Swearing Aussie Style

Swearing, Aussie Style!

We are well known down here in the lucky country for our tendency to swear rather a lot. Swear words in Australia have so many meanings and contexts, most of them aren’t about being rude or angry but are simply used to replace the word ‘um’. Tradies in particular are known for having an excessive swearword to normal word content ratio in their vocabulary. Honestly it could do your head in trying to list them all and I am pretty sure I have missed some! Feel free to send me any more you think of and I will add them, but in the meantime here’s a little Aussie to English profanity breakdown for you.

Piss:

‘Piss’ – urinating
‘Piss’ – alcohol
‘Piss easy’ – really easy
‘Piece of Piss’ – really easy
‘Take the piss’ – make a joke about someone
‘Take a piss’ – urinate
‘Hanging a piss’ – urinating
‘On the piss’ – Drinking alcohol
‘Piss head’ – Alcoholic
‘Gone to the Pisser’ – Gone to the toilet
‘Out on the piss’ – Going out to drink alcohol
‘A piss up’ – A party where there is lots of alcohol
‘Pissed’ – drunk / angry
‘Pissed off’ – angry
‘Pissed all over them’ – was much better than e.g. won a game by heaps of points

Fuck:

Now with this word tone is everything, use the wrong tone and you’ll go from mates to having a barney faster than I can say Holdens Rule!

Fuck! – Oh shit!
Fuuck! – Wow!
Fu-uhk! – Oh for goodness sakes!
Oh Fuck – Uh oh
Oh for Fucks sake! – Really?
Get Fucked! – I’m angry with you
Get Fucked – Yeah, whatever mate
Get Fucked – Oh for goodness sakes!
Get Fucked – You are kidding?
Fucking oath – absolutely
Fuck you – I am angry with you
Fuck you – ha ha mate, whatever
Fuck off! – Go away!
Fuck off – Sure, sure, whatever
Fuck off – ~Indignant~ As if!
Fuck yeah! – Absolutely!
Fuck no – No way in the world.
Well, Fuck a duck! – How surprising!
Wanna Fuck? – Would you like to engage in sexual intercourse?
Go Fuck Yourself! – Go away, I am angry with you
Go Fuck Yourself – Whatever, I don’t believe you
You’re Fucking Kidding? – Really? (Exasperated)
You’re Fucking Kidding? – Really? (amazed)

Shit:

Shit – A piece of poo
Shit! – Oh no!
Aw, shit – Uh oh (usually laughing at someone else’s expense)
Hang A Shit – Go and do a poo
Piece Of Shit – crappy thing, e.g my slow internet connection
Bucket of Shit – something that doesn’t work very well, usually a vehicle e.g. a Ford
Gone to Shit – Something that is no good anymore
Shit Hole – crappy dwelling or place, e.g Canberra 😉
Shit Heap – Crappy house or car e.g a Ford
Shitty – annoyed
Shitted off – annoyed
Shit scared – really scared
Shit a brick! – Wow!
Shit, ay? – Really? Well, I’ll be damned.
Shit, ay. – That really sucks
Shit me to tears – really, really annoyed me
Shit canned – got fired

Bloody:

We don’t use this one nearly as much as people in American TV shows seem to think we do, I think its more of an English thing actually….

Bloody – it accentuates the word that comes after it, kind of like ‘really’ e.g. ‘Its bloody cold/hot, a bloody mess etc’
Bloody – Literal – blood everywhere

Dickhead:

I think this one is pretty universal for idiot. Here are some other words that may be used in Australia that essentially mean ‘Dickhead’, they may or may not be prefixed with ‘fucking’ or ‘bloody’.

Muppet
Drongo
Tool
Wanker
Derro

Cunt:

This word has gained ground in the last 10 years, it was once considered the epitome of swear words and a lot of people (especially women) really hate it. I have to admit I used to hate it semi passionately too but I married a tradie and got used to it, I have started using it more often myself recently (although mostly directed at myself). Maybe the reason this one has been frowned upon so much over the years is the fact that its use in Australia is almost always directed hatefully towards a person whereas in England you hear the term “Daft Cunt” which is a bit more jovial. In Australia we would tend to tell someone that they are a “Fucking Cunt” or “Such a Fucking Cunt” which means we think that they are absolutely terrible/stupid/mean and until recently we definitely didn’t mean it in a jokey manner, it has become more common now though so more people are saying things like ‘ya fuckin cunt’ which is meant in a more loving manner… You might here a phrase like, come on you “dumb cunt” which has a slightly more loving tone to it, like ‘come on you fool’.

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