How you goin’? Here’s some Aussie Slang explanations! 

That was the first question someone asked me when I landed in Australia. I had nothing to say besides “uhhh taxi?” He smiled, looked at me and said, “first time in Australia?” I had no clue what was going on but thank God he directed me to the taxi stand.

That was my first confusing and embarrassing experience where I realized that my time here will be interesting and exciting!

Top 11 things you need to know before moving to Australia:

1) When someone says how you goin’? They actually mean how are you? I clearly had to learn the hard way.

2) Thongs are not what you think they are, they are simply flip-flops.

3) I spent ages looking for a store called mackers, only to realize that’s the Aussie way of saying McDonald’s. They say “maccas”; I don’t know why I assumed there was an “r”.

5) The rest of the world has got it wrong, its straya not Australia.

6) Arvo is the short form for afternoon; I can’t seem to see how they derived that.

7) I’m sorry but you’re going to have to stop saying eh, they say hey around here.

8) No worries is their motto.

9) Everyone here seems to say “ta” instead of thank you, yet another derived term I can’t seem to figure out.

10) They seem to say “heaps”, heaps of times.

11) Last one but not the least, remember to “veg out” (relax) during your stay in Australia. I personally like that term.

Also, if you haven’t already noticed Aussies love to shorten everything, even names, and they throw the letter “o” here and there

Train-o not train station

John-o not Jonathan

Steve-o not Steven

Bottle-o not bottle shop (yeah they mean liquor store)

Shane-o not shane (don’t even ask me that’s longer than the actual name)

Also, “don’t get your knickers in a knot” trying to memorize all these…I’m going to leave that Aussie phrase for you to figure out.

Despite all of the wild and wacky terms, I have grown to love them and yes…I do use them every so often. It’s fun and it makes feel Australian, I mean “straylan”.

Perth is a great place to come and learn their awesome way of living. Most of all Perth is a beautiful city featuring the world’s best sunsets.

Catch ya later mate,

Oh and one more thing, if you ever hear Aussie Aussie Aussie, you MUST reply with Oi Oi Oi!

Madiha Nehal

Master of Occupational Therapy Student

Curtin University

Perth, Australia

Photos taken by Madiha Nehal

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