Original post on mastodon.au

Today I Learned that it isn't that I'm particularly bad at detecting sarcasm: it's that Australians are notoriously subtle with our sarcasm; that it is pretty standard that the only way one can detect whether an Australian is being sarcastic is if you can logically deduce, by knowing that person […]

Australian English: pay out Yet another quirky Aussie phrasal verb that has a completely different meaning to what you'd think

"Stop paying me out!"

How a common English phrasal verb often has a very different meaning in Australia...

#AustralianEnglish #AussieEnglish

#SpellingReform #AustralianEnglish #AusEng

Australian English: If you drink, then drive, you're a bloody idiot! Where did this classic Aussie saying come from and how did it change Australia dramatically...

The tagline for one of Australia's most gruesome yet successful public awareness campaigns ever entered the Australian vernacular and is still used today. The story behind the saying:

If you drink, then drive, you're a bloody idiot!

#australianenglish #aussieenglish

Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year Shortlist Have your say on the Macquarie Dictionary People's Choice 2025 Word of the Year! Check out this year's shortlist before you vote.

Australia's Macquarie Dictionary has released its 2025 Word-of-the-Year shortlist

#AustralianEnglish #AussieEnglish

Latest term I've discovered is solely Australian (and New Zealand):

Glory box

Granted, it's very dated but a glory box is "a wooden box for woman's clothes and household items stored in preparation for marriage"

#AustralianEnglish #AussieEnglish

Australian English: BOM Aussies often mention

As the weather is all over the place at the moment, you'll probably hear Aussies say that "the bomb's got it wrong".
So what's this "bomb"?

The answer to this here...

#AustralianEnglish #AussieEnglish

So what's the latest with Australian English? Back from my Aussie trip. Here are some things about Aussie English I discovered this time.

Back from Australia with the latest on Aussie English in action.

Highlights include the welcome return of "drongo" and there's one debate with Australian terminology that always ends up messy – and it's to do with a common food paste/spread...

#AustralianEnglish #AussieEnglish

Australian English: peanut butter or peanut paste? The extraordinary story of this tasty Australian regionalism and how it can ignite passions

A friend of mine has alerted me to yet another Australian social media comments battle over the terms "peanut butter" and "peanut paste". These battles always get extremely nasty.

But rarely do Aussies know the story behind the usage of these terms. Here it is...

#AustralianEnglish

Australian English: Abbo Australian English loves shortening words and names and banging an '-ie' or '-o' at the end. But you need to be careful when to do it, as this case shows...

Australian English loves diminutives, i.e. shortening words and names and banging an '-ie' or '-o' at the end of it.

But you need to be careful when to do it, as this case shows...

#AustralianEnglish #AussieEnglish #English

Australian English: donga Dongas come in many sizes and are often found Down Under in the outback. What's an Australian donga and the disputed origin of the term...

Have you heard that many miners have dongas Down Under, some bigger than others?

The meaning and disputed origin of the Australian term "donga"...

#AustralianEnglish #AussieEnglish #EnglishLanguage

Australian English: FIFO, DIDO and BIBO Three work-related Australian acronyms heard very often throughout the country. Do you know what they mean? And what work is associated with them?

Australian English: FIFO, DIDO and BIBO (pronounced Fie-Foe, Die-Doe and Buy-Boe)

More on what these work-related acronyms mean here...

#AustralianEnglish #AussieEnglish #EnglishLanguage

It was yesterday that I found out that

"mallee" /ˈmali/

is a uniquely #AustralianEnglish word, believed to derive from an indigenous word for "dwarf eucalyptus tree"

"mallee" is any semi-arid area of mainland Australia that has mallee scrub (low-growing bushy eucalyptus) as its main vegetation.

Buck = Dollar

... and more!

#Australia #AustralianEnglish

Australian English: quenda vs qanda Quenda or qanda? These two uniquely Australian terms may sound the same but refer to two very different things. Find out more here...

Australian English: quenda vs qanda

These two uniquely Australian terms may sound the same but refer to two very different things. Find out more here...

#AustralianEnglish #AussieEnglish

Australian English: thongs Aussies love wearing thongs outdoors. But does

Aussies love wearing thongs outdoors.

But does "thongs" mean the same in Australia as it does in other countries? Find out here...

#AustralianEnglish #AussieEnglish

receival, n. meanings, etymology and more | Oxford English Dictionary receival, n. meanings, etymology, pronunciation and more in the Oxford English Dictionary

Australian English word of the day:

Receival

meaning "the action or an act of receiving", it's what otherwise is "receipt" in most other variants/dialects of English

#AustralianEnglish #AussieEnglish

English classes with me: I can't help you pass the IELTS but the content is top notch #AustralianEnglish #Keith www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PTv...

Today’s shadowing is about: Asking For Directions [Part 1].
FREE PDF transcript and AUDIO can be download at nijispiral.com.
See full video on youtube: youtu.be/wj9mU1Lx2Ao

#English #englishshadowing #Australianenglish #englishlistening

Australian English: BOM Aussies often mention

You'll often hear Aussies say "the bomb got it wrong" if the weather is not as predicted.

On Australian TV and radio, you'll hear mention of "the bomb" when reporting about weather.

What's this "bomb"? What's it to do with weather?
And how did "the bomb" get it wrong in 2023?

#AustralianEnglish

Quiz: can you pick a Victorian from a Queenslander? How our accents change from state to state Have you ever wondered why Australian accents are so similar compared to the US and UK? There are some subtle differences between states, though.

"The relative uniformity of the Australian accent can be traced to our early European history, our youth as a nation and the slow pace of language change.

But Australian regional accents are there if you listen closely enough – and they are getting stronger"

#AustralianEnglish

Australian English: tap, tag or touch? How do you describe using a payment card to use public transport in Australia? It depends where in Australia you are...

When boarding a bus/tram or entering a railway/metro station, do you tap, tag or touch? And is it on/off or in/out?

In Australia, it depends on which part of the country you're in...

#AustralianEnglish #Australia

I think I've mentioned this before, but as a result of being a) an Australian living in the USA, and b) just being plain old, I have no freaking idea how grammar or spelling work anymore.

#English #Writing #Grammar #AustralianEnglish #AmericanEnglish

Primary-school teachers in 1980s Australia were pretty tough on children who used 'gotten' – 'It's American, not Australian' was something drummed into us.

Fast forward to 2025 and 'gotten' is being used in Australian English more often than before, particularly in speech.

#AustralianEnglish

Street directory What sort of book helps you navigate in the car?   Interactive map   Regional and sociocultural results   Regional term use   Commentary I would have called it a street director…

As I suspected, "street directory" is an Australian English word. It's a book with street maps of cities and towns, along with an index of all the streets covered.
There are also regional varieties...
#AustralianEnglish

talkingaussie.wordpress.com/street-direc...

The most 'liked' comment for an online article about the knife-edge result in the electorate of Bradford in the recent Australian elections...

"The margin is four votes, not four ballots.

Enough of the americanisms, please!"

#AustralianEnglish

Memes abound of 'chips' in Australian English meaning both 'fries' and 'crisps'.

This is the rundown...

(Hot) chips = medium-cut deep-fried potato
Fries = thin-cut deep-fried potato
Wedges = thick-cut deep-fried potato
(Potato) chips = crisps (UK)/chips (N. America)

#AustralianEnglish

Crikey, ChatGPT’s gone bush! How AI is learning the art of Aussie slang Aussie slang is rich, weird and wildly specific—so what happens when artificial intelligence tries to learn it?

Anyone using 'crikey' is a sign of contemporary Aussie slang obviously hasn't been living in Australia this century.

Aussies would only use 'Strewth, mate, the dunny's chockers' to be ironic as it's archaic and cliched.

So yeah, AI hasn't cracked Aussie slang by a long shot!

#AustralianEnglish

Mention 'Bali' in Europe and most have images of an exotic paradise
Mention 'Bali' in Australia and the first thought is 'bogan holiday destination'
And parts of Bali certainly do cater for that Aussie crowd...

#AustralianEnglish
#AustraliansOverseas

Australian English: smoko, bludge, chuck a sickie Bludging on a smoko as if you've chucked a sickie? Welcome to work-related Australian English vocab about not working!

Bludging on a smoko as if you've chucked a sickie?

Welcome to work-related Australian English vocab about... not working

Essential words to know for the Aussie workplace!

#AustralianEnglish #AussieEnglish