7 Australian English idioms that every ESL student should know

[one_second]We post a lot of articles on the different nuances of American English. But that does mean we only “speak” American English! As a global Spoken English training website, we cater to English language learners all around the world, and work with a network of English tutors from Canada, England, Australia, New Zealand and the US.  So we are certainly not strangers British English or Australian English.

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7 Australian English idioms that every ESL student should know

Today we are going to talk about a few idioms that are commonly used in Australia. Like American English or British English, the English spoken down under posses a variety of idiomatic expressions and slang that has developed over time and are intrinsically understood by native speakers. However, some of these can be a little confusing for non native English speakers, especially without understand the context that they are used.  That said, knowing these will help you elevate yourself from an intermediate level to an advanced level in English speaking, making you stand out as a really fluent English speaker.

So here we go!

1. Give it a burl – make an attempt or try something. For example, “The car should be fixed now, give it a burl” or “it doesn’t matter that you’ve never played golf before, give it a burl”.
2. Blood’s worth bottling – a way of complimenting or praising a person, particularly where courage is shown. For example, “It’s worth bottling the blood of those policemen that rescued the hostages”.
3. Spit the dummy – get frustrated and lose one’s temper, implies childish behaviour. For example “John’s boss didn’t allow him time off work so he spat the dummy”.
4. She’ll be right – everything will be okay, events will work out as they should. For example, “My car wouldn’t start this morning” said Pete, “She’ll be right, mate” replied Mark.
5. Feeling crook – feeling unwell or sick. For example, “I’m feeling crook; had a headache all day” or “I’m not going to work today, I’m crook”.
6. Mad as a cut snake – has two meanings either crazy or angry. For example, “The guy wearing a bucket on his head and dancing in the street is as mad a cut snake” or “Be careful around the boss today, two guys didn’t come into work so he’s as mad as a cut snake”.
7. Rattle your dags – hurry up, move quickly. For example, “We’re going to be late for the show, rattle your dags!”

Learning idioms is not something that can be done over night because their meaning is loaded with the history of language and people; one cannot simply look at the individual words and deduce meaning. So do not try to memorize this list! Rather try to learn 1 or 2 of these expressions every day and try to use it when you are practicing conversational English. Spending time and effort understanding the idioms above (and more) will benefit any English language learner and help them become an advanced English speaker with an understanding of different idiomatic expressions used around the world.