Fair Dinkum Aussie Vernacular Trivia Quiz

Answer: No worries

"No wukkas" is Australian slang for "no worries" or "no problem". It is often said when accepting an apology or as a way of saying "you're welcome".

It has been around since the 1980s and has a rather rude origin. The original phrase, much cruder, was spoonerised to "no wucking furries" and then shortened to "no wuckkas". Today it is accepted as part of the Australian vernacular and is even recognized in the Oxford English Dictionary. Such a rich language!

Answer: Hello

Probably the best known word of Aussie slang! G'day is short for "good day" and is pronounced guh-day, with virtually no vowel sound after the 'g'. It is typically expressed as a friendly greeting and often in conjunction with the word 'mate', as in "G'day mate", meaning "Good day friend", irrespective of whether you actually know the person or not.

Answer: You fool

A galah is a type of Australian cockatoo, pink and grey in colour. They are noisy and clumsy birds, so to be called a galah indicates a person is acting in a silly way or talking nonsense. It is normally a mild insult, derogatory but not nasty. It is the equivalent of calling somebody a bit of an idiot. "Mate, you're a bloody galah!" is a way of saying "You, my friend, are a fool!" Like many such expressions, however, it's not what you say but how you say it that indicates how insulting it is.

Answer: It is an emphatic interjection

Struth or strewth is short for "God's truth". It is a contraction created to avoid taking the Lord's name in vain and is used to emphasise a feeling of shock, consternation, or disbelief. The expression actually dates back to 19th century Britain and it migrated to Australia with the early settlers.

An example of usage would be, "Struth, I'd hate to have a missus like that!", which translates as, "Good grief, I would really hate to have a wife like that!"

Seldom heard in modern conversation, the expression persists in television programmes and movies where a character needs to be portrayed as a true-blue Aussie, such as Alf Stewart in "Home and Away".

Answer: Excellent

The Aussie slang word "bonza" or "bonzer" means excellent, first-rate, or awesome. It emerged in the 1890s in the U.K., but its exact origin is essentially unknown. The main theory is that it is derived from the Spanish "bonanza", via the Latin "bonus" meaning good.

Quite a few slang words and expressions that are perceived as typically Aussie are in fact of English origin - such as dunny (toilet), chook (chicken), daks (trousers or pants), smoko (smoker's break) and, as mentioned in Q4, strewth or struth.

Answer: A foolish or stupid person

In Aussie slang, a drongo is a fool or idiot. The word has an interesting history. A drongo is a type of bird. In the 1920s there was a racehorse called Drongo, named after a bird, the spangled drongo, because of their similar colouring. The horse never won a race, despite being well-bred.

This led to the word drongo being applied to a person who was a loser, which evolved in meaning to refer to a foolish or stupid person.

Answer: Friend

Cobber is an old-fashioned Aussie word used to address a good friend: "How ya goin', cobber?" means "How are you today, my friend?" It is a word seldom heard nowadays. It tends to be used by older Australians. Younger Australians use the word "mate" instead.

Cobber dates back to the 1880s. Its exact origin is uncertain, but it is most likely derived from the Yiddish word 'chaber' (or khaver), which in turn is derived from the Hebrew word 'chaver', meaning comrade or friend. This word was commonly used by the Jewish community in London and is believed to have migrated to Australia from there. Another theory is that it may come from an old English word 'cob', meaning to take a liking to someone.

Answer: Very busy or fast

When a lizard drinks, it splays its legs to get down to the water (i.e. very flat) and drinks as fast as possible because, while drinking, it is vulnerable to predators so it is necessary to get the job done quickly. Some desert lizards, such as Australia's thorny devil, have skin that is able to soak up water via capillary action. Laying flat maximises the amount of skin able to obtain water via this method, an important adaptation for a desert habitat.

In the vernacular, "flat out like a lizard drinking" means that a person is either very busy, or very fast, or both. An example of usage would be: "I've been flat out like a lizard drinking in order to make that deadline".

Answer: A lazy person

In the world of Harry Potter, a bludger is an iron ball used in the game of Quidditch. In the world of the average Australian, a bludger is a lazy person or someone who relies unfairly on other people to support them. For example, your friend might be a bludger if they avoid doing their fair share of the work, or if they manipulate you into paying their way (such as frequently "forgetting" their wallet and asking to be covered, then conveniently forgetting to repay you). An American equivalent would be a slacker or a freeloader.

A common Aussie expression is "dole bludger". The dole is unemployment benefits paid by the government. The implication is that the dole bludger chooses to be unemployed rather than work, and is content to "bludge" on the taxpayer.

Interestingly, the word can be traced back to mid-19th century London where it meant a prostitute's pimp. Like a dole bludger, a pimp is also someone who is supported by another person's labour.

Answer: To take a look

Strictly speaking, a gander is a male, not a female, goose but in Aussie slang it means to take a look. The meaning relates to the way a goose would look at something - by stretching and craning its neck forward and/or holding its head at an inquisitive angle. "Come have a gander at this, mate!"