The E of Aussie Slang

Jo Bryant

Earbasher – someone who talks excessively; a bore


Earbashing – nagging, non-stop chatter

Earwig – eavesdropper; to eavesdrop

The better known type of earwig

Easterner – Western Australian term for someone from the Eastern States of Australia

Easy as pushing shit uphill with a toothpick – really difficult

Easy as spearing an eel with a spoon –  see pushing shit uphill

Yuk !!

Eating irons – cutlery (military term)

Emu Bob/Emu Parade – a line of soldiers walking shoulder to shoulder bobbing up and down to pick up litter

Eating with the flies -eat alone, by yourself

Egg beater – a helicopter


Egg boiler – a bowler hat

Egg on – encourage

Ekka – the Brisbane Exhibition, an annual show

Ekka Day – Public holiday in Brisbane for the Ekka

Elbow grease – hard work

El cheapo – someone who is cheap

Elephant’s/elephant’s trunk – drunk (rhyming slang)

Elevenses – mid-morning tea or coffee break

Emma Chisit? – how much is that?

Emu – a relative of the Ostrich, a flightless bird now raised commercially in Australia. The meat is red, and its eggs are 10 times the size of a hen’s eggs.

Emu’s breakfast –  expression that means to ‘have a drink and a good look around’

Enzed – how Australians refer to New Zealand

Esky – a portable cooler

The type of esky I grew up with…
Seriously ?? A tad too much perhaps…

Even stevens – equal chance or amount

Every bastard and his dog – absolutely everyone

Evo – evening

Eye’s on, hands off – look, but don’t touch.

Extra grouse – really good; excellent

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Related posts:

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For all posts Australian: Australia

Published by Jo Bryant

I was born in the land of Banjo Paterson, gum trees, and weather extremes. I am a freelance photographer. I love to make images that make people happy. To capture forever a precious moment. I am also a freelance writer/editor. I live in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand, but still like to claim my Australian heritage. I graduated with a Bachelor of Communications in 2008. I am writing my first novel. I love to write poetry, short stories, and also write for the web. And there is nothing that is on a par with a sunny summer's day spent at Waihi Beach.

37 Comments

  2. Well…I’ve heard elbow grease and even steven, and I know what an emu is, but I can’t say I’ve ever heard the other terms in use in the eastern U.S.

    I love earbasher, though. I wonder if I can sneak it into common use here in NJ?

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  3. I will officially be saying EARBASHER to everyone I know now 🙂 Thanks so much sharing!

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        1. I am working my through the A – Z of Australian slang and having a ball (as well as learning a few things myself) as I try to educate the rest of the world.
          😉

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          1. Well I will be following for sure 😀 cant wait to learn this slang. I’m facinated by languages.

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  5. After about a year of blogging, we should all have PHD’s in world knowledge. Thanks for sharing, I picked up quite a few little tid-bits here today. 😉

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    1. Bloody oath !! We Aussies are just a mob of larrikins with our kangaroos loose in the top paddock, and our humour is as dry as a Nun’s nasty, but I reckon she’ll be right mate, as we are also a bunch of wombats who don’t yabber too much
      .
      😉

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        1. Fair crack of the whip…I’m just a dinky-di Aussie playing silly buggers who likes to square the circle.
          🙂
          Bloody barmcake huh ??
          Well I won’t spit the dummy over that one, ’cause crikey – I reckon you’d be right mate.

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  9. definitely like this 🙂 i think that it is really funny how many expressions that there are that in the UK we don’t have a clue about! i think that there are so many expressions we should use here, for example emma chislet… just saying 🙂
    looking forward for f through z

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  10. Yeah, not bad for an Easterner! Hahahaha. I think the NZ slang is hilarious too, had a chuckle at the Esky / Chilly bin. Great post. 🙂

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  11. YuK!!! to the Eel too .. and Hi Jo.. I have to admire how you put these posts together.. loved all the photo’s too.. And I maybe in for an Earbashing as I havent been around for a while.. Just that Life gets in the way of Blog land at times… So hope you are well my friend.. And take care and enjoy your weekend.. ~Sue

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  13. Emma Chiset make me laugh out loud (and I am at work, so people immediately looked up at me to see what was so funny). 😀 I bet “Esky” comes from the fact that a lot of those types of coolers are made by a company called “Eskimo” – so “esky” is probably short for that – I kinda like the one with the stereo, although you could never take it tubing with you like you could with the regular kinds. 🙂 I love these posts. If I ever get that far south, I am going to try some of them out!

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