that windy the birds were flying backwards

@sevysnape

2 ай бұрын

It's so windy I seen a chook lay the lay the same egg three times.

@geoffcapper5025

2 ай бұрын

Windy enough to blow the milk out of your coffee is one I heard recently.

@carolcox302

2 ай бұрын

That’s a new one and I’m a 77 year old Aussie! Another that I hadn’t heard before “ ripped off like a Band-Aid “. Isn’t that wonderful? Oh how I love our irreverent Aussie humour. Not even clever Pommy humour comes close.

Mad as a cut snake does not mean the person is mad or has a few loose screws, it means they are pissed as, in other words they are very very angry!

@isomorph7954

2 ай бұрын

My take on this is: A cut snake behaves in a very hostile manner, i.e. it is mad. But the alternate meaning of 'mad' is the one signified in this usage (I.e, insane), with the connection being the magnitude of the mad, which is denoted as very significant in the first usage. As an example, multiple miggs was as mad as a cut snake.

@DextrousWeevil

2 ай бұрын

@@isomorph7954 It's like "Don't f*ck with him he's as mad as a cut snake"

@christopherharvie8716

2 ай бұрын

I think it can mean crazy or angry, but both to the point where the individual is dangerous to be around. Not sure why this one is hard to figure out for the video creator: if a snake was cut with a knife, it would mightily pissed off.

The irony about Buckleys Chance was it comes from a convict who actually made it!! (Escaped and lived with a 1st Nation mob) even though it was against the odds.

@user-ii6bm5md3q

2 ай бұрын

Buckleys & Nunn was a old popular department store in Melbourne. The 2 words were combined for the saying "You got 2 chances, Buckleys and NONE"

I have a theory about the spiders. Someone working in a warehouse walks into a big cobweb and says "Fucken spiders!!!" and a quick thinking work mate says "We're not here to fuck spiders!"

@MajorMalfunction

2 ай бұрын

This is a very likely story.

@melindanaumovic8124

2 ай бұрын

😂😂😂😂😂

"as popular as a pork chop in a synagogue"

@skwervin1

2 ай бұрын

As a pork chop at a Jewish picnic

@cmw9876

2 ай бұрын

Context is important!

@bigoldgrizzly

2 ай бұрын

or something 'went down like a french kiss at a family funeral'

@phillipcollins9290

2 ай бұрын

Pork chop in a a synogogue: Heard that in South Africa as well.

@spinnymathingy3149

2 ай бұрын

Number 9, never heard that before. Must be a regional thing ? 🤷🏻‍♂️

When I was a kid, we played board games. Naturally there were arguments. When we got too loud we would hear "Quiet down, you're not playing for sheep stations!" Every so often though we were playing "Squatter". That's a game where each player owns a sheep station. Of course, we would yell back "Yes we are!"

@judithstrachan9399

2 ай бұрын

I like that one.

Buckley's & Nunn was Melbourne's most central department store from the 1800s until it was bought out by David Jones in the 1980s. I'm nearly 40, and my late father always explained that the slang term "you've got Buckley's" was a shortened form of the cheeky statement "you've got two chances, Buckley's and (none/Nunn)". I've never heard the escaped convict interpretation, but it makes sense that the truth is a combination of both, as it turns the store name into a dual pun. The Wikipedia article for the store mentions this.

@miniveedub

2 ай бұрын

I’ve always heard that was the origin of the phrase as well and I’m over 70.

@rhodes1948

2 ай бұрын

Yep ,I’m 76 and that’s what I heard and use too

@Amanda-uc5jq

2 ай бұрын

I’ve never heard the store story only the one about William Buckley, that’s the story national geographic had back in the 70’s 80’s.

@DJSinisterMetal

2 ай бұрын

@@Amanda-uc5jq yeah somebody in another thread on here mentioned that a Sydney journalist back then had made the convict connection, but not the store connection, so it was printed to most of Australia with only partial info.

@paulhunt3307

2 ай бұрын

I never knew that!

I appreciate the fact you didn’t pull back on the swear words or try to bleep them out, good on you :)

HAHAHA f*ck me dead, its about the 3rd highest used phrase in my workshop!!!!

@williamwaring61

2 ай бұрын

fuckaduck. Which was altered a bit on Hey Hey, back in the day, to Plucka. I was quite amused they did that on Telly

SO HUNGRY I could eat the crutch out of a Low Flying Duck

@robo8155

2 ай бұрын

* crotch

@Scuffed_Andy

2 ай бұрын

*crotch.

" Your as sharp as a pound of wet leather" generally gets a look from the recipient which confirms your statement. also love "he went mad and they shot im"

Learning Australian vernacular ensures being 'one of the bunch', regardless of color, shape, or religion. Thank you for sharing😍✨

You should watch Aussie dash cam videos on KZread, just to hear the expletives.

@andrewh.8403

2 ай бұрын

I was thinking the exact same thing!!

@poida_de_bogan

2 ай бұрын

Ken oath mate

@user-fg7jk9cq1b

2 ай бұрын

ridgy didge@@poida_de_bogan

@JohnJ469

2 ай бұрын

You mean the training videos from the "Department of Motor Vehicle Communications"?

@lindsaysmith8119

2 ай бұрын

@@poida_de_bogan Its Far Ken Oath

@KindaAustralian Do you know how Aussies can tell a plane is full of pohmmies? The engines are turned off and it's still whining.

@ozboomer_au

2 ай бұрын

...whining like an EH diff...... 😊

@fryaduck

2 ай бұрын

@@ozboomer_au My Purple EH Panel Van never whined.

@kevinbourke4038

2 ай бұрын

There's no h in pommies

@fryaduck

2 ай бұрын

@@kevinbourke4038 So they're not Prisoners of His Majesty?

@petergibson7287

2 ай бұрын

@@fryaduckdon’t worry about that guy; you’ve spelt it correctly and as a result, you’re showing your age!

Great video. Even tho I am a NZ'er (67) I was bought up with this slang so very familiar with them. One of my favourites in Ozzi (and not heard in NZ) is to say 'Blow it out your arse' meaning just move on from an issue

"Lower than a snakes belly" - someone that's untrustworthy

I like, 'It's as hard as pushing sh__ uphill with a pool cue.'

@stephenwagener349

2 ай бұрын

….. pointy stick

Another one is "You're fucking this cat, I'm just holding its tail", meaning this is your responsibility, not mine, or you're in charge, don't ask me. Also a song by White Knuckle Fever...

@BushTerrors

2 ай бұрын

This one is gold!

@keiranlowth

2 ай бұрын

@@BushTerrors Can be shortened to I am only holding the legs

@terrychapman5466

2 ай бұрын

Alternative. "Because I'm getting the scratches" Means "I'm responsible. Stop interfering.

The longest and best fast food shops in Australia were the Fish and Chip shops, and the Delli's for a pie or pasty. Fish and chip shops use to be a just about every corner. Back in the days of the Greek and Italian immigrants. Most are gone now.

'Kicking shit up a hill in a pair of thongs' is one of my favourites meaning its a challenging/unpleasant task that has messy consequences. I cringe at the imagery

Chock a block is a nautical term which derived from the practice of choking a block, which is to stop a rope from running through a block by pushing the rope back on top of the pulley to stop it moving.

@HippiMikki

2 ай бұрын

Although now knowing it’s origin I might use the terms ‘chockers’ and ‘chock a block’ differently. I usually use chockers for when, say, the fridge is full of stuff but there would be space if you rearranged things. I use chock a block when it’s been arranged and NOTHING else could possibly squeeze in - a subtle difference but one that seems to be about the same whomever is describing the situation.

@Bejeodiehrubridjehfoekdjriwknr

2 ай бұрын

@@HippiMikkii use them similarly to describe my stomach. If I'm chokers I can still squeeze some dessert in there.

@peterschults5591

2 ай бұрын

wrong! it means to pulley blocks touching hence you can not go any further

@woopimagpie

2 ай бұрын

There was a various artist album back in the late 70s called Choc-O-Block that had a lady eating a chocolate bar of the songs on the cover, just to muddy the waters.

@terrychapman5466

Ай бұрын

@@peterschults5591 Used in the novel "Two years before the mast" by Dana in the context of loading the ship's hold as full as possible.

Like a rat up a drainpipe! (fast!)

"Root me with the rough end of a pineapple" is an extended version of "fuck me dead."

"Shits me to Tears" is one of my go-to's

Along the line of We're not her to F*ck spiders, you could use We're not here to put socks on centipedes.

@normandiebryant6989

2 ай бұрын

I've never heard either of those! I like the centipede one, though.

@SaintKimbo

2 ай бұрын

I've never heard of those sayings and I'm an old Aussie.

@peetabrown5813

2 ай бұрын

@@SaintKimboI am with you. I had never heard of it until a saw a video of Margo Robbie (maybe it was Margo or perhaps another popular Australian actress a couple of years ago) in a you tube video give explanation of Australian slag and I was astounded to hear that one Edit: to be honest I reckon it’s a recent invention and/or was a regional only thing and has only recently gone national

@stephenlitten1789

2 ай бұрын

we're not here to milk mice

@AussieDave69

2 ай бұрын

@@SaintKimbo same here

A very old one I still love is “Flash as a rat with a gold tooth”. Which leads on to “Quarter flash and half foolish” or just “ quarter flash”.

@rosco1pug

2 ай бұрын

I think that the old saying was, 'quarter flash and three parts foolish'

@davidmartin1015

2 ай бұрын

Mug lair is in there too.

We Australians cannot be bothered spending too much energy on vocabulary and speaking so - so ‘going to’ is ‘gunna’ - ‘Michael’ is ‘Mick’ - ‘Toilet’ is ‘Loo’ or ‘Dunny’ - ‘Cheryl’ is ‘Chel’ - I remember when pulled over for jaywalking in the US - I told the Officer sorry I was being a ‘Drongo’ - he asked “what’s a Drongo? - I replied a “Galah” - he asked “what’s a ‘Galah’ - mmmmm,,, so I replied using what I think was US slang for idiot and said “Dork” - the officer smiled and gave me a warning to cross at the lights in future so I smiled back and bid him “Hooroo” with a strong handshake.

Slight variation “You’ve got two chances, Buckley’s and none.” A longer winded way of saying “No chance.”

Dry as a dead dingo's donger - rather thirsty Heaps good - South Australian for a lot Fill your boots - Army slang for carry-on (originally was piss yourself while on guard) Get your shit in one sock - similar to above but get yourself sorted out Blow the froth of a couple - have a beer Crack a tinny - have a beer Dirty bird - KFC or killed fried chook (chook is chicken) Eat the crutch out of a low-flying duck - hungry There are so many, Aussies slang everything, afternoon is Arvo, breakfast is brekki, child is ankle biter etc

@oldbloke204

2 ай бұрын

Dry as a Nullabor puddle.

@dougstubbs9637

2 ай бұрын

KFC…kooking for coconuts.

@johno9507

2 ай бұрын

It's eat the CROTCH out of a low flying duck. A Crutch is something you lean on, a Crotch is between your legs.

@jirup

2 ай бұрын

Dry as a nun's... maybe I shouldn't write out the last word, but I'll see you in the NT.

@jamessakker2117

2 ай бұрын

Dry as the dust on a dead dingo’s donger. Dry as a nuns nasty very popular

58 years Aussie and never heard the spider one

@shmick6079

2 ай бұрын

A classic

@christinemay2411

2 ай бұрын

73 years old - never heard that one either!

@johndrury2028

2 ай бұрын

66yo....me neither.

@Dharma_Bum

2 ай бұрын

What about ‘we’re not here to put socks on centipedes’? 😂

@andrewdavie386

2 ай бұрын

59 here. Never heard it. Could be state/provincial.

A "Stockman's breakfast"? "A fart and a good look around!"

@jamesspry3294

2 ай бұрын

Also a dingoes breakfast, which is much the same but i think it has a scratch instead.

@mudcrab3420

2 ай бұрын

Followed by using his Bushman's Hankie?

@jemfly1062

Ай бұрын

​@@jamesspry3294Or 'a leak and a look around'.

"Could not drive a greasy stick up a cats arse"... describing an unskilled driver, is one of my favourites.

@jemfly1062

Ай бұрын

Equally, 'Couldn't drive a nail into half a pound of butter.'

"Yeah, nah" would have to be my favourite Aussie saying.

@carolcox302

2 ай бұрын

Oh yes! Say it quite unconsciously. What do tourists make of us? Totally baffled.

@tullfan2560

2 ай бұрын

@@carolcox302 It's short for. "Yeah, whatever you say ... but, on second thought, nah!".

My father used to say, during my childhood, that an overly dramatic person was 'carrying on like a two-bob watch'. In the days before decimal currency arrived here in 1966, a bob was a shilling; a watch that cost only two shillings was therefore wholly unreliable. I must admit, I'd never myself heard 'Macca's run' or the reference to sexual assaults upon arachnids. And I was born here.

@nscaleken

2 ай бұрын

Also silly as a two bob watch

@billthomas635

2 ай бұрын

I've never used it but would instantly know what it meant - the vitals version of a beer run.

@brianbice1427

2 ай бұрын

The bob carried on through current currency as a bob became 10 cents and 2 bob was 20 cents as a kid not long after the currency change the scouts still done "bob a job" going house to house to do jobs for donations, bet kids don't get sent out like that anymore.

@baabaabaa-yp2jh

2 ай бұрын

Naa a Rock Spider is a thing, usually penned up in the Dog yard of a prison....

@andrewsmith8729

2 ай бұрын

As mad as a two-bob watch.

"A sandwich short of a picnic", "It's cold enough to freeze the nuts off a tractor".

@IanM-id8or

2 ай бұрын

I used to work with a guy who said "A few ants short of a picnic" - kind of like that one

@matthewmckee1651

2 ай бұрын

...a few roos loose in the top paddock..

@aussie_al

2 ай бұрын

Yeah good one. A sandwich short of a picnic would be almost a daily from me. Also it's so cold it will freeze the balls off a brass monkey. Don't know the origin or what a brass monkey is but i don't give a hoot. I use it anyway.

@jeanettemccormack1041

2 ай бұрын

It's got a snowballs chance in hades........= no hope 😮

@paulwary

2 ай бұрын

@@aussie_al I read that a brass monkey was a frame to store cannon balls, and if it got cold enough presumably they would contract enough to fall off. Or something.

Here's a couple more: "As dry as a dead dingo's donga in the desert". "As flat as a night-carters hat". The latter was derived from the days of old before mains sewerage whereby a guy would come by once a week in the early mornings to collect filled steel pans (via a laneway at the back of the property usually) of excrement that resided in the outside dunny. He would remove the full one and place an empty one in its place, then lift the full one onto his head to carry it to the truck he had parked close by. They all wore hats of some type for "protection" from slops, but you can imagine some cans were fuller than others and spillage was inevitable in some cases. 🤢

@philcrowley

2 ай бұрын

Dry as a nun's nasty. And I got that straight from Barry Mackenzie.

in Melbourne there used to be a store named Buckleys and Nunn. The saying was originally "you have two chances, Bucleys and none". Over the years shortened to "you've got Buckleys.

So funny hearing Kaitlyn saying "Fuck" over and over.... 🤣 #Straya

@Mark-F-Hopper

2 ай бұрын

Our girl is becoming a bad mouthed Aussie Sheila! Love it❤️

@baabaabaa-yp2jh

2 ай бұрын

She's giving it a fair crack!!

@enigmagetechwiz1330

2 ай бұрын

She keeps it up, and we might even think she's fair dinkum...

Learning the vernacular of Australian's lexicon is guaranteed to make you 'one of the bunch', whatever colour, shape, or religious persuasion you might be. If someone says "strueth, ya got Buckley's mate", I know they're dinkum. 🇦🇺

@xpusostomos

2 ай бұрын

well... lol.... means they're 'aving a go, mate.

@voxac30withstrat

2 ай бұрын

Haven't heard 'Struth for a long while or "Fair dinkum' or even "Dead set"

@ohasis8331

2 ай бұрын

@@voxac30withstrat Here and there. It comes and goes.

@Janmification

2 ай бұрын

Strewth. Mate.

@VanillaMacaron551

2 ай бұрын

@@voxac30withstrat Not letting "dead set" die. Boomertastic.

I first heard: "better than a poke in the eye with a hot stick" many years ago when I came here from Canada

@jemfly1062

Ай бұрын

It's often 'Well, that was better than a poke in the eye with a burnt stick", especially after something quite pleasurable! 😂 (If you've ever been poked in the eye with a burnt/burning stick during a bushfire, it's actually unbelievably painfull.)

I wish I'd written down some of the amazing phrases my father came out with when I was young. He started his apprenticeship when he was twelve years old and worked with many people who were WW1 veterans. Swearing or cussing as some people call it was considered an art form by some in the 1930s and 1940s. His amazing phrases, always unprintable, were always followed by him telling us boys while scowling at us, "Don't ever say that in front of your mother!" There was no danger of that. There was an amazing phrase which I will pass on as I only heard it a couple of decades ago. A group of blokes were discussing a procedure and arguing with the bloke actually doing the job. It went very quiet after the bloke shouted over the top of the discussion "Who's fucking this dog anyway?" I was astonished. 😁

"We're not here to f*** spiders" - one of my favourite lesser-known sayings.

@version7144

2 ай бұрын

I’ve never heard that saying in 52 years of living on the West Coast of Oz..must be an Eastern states job! Learn something everyday👌

@rudyness2338

2 ай бұрын

@@version7144 It's not that common in the east, either. Ironically, I learned the saying from my then-girlfriend from South Africa.

@Jackripster69

2 ай бұрын

@@version7144 I never heard it in before, im in Vic

@ricklorimer9984

Ай бұрын

@@version7144 I live in Perth. It's been around for 50+ years. Attributed to the SAS, who's base is in Perth. I'm surprised you haven't heard it.

Up here in Darwin, you’ll sometimes hear someone saying “I’ll take the foot falcon” - meaning they’ll walk to a place, instead of driving there - perhaps in a Ford Falcon.

@clydesimpson1462

2 ай бұрын

We'll take Shanks's pony

@judithstrachan9399

2 ай бұрын

I’m pretty sure shanks’s pony doesn’t have an Aussie origin, but I could be wrong. I think I’ve only heard my Mum & aunts (daughters of cockney immigrants) use it. And now you.

@thomask.8533

2 ай бұрын

We have one like this in German: those shopping bags on wheels that old ladies like to pull ... "Heel Porsches"...

Loud motorbike goes by? "All fart, no pooh".

@MajorMalfunction

2 ай бұрын

Too poor for a muffler.

"Flatout like a lizard drinking" is literally what it says. Lizards here do climb but spend most of their lives on the ground, "flat out" on the ground, so not walking upright or flying or riding motorcycles. They drink from puddles or creeks, not fountains or water bottles or taps. So their water is flat on the ground and when they drink they are flat out on the ground, not sitting or standing at the bar ordering a drink.

“He’s as shallow as a bird bath”.

@ianb9028

2 ай бұрын

Or as deep as a teaspoon.

@rhonafenwick5643

2 ай бұрын

Yeah, I've heard "deep as a blow-up swimming pool" in similar contexts

@joshuawoodbridge6267

2 ай бұрын

Flat as an Iron

An Aussie phrase that’s still used today and one that Istill use frequently for various reasons is one that donates something that doesn’t work properly for someone that is useless or does things stupidly etc is an Aussie slang terminology that really sums up the situation “ Useless as Tits on a Chook” some people still use a variation to that “ useless as Tits on a Bull “ which really gives a very accurate assessment of the situation in no uncertain terms!

@piglos

2 ай бұрын

"Useless as an ashtray on a motorbike"

@user-Dadbod_Hiker

2 ай бұрын

As useful as a hip pocket on a singlet. As useful as a glass door on a public dunny.

@jemfly1062

Ай бұрын

Useless as a screen door on a submarine. Useless as a wooden leg in a bushfire.

'Stands out like dog's balls' for anything very noticeable. My favourite!😂

she's apples means she's all good. Mad as a cut snake comes from early settlers and farmers. ploughing sometimes wounds snakes and they writhe around like crazy till they work out there not under attack

@malcolmmcgregor7966

2 ай бұрын

In rural parlance, "cut" means to castrate. Hence a cut snake is a castrated snake, ie not happy.

@paulkennedy8701

2 ай бұрын

​@@malcolmmcgregor7966 A castrated snake? Who's castrating snakes? (The explanation involving a wounded snake is much more likely.)

@fionamcwilliam8703

2 ай бұрын

Definitely the original explanation! Kaitlin's version sounds like it might be a newer meaning but I know the phrase as being extremely angry!

@Teagirl009

2 ай бұрын

Never heard she's apples til recently on these types of videos never heard anyone actually say it around me🤷‍♀️. I hear she'll be right or it's all good all the time though.

@loskop100

2 ай бұрын

@@Teagirl009 +Perhaps you are younger than me, I recall that often from my childhood...73 this year 😊😊😊😊😊😊

In a white collar concept, I have heard and used with my boss "I can't do the work because I am flat out like a lizard drinking" Boss: "We're are not here to fuck spiders", Me "Fuck me dead, she'll be right".

@xpusostomos

2 ай бұрын

I must be in the wrong job because I never heard such things

@who-gives-a-toss_Bear

2 ай бұрын

@@xpusostomos Get a job breeding spiders.

@VanillaMacaron551

2 ай бұрын

Would need to hear intonation to fully understand that exchange, but yes, it's credible.

@hoyks1

2 ай бұрын

Pretty sure I've heard them all I've heard them all in the one sentence

"You can tell a south australian but you can't tell'em much"!!

"Going off like a frog in a sock" - exhibiting extreme emotion about something, like rage, over-excitement or over-enthusiasm. "Don't come the raw prawn with me" - don't try to fool me, don't try to con me, don't try to pull the wool over my eyes. "Came a gutser" - had a painful accident, or failed miserably at something. "Full as a goog" - sated with food, unable to eat another bite (a "goog" is an egg. Double-O sound pronounced as in "good", not "food"). Can also mean extremely drunk.

"A Furphy" or tale is a classic WWI bit of slang. They were water carts manufactured by J Furphy and Sons of Shepparton, distinctive for the cast iron ends. In the Great War, they were used to provide water to the fighting men who would venture from the platoons to collect water, swap stories and like a Chinese whisper would get distorted with each retelling.

@BushTerrors

2 ай бұрын

I've never heard that link between the stories and the tanks before - excellent!

@sevysnape

2 ай бұрын

That's how I know it to have come about too. The cast iron tank ends which can still be found on old farms have the words cast into them 'Good better best never let it rest until your good is better and your better best'

@evanevans1843

2 ай бұрын

Other slang worth checking up is wower (sot of an old term for woke). The other being POM (Englishman usually). POM = Prisoner of Mother England, or I like the reference to a pommy granite - "useless and full of pips". @@BushTerrors

@evanevans1843

2 ай бұрын

On the Furphy ends, we have a couple on our farm c1900, what is on them defines the period when they were made.@@sevysnape

@TRAVISGOLDIE

2 ай бұрын

The army has a furphy water cart at the front of the hq of the “home of the soldier” Kapooka where all recruits are trained. With a brass plaque explaining this

Wombat.... eats roots, shoots, and leaves... in other words, having sex and disappearing is another version

@AussieFossil

2 ай бұрын

I've always known it as "Eats, roots and leaves."

@bandicoot678

2 ай бұрын

I thought it was a bandicoot... eats roots and leaves👍

@roadie3124

2 ай бұрын

@@AussieFossilIt depends where you put the comma. A wombat eats roots and leaves. A guy with the nickname wombat eats, roots and leaves. In other words, he comes round for dinner, gets a shag and takes off.

@njsmkmmsthatsit3518

2 ай бұрын

@@bandicoot678 Nah it's a wombat.

@MajorMalfunction

2 ай бұрын

Screws nuts and bolts.

"As useless as a pocket on a singlet" or better "as useless as an ashtray on a motorbike".

'Flat out like a lizard drinking' refers to big lizards lying on their bellies to drink from a pond or a puddle. 'Carrying on like a pork chop' refers to the hissing and spitting a pork chop does on a BBQ.

Some old Aussie phrases that came about from cricket (the sport, not the insect): Pulling up stumps = quitting; leaving; going home; going to bed. Stumps up = it's closing time/the party or event is over, it's now time for everyone to leave/go home. Here 'til stumps = Here until closing time. 6pm until stumps = 6pm until late, usually when everyone has had enough and decided to go home of their own accord. He got knocked for six = He was hit very hard. That was left of field = that was unusual and unexpected.

@VanillaMacaron551

2 ай бұрын

No rest for the wicket? (I know some say this as "wicked", but wicket makes more sense to me. In the corporate world I used to hear "close of play", eg at the end of the day or an event. Also, elevenses.

@SaintKimbo

2 ай бұрын

'Out of left field' is a baseball term, lol.

@Boom0640

2 ай бұрын

And ...l'll let that go through to the keeper

@seth1455

2 ай бұрын

@@VanillaMacaron551 no rest for the wicked is the original phrase, it's not even Aussie

And a lot of these are used in New Zealand too. Cousin stuff!

@CRFLAus

2 ай бұрын

Chur chur!

Your bloods worth bottling,take your finger out, the big spit,clear as mud,if he ever fell over he’d be half way home,going for a jimmy riddle,going for an Edgar Britt,two fifths of fuck all,went to see a man about a dog,silver tails,

@MajorMalfunction

2 ай бұрын

Getcha hand off it, Bruce.

@brucethomas5123

2 ай бұрын

Why ,there’s room for your hand too mal

& Bob's your uncle!

@MajorMalfunction

2 ай бұрын

Bob's your mother's brother.

Missing the last train , " fk me " ...but ... Spilling coffee all over myself as i run and miss the last train " fk me dead ,fk fk fk "

@erroneouscode

2 ай бұрын

The expression is eff me dead, or bugger me dead. It can also be used as a sarcastic slap down when someone butts in and brings irrelevancies into a discussion that has specific boundaries. Example "Well eff me dead for not knowing what applies where you live in Canada when I'm an Australian and the discussion was about xyz that applies here. It's usage can be similar to "What's that got to do with the price of fish"

@aussie_al

2 ай бұрын

Or price of bread

Mad as a cut snake: it is not MAD as in Crazy, it is most definitely MAD as in Angry.

@mariaobrien1747

2 ай бұрын

going off like a frog in a sock

@erroneouscode

2 ай бұрын

Anyone that's swung a scythe clearing scrub and encountered them will attest to the accuracy of the saying. They get very pissed off when you take a swing at or nick them with a scythe. Sometimes snakes can also survive for a time going through reach or flat deck mowers attached to tractors clearing roadsides..

@rainbows_trees_clouds_dais1766

2 ай бұрын

Australian here. I only know it in the same context as her ie it means full on crazy. That's how we were brought up using it.

@erroneouscode

2 ай бұрын

@@rainbows_trees_clouds_dais1766 I think the variations to meaning at least to some degree may come down to a city vs rural thing.

@rainbows_trees_clouds_dais1766

2 ай бұрын

@@erroneouscodeok. Maybe. My Mum's family are rural (she's my language influencer, not my Dad). I grew up in a regional coastal city in Qld. So, if mine is rural... mine is the same interpretation as her in Sydney? I dont get the rural/city explanation - haha. Rural people - as in outback sheep and cattle - I know would all use Mad as a Cut Snake in same way as I understand. I definitely don't use in conversation, but these people do when they're telling stories or describing people. Interesting. Maybe QLD and NSW use it the same way?

An Indian (immigrant) friend/colleague once said to us "keep your dogs in"! Took us ten minutes to work out he meant "hold your horses". (Ie. Wait for a bit/slow down). I laughed so hard I nearly soiled myself. And we still use that saying today. 😅

Dyouswannacuppa? One word, meaning - "Would you like a cup of tea/coffee?"

Great video- My favourite is when tradies get talking about the power of their utes, one might say 'that wouldn't pull a greasy stick out of a bull's arse'.

@tomtomtom7200

2 ай бұрын

Nice one mate!

@davidqueitzsch8910

2 ай бұрын

I've always wondered, "Who put the stick there in the first place"???

@sueneilson896

2 ай бұрын

Couldn’t pull the skin off a rice pudding…

@gsmith8098

2 ай бұрын

Or, "pull a sailor off ya sister"

@slumlord3125

2 ай бұрын

Or couldn't pull the skin off custard