24 December 2008

Aussie Slang – The B’s

Posted by Mick under: Slang .

While traveling across Australia (or any country), its always good to know a bit about the local lingo (local language, slang or idiom) because you can often get caught out during a conversation when you don’t understand what someone has just said to you.

Time to move onto the letter “B”

B

• Back of Beyond: far out bush as you can get, right out in the outback of Australia
• Back of Bourke: the middle of nowhere
• Bagged someone: critised or put someone down
• Bags: claim, assert your right to something. e.g. “I bags the next go.” means that you are claiming the next turn
• Bail up: hold up OR rob OR earbash
• Balls up: a mess, terrible mistake, everything has gone wrong
• Barbie: barbecue, BBQ, e.g.”I’ll throw some shrimp on the barbie”. (We actually don’t call them “shrimp”. They are prawns in OZ).
• Banana bender: a person from Queensland
• Bang on: it’s hit the target right in the middle, OR it’s right, or correct
• Banged up: pregnant
• over with the Bar flies: over talking to the old men who drink and talk in the front bar of a pub from when it opens to when it closes
• give it a Bash: you will try something you are not sure of (have a go)
• Basket case: someone close to mental illness
• Bastard: can be a term of endearment eg. “How are ya going ya old bastard?”
• old Battle-Axe: wife OR mother-in-law
• Battler: someone who works hard to earn a living by honest means
• Beating around the bush: not getting to the point when explaining something
• Beaut, beauty: great, fantastic, terrific, something that went real well, (you little beauty!)
• Berko: angry or upset (in an unreasonable way)
• going to have a Bex: you are going to settle yourself down from some sort of stress (figuratively not taking a Bex which is a drug) but usually a cup a tea, a cry and a good rest
• Big note yourself: to skite, that is to say you are better or more important than you really are
• Billabong: an ox-bow river or watering hole
• Billy: large tin can used to boil water over a campfire for tea, “put the billy on”
• past the Black stump: way out in the bush (the same as “back of beyond”)
• Block: your head, eg. “I’ll knock your block off if you do that again!”
• do your Block: you are angry or lose your temper
• go to the Block: go to your vacant piece of land
• Blow through: leave town in a hurry
• Blowies: blow flies
• Bloke: male, man, guy
• Bloody: very (e.g. bloody hard yakka)
• Bloody oath!: that’s certainly true, too right
• Blowing your dough: spending all your money
• Bludge: to be lazy, to do nothing at all
• Bludger: lazy person, layabout, somebody who always relies on other people to do things or lend him things
• Blue: fight or argument (“he was having a blue with his wife”)
• true Blue: something that is genuine Australian
• Bluey: Nick-name for a red-headed bloke OR pack/equipment
• Blue Heeler: policeman/policewoman OR Queensland cattle dog
• Bob’s your uncle: Hey presto, what you say when things suddenly fall into place
• Bolted: left very quickly (often from the scene of a misdemeanor or accident
• Bone to pick: you have to talk with someone who has done something you disagree with, have it out with them
• Bonzer mate!: that’s great friend, ripper
• Boogie board: a body board, half-sized surf board
• Boomer: a large male kangaroo, Australian basket-baller
• Booze: alcohol, grog
• Boozer: pub or hotel OR a person who is a heavy drinker
• Booze bus: Police van used for random breath testing for drink drivers
• Brass: money, “have you got any brass on ya?”, (have you got any money?)
• Brass razoo: no money (“I haven’t got a brass razoo”)
• Breaky: breakfast, first meal of the day
• Breadbasket: stomach or tummy
• mow the Brigalo suckers: shave the beard
• Broken packet of biscuits: someone whose life looks OK on the outside, but is a mess on the inside
• Brown dog – “kick a Brown dog”: you are frustrated and going to get your tension out (you don’t literally kick a dog)
• Brown-nose: suck-up, give favours
• Buckley’s, Buckley’s chance, Buckley’s & none: no chance (“New Zealand stands Buckley’s of beating Australia at football”)
• Bugalugs: a friendly endearment
• Bugger all: doing absolutely nothing
• Buggered: broken, had it
• Bull dust: a lie or a tall story
• Bullamakanka: imaginary place in the far outback, as far as you can go in the bush
• Built like a brick shit house: you are saying someone is very strong or big, well built (outside toilets are usually made of wood)
• Bung: to put (bung another snag on the barbie mate!)
• Bunyip: mythical creature from the outback
• give it a Burl: give something a try, that you haven’t done before
• Bush: the Outback, anywhere that isn’t in town
• Bush-bash: go off road in a vehicle, forcing your way through bush without roads
• Bush telegraph: the town gossip network
• what is this? Bush week?: How they respond when you tell someone something that is unlikely or untrue
• give it a “Butchers”: short for “butchers hook” it means you will look into it (“look” rhymes with “butcher’s hook”)
• B.Y.O.: unlicensed restaurant where you have to Bring Your Own grog (alcohol), also applies to a party or barbecue

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