If there’s one thing Australians love more than casual racism and charging $6 for coffee, it’s adding “o” to the end of words. That’s right, mates: I’m talking about Aussie slang.
Some folks hate it and wouldn’t be caught dead saying “barbie”, while others throw around “rack off” and “root rat” like they’re going out of fashion. As they should, I say.
The people at Preply, a language learning platform, decided to do a deep dive into both ends of the slang spectrum and survey 1,500 Australians aged 16 to 55-plus to see what they reckon the most well-known and annoying slang words are.
Coming in at number one on the popular scale was “mate”, which speaks for itself, really? Who among us hasn’t let a hearty “mate” slip out.
Then we had “thongs” (standard), “sunnies” (obviously), “brekkie” (iconic) and “arvo” (classic). Some absolute bangers in there. Mate, don’t forget to wear your thongs and sunnies to brekkie ‘cos we’re going to the beach in the arvo, et cetera.
The other most popular Aussie slang words were “servo”, “smoko”, “bottle-o”, “outback” and “bogan”. I don’t know about you but it feels like Married At First Sight Season Ten’s resident country bumpkin Cam Woods is in the room with me RN. The power of language!
While I acknowledge these slang words are *probably* the most popular, I can’t help but feel we’re witnessing “sooky la la” erasure. No piece of Australian slang will ever top that divine linguistic feat.
gotta say Australian slang really snapped with “sooky la la”, perfect encapsulation of vibes
— Cristina (@spizzter) February 1, 2023
As for the most annoying slang word, “sheila” made the top of the list. Personally, I don’t get it because I can’t remember the last time I heard a human being utter that word but hey, maybe I’m moving in the wrong circles.
Other bits of slang which really ground respondents’ gears were “crikey” and “cake hole”, and I’ve never been so offended. Steve Irwin is rolling in his grave as we speak.
Somehow “mate”, “bogan”, “brekkie” and “sunnies” also made the most annoying list. Make up ya dang minds, you bloody gronks!
“In the nuddy”, “bonzer” and “barbie” finished off the no-no list, and I’ve got to say I’m spewing ‘cos “nuddy” is objectively hilarious. Also, who on Earth can be bothered to say barbecue in all its glory? Not me, that’s for sure.
If you need me, I’ll be having a sooky la la about the fact that gorgeous piece of slang was nowhere to be seen in the survey.
