Australian words - Terms for people - Encyclopedia II

• ambo- ambulance driver.
• bastard – general purpose designation for a person or persons, may be either a term of endearment or a expression of hostility or resentment. It has sometimes be called "the great Australian endearment", but can also be an insult; interpreted according to context. Calling someone "a silly bastard" is affectionate: calling them "a stupid bastard" is a serious insult. According to a cricketing anecdote, during the "Bodyline" series of 1932-33, the England captain complained to the Australian captain, Bill Woodfull, that an Australian player had called one of his players a bastard. Woodfull supposedly turned to his team and said: "Which one of you bastards called this bastard's bowler a bastard?"
• battler – a socially-respected, hard-working Australian who is struggling to "make ends meet", because their income is only just enough to survive off.
• bloke – generic term for a man (also common in British English).
  • Example with a negative connotation. he's such a bloke (he is insensitive, he is interested in masculine pastimes, such as drinking and sport.).
  • Example with a positive connotation. he's a good bloke (you can rely on him / he's a good person).
• bludger – originally, one who lives off the earnings of prostitution: in Australian usage, a lazy person. See also dole bludger.
• blue – traditional Australian name of anyone with red hair - particularly common in the Army, but also used in wider society. Richard Branson's airline operation in Australia is therefore officially named Virgin Blue in reference to its red planes.
• bogan – a term used for a lower class white Australian, similar in meaning to the US term trailer trash. Seems to have originated in Melbourne before spreading throughout the country after being used in Melbourne-produced television programs. Westie is the term favoured in Sydney for people who live in the Western Suburbs of Sydney. Other alternatives include bevan (in Queensland) , booner in Canberra and chigger in the northern suburbs of Hobart.
• boofhead - idiot, can also refer to someone with big hair.
• bushranger – a highwayman.
• Cadbury (sometimes Cadbury's) – someone who gets drunk very quickly. From a series of commercials for Cadbury milk chocolate claiming each block contains "a glass and a half of full-cream dairy milk", the implication being the "Cadbury" can't hold more than a glass and a half of beer.
• crook - a person of unsound character, or criminal; That crook Kezza's ripped me off!.
• dag -mild term for a foolish, clumsy, unfashionable or shabbily-dressed person. Originally a lump of fæces-encrusted wool dangling from a sheep's posterior. Can also mean a silly, funny, or goofy person when used affectionately. Daggy is a commonly used adjective.
• derro – a tramp or wino. Short form of derelict.
• dole bludger – a person living on social security who does so by choice, that is who actively chooses to be unemployed.
• Eastie – a term used for an upper class white Australian, a term favoured in Sydney for people who live in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney.
• garbo – a garbage collector. More specifically, the men who ran behind the garbage truck, picking up the garbage bins from the kerbside and emptying them into the truck. Now made obsolete by machines which do the same thing with a pronged implement.
• greenie – an environmentalist.
• hoon – a thug or lout; especially one in command of a hotted-up motor vehicle.
• larrikin – A person who is rebellious, non conformist and/or anti-authoritarian.
• leso – (pronounced lezzo). A lesbian.
• mate – a friend. A term that is used affectionately to address friends and acquaintances ("How's it going, mate?"), to address strangers ("Excuse me, mate..."), and extravagant pleasure at seeing someone (Mate! It's beaut to see yer again!"). Also used as a noun ("He's a good mate"). Sometimes deliberately used as an expression of aggression or threat (hostile overfamiliarity) directed towards a hostile or indifferent stranger (the tone of voice and context will make this usage very clear; there is no danger of confusion). The term is also common in British English in all these respects (except the last).
• nong, or ning-nong – idiot, moron. (Used famously on one occasion by Wilson Tuckey, at that time a member of the opposition, to address Prime Minister Paul Keating.)
• party room - group of members of parliament belonging to the same party, equivalent to parliamentary party (in British English). Caucus is used only to refer to the parliamentary members of the Australian Labor Party.
• poofter, pooftah or poof – homosexual man (also common in British English).
• public servant - government employee, or (in British English) a civil servant. Originally a euphemism for British convicts transported to Australia in the 18th and 19th centruries.[2]
• root rat – a sexually active and promiscuous person; a person always on the lookout for a sexual liaison.
• sheila – a (young) woman: also in New Zealand (being driven out by the American word "chick").
• sook - someone who acts in a timid, crybaby manner.
• spunk- a sexually attractive female or male. This usage can inadvertently cause outrage among British people, where "spunk" is slang for semen. Conversely, spunk in North American English usually means "courage" or "pluckiness".
• stickybeak - A snoop, cf. British English noseyparker. Also used as a verb to stickybeak.
• street kid – A phrase used to describe homeless youth.
• tall poppy – someone who (through hard work, natural ability, or simply luck) rises above the average, and if he/ she has the bad manners to flaunt his/ her success or talent rather than employing the socially acceptable self-deprecation or modesty (real or false), attracts the disapprobation of others.
• tool - an idiot, imbecile.
• towie - a tow-truck operator. Ski-lift operator
• truckie - a truck driver.
• two pot screamer – someone who gets drunk very quickly. "Pot" is the term used in Victorian pubs for a 285 ml (10 ounce) beer glass. See also Cadbury.
• yobbo or yob - uncouth male. Also used in British English.

• Banana bender – a Queenslander, since Queensland is a major banana-producing region. Also "cane toad", since the state was where the troublesome amphibian species was introduced.
• Deep North – Queensland. Used by New South Wales people as a derogatory term in the same way the Americans use the phrase Deep South.
• Cockroach – a New South Wales person. Popularised by the Queensland rugby league identity Barry Muir (b. 1937). Consequently, in State of Origin rugby league matches between Queensland and New South Wales, the teams are informally known as the Cane Toads and the Cockroaches.
• Crow eater – a South Australian. Possibly from the piping shrike, the crow-like faunal emblem of the state. Another common theory is that early European settlers were forced by hunger to eat crows.
• Eastern States – term used by West Australians and South Australians to refer to the rest of Australia; a common derivation is Eastern Stater.
• Mainland – term used by Tasmanians to refer to the rest of Australia; a common derivation is Mainlander.
• Mexican – usually used to indicate a Victorian, due to the fact that Victoria is south of the border from New South Wales, Queensland and the territories, but also used by Queenslanders to refer to people from both New South Wales and Victoria (states south of Queensland). Strangely, South Australians also use this term to refer to Victorians, even though Victoria is east of the border from SA.
• Sandgroper – a Western Australian. Originally insects from the Cylindrachetidae family, many of which are found in WA. Probably also a reference to the sandy soils of the Perth region. Popularised by Henry Lawson.
• Taswegian or Tasmaniac – a Tasmanian.
• Territorian or Top Ender – a Northern Territorian.
• Centralian - for people living in Central Australia, typically around Alice Springs, in Southern Northern Territory.

Many of the following terms are considered derogatory or offensive to the described ethnic group. Many terms are derived from the Australian habit of using diminutives, and are not necessarily offensive in their use. Some terms, for example "gypo", have been reclaimed by some ethnic groups to refer to themselves and have become acceptable in certain settings when used without derogatory intent.

• Abo or Boong or Coon – an Indigenous Australian person. The latter terms are considered offensive – the Australian equivalents of the American "nigger)".
• Anglo-Celtic – media/academic term for an Australian of English, Scottish, Welsh, or Irish descent
• Asian – usually East or Southeast Asian (rather than South Asian, as in British usage).
• Aussie (pronounced: /ɔzi/) – an Australian. Can be used as a description for Australians of Anglo-Celtic descent (example "im Aussie"). Often incorrectly pronounced as "ah-see" /ɑsi/ by North Americans, and mis-understood by many to mean "Australia" (for example "I'm going back to Aussie").
• Camel jockey - offensive slang for an Arab or other person of Middle Eastern origin.
• Chink or Chinger – a person of obvious Asian descent. Once used specifically for Chinese people, this is now used in a more general sense to refer to Asians.
• Filo (pronoucned: /fɪləʉ/) – a person of Filipino descent.
• Gook – taken from the American slang term for Asians of Vietnamese origin, this is a highly offensive term in Australia.
• Gypo or Gipo (pronounced: /dʒɪpəʉ/) – a person of Egyptian descent.
• Indian – a person from the Indian sub-continent (including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, etc); Australians sometimes use this somewhat generic term (as British people use "Asian" for people from the same region) to distinguish them from east or south-east Asians. Curry muncher or curry (abbreviated) is another term used but is considered offensive by most.
• Jap or Nip – an Asian person of Japanese descent. The term Nip is sometimes used to describe a person of general Asian appearance. Both of these words are simply shortened terms for Japanese (Nip being a shortened version of Nippon, the Japanese word for Japan). Nip is generally considered offensive, while Jap less so.
• Lebo or Leb – a person of Lebanese descent. Considered offensive by some. See: Lebanese Australian
• Maco - (pronounced "masso") a person of Macedonian decent. Can be mildly offensive.
• New Australian – 1950s term for immigrant, usually from continental Europe, becoming obsolete.
• Paki - term used to describe a person from Pakistan. Not considered highly offensive.
• Pom – (also pommy) a word for an English person. Generally regarded as being mildly derogatory. The true origin of this term is somewhat obscure, and several theories abound. The Macquarie Dictionary states that it is a contraction of pomegranate, which was rhyming slang for immigrant ("imme-granate"). (See also fake etymology. Another common explanation is that "pom" originated as a term for British convicts sent to Australia; that is, as an acronym for "Prisoner of Mother England". However, this theory is not accepted by lexicographers.)
• Seppo – an American, from rhyming slang Septic Tank = Yank
• Skip or Skippy – a (sometimes derogatory) term for an Australian of Anglo-Celtic descent. Chiefly used in large cities by young people of Southeast European or Asian descent. Probably a reference to the famous 1960s children's television programme Skippy the Bush Kangaroo which featured a predominantly Anglo-Celtic cast.
• Wog – derogatory, but increasingly reclaimed, term for Italians, Greeks or other immigrants from the Mediterranean. (Contrast with British usage, where the word usually refers to people of Middle Eastern or South Asian descent). However this is also used to mean a cold or bug. clog wog refers to Australians of Dutch descent.
• Yank – An American. Also used in the United States, in Britain, Latin America, Asia and New Zealand.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Terms for people", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page