Australian Slang
and
Other Handy Meanings

Bobcat and Drive

Many of my mates use a lot of Australian slang in normal conversation. It is like having a language of their own.

For overseas visitors this can be quite confusing.

Here are some common Australian words and expressions. They are followed by some opal mining terms and some of the more common Aboriginal words you may hear around Alice Springs and Coober Pedy.

Australian Slang

Bloke; guy, man

Mate: good friend

Shout; buy a drink for someone

To bite, bit; borrow money

Bucks; dollars

Pastoralist; rancher, grazier, farmer

Corrugations; regular small gutters across an un sealed road

Ringer; cowboy, station hand, (works with cattle)

Jackeroo; farm hand, station hand (works with sheep and crops)

Steer; castrated bullock

Dam; water reservoir

Yabby; very tasty crustacean

Tucker; grub; food

Ute; (utility vehicle) similar to a pickup

Yarn; story,joke,conversation

Sheila: girl

Stubby: short bottle of beer

Billabong: waterhole left in a riverbed or river bend after main stream stops flowing

Station: bigger than a ranch!

Terrorists: unwelcome tourists

Woolpacks: Cumulus clouds - a sign of rain

Derro: derelict, hobo, swagman

Mung Bean Hippie

Joe Blake: snake

Willy Willy: whirlwind

Wurley, Humpy: shelter

Cleanskin: unbranded calf, unlabeled wine bottle

Cask: wine cask

Bundy: Bundaberg Rum

Cobber: mate, friend

Whole Shebang: the whole thing

Roo: kangaroo

Rousabout, rousey: shearing shed worker

The Fence: the dingo fence

The Bitumen road to Darwin (Northern part of the Stuart Highway)

Mug fool

Spritzer: wine and soda (South Australia)

Pie Floater meat pie in pea soup (South Australia)

Australian slang and Opal mining terms

Drive; underground tunnel

Slip; ancient crack or fault in the sandstone

Vertical; same as a fault but shorter and at 90 degrees to the slip

Potch; opal with no fire

Claim; usually 100m x 50m of ground licensed for mining

Pegs: 1.2m x 100mm square posts to mark claim boundary

Cap rock; calcified or iron impregnated hard sandstone

Pril, Nitro, Nitropril; prilled Ammonium Nitrate explosive

Parcel; a quantity of opal ready to sell

Solid; single piece of opal cut and polished

Triplet; opal made in three layers

Doublet; opal with glass top

Inlay; very thin layers of opal in jewellery

Cleaning; removing sandstone from rough opal

Sorting; classing; grading opal by size and value

Calweld; large drill usually drills 1m -1.2m hole up to 30m deep

Shaft; hole, usually made by Calweld drill

Investigator; exploratory drill, 220m diameter

Drill hole; exploratory hole with small volcano like heap of sandstone around it

Fumes; poisonous gases left after using explosives

Dump; sandstone and cap rock pushed up by bulldozer

Dozer; bulldozer

Ripping; ripping sandstone with bulldozer to expose opal

Pushing; pushing mullock onto dump from an open cut

Prospecting; usually drilling to find traces of opal

Chips; small, broken, sometimes colourful pieces of opal

Potch and Colour; poorer quality opal with areas of no fire

Black; rare and valuable black opal

Crystal; brightly coloured opal, translucent in strong light

White; milky opal

Jelly; translucent opal with colour

Cut stones; polished opal

Rough: uncleaned opal

Cutter; skilled opal polisher

Cockroach; not a very nice person!

Night shifter; one who steals opal from another's mine

Hand Auger; 50mm diameter x 1.2m for drilling to place explosives

Sausage; rolled newspaper ready to fill with explosive

Bomb; filled sausage with detonator and fuse

Bobcat; skid steer loader for removing mullock underground

Trace; thin bands of opal leading to saleable opal

Wires; two wires bent at right angles for divining moisture in faults

Yorke hoist; a partnership wrecking, dangerous mullock hoist

Self Tipper; mullock lifting hoist with self emptying bucket

Blower; giant vacuum machine for lifting mullock from underground

Ramp; back-up area for bulldozer in an open cut

Cut; open cut, from 10m to 25m deep

Noodling; noodler; searching for opal missed by miners

PIRSA; Primary Industries and Resources South Australia

SAOMAI; South Australian Opal Miners Association Inc.

Percentage; most miners and employees work on prearranged percentages of the proceeds of mining

Partner; mining partner, not sleeping partner

Common Anangu Words

Uwa (oowa); yes

Weiya (weeya); no

Wanti; get away, get out, stop that

Tji Tji (tchi tchi); infant

Wadi (woddy); adult male

Kunga (koonga); adult female

Tjilpi; old man (respectful)

Kuka (cooka); meat

...inna; place of water

Mutta car; motor car

Tjigita; cigarette

Kalu (carloo) genitals (usually a swear word)

Mukita; hat

Murra; hand

Marlu; kangaroo

Marlu wipi (wippy); kangaroo tail (good tucker)

Sniffer; petrol sniffer

"Help me out"; can you give me money?

APY Lands, The Lands; freehold Aboriginal land in SA NT and WA

Practise Australian Slang on your mates before you head Outback

Ripping Sandstone at Mintabie

Not sure of an Australian Slang word or its meaning? Contact us for an answer.

See how Australian Slang fits in with Opal mining

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