Celebrating The Things That Make Australia Unique
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AUSTRALIAN SLANG
Places
One of the most interesting things about Australia is our place names. Take for example Nowhere Else, Tasmania. Imagine having to explain that name is real every time you filled out a form requiring your address.
Well, they could move to Gooloogong in New South Wales and be known as a Gooloogongian. Guess for yourself what you'd call someone living in Woolloomooloo, NSW. (No idea how we'd pronounce that one.) In case you were wondering, the name is from an Aboriginal word meaning "young kangaroo".
Places >> page 1 page 2
| Caravan Park | trailer park |
| Gaol | jail |
| Quay | wharf |
| Tip | rubbish dump (garbage dump USA) |
| Comfort Station | public toilet |
| Milk Bar | small local shop selling food items and newspapers |
| Take Away Shop | eatery with food generally eaten off the premises |
| Tuck Shop | school canteen or cafeteria or eatery |
| Bottle Shop | store where you buy alcoholic beverages |
| Pub | place for buying and drinking alcohol |
| Abattoir | place where animals are slaughtered and meat prepared for sale |
| Station | farm, ranch, usually large cattle or sheep properties (a ranch in USA) |
| Paddock | field, pasture or fenced range |
| Back Blocks | back section of a cattle or sheep station. Also cheaper residential blocks of land outside a city |
| Billabong | Aboriginal word for a waterhole that dries up or becomes separated from the river in times of drought |
| Bush | Australian countryside |
| Never Never | the Outback, centre of Australia |
| Scrub | an area covered in bush, trees and shrubs |
| Outback | remote, sparsely populated area of inland Australia |
| Back of Bourke | long way from where you are, especially refers to inland away from civilization |
| Woop Woop | any remote, sparsely populated area far away, often considered culturally backwards |
Nar Nar Goon, Victoria. The name is thought to come from the Aboriginal words for koala. Continuing the game, would you call people living here Nar Nar Goonians or Nar Nar Goonies? (Yes, we've seen the American Goonies movie.)
Wagga Wagga is the largest inland city in New South Wales. "Wagga" in the Wiradjuri Aboriginal language is thought to mean "crow".
Tip ... mouse over words in table willturn on highlighting
Why Wagga Wagga? In Wiradjuri, plural words are made by repeating the word. So Wagga Wagga would be "the place of many crows". Wonder if people living there call themselves Wagga Waggaians?
Turning to Queensland, how about the town called Wonglepong. It's possibly named for an Aboriginal word meaning "forgotten sound".
It might be fun to move there just to say you are a Wonglepongian.
We pick Wonglepongian as the winner of our little game.
