G’day, mates!
I had so much fun with Australian slang in one of my June Editor’s Corner articles,
that I wanted to share the latest words I collected from the show City Homicide. Here are some more translations for you.
| Australian Term | American Term |
| To punt
A punter Took a punt |
To make a bet
Person making a bet Made a bet |
| A drop-kick | An insignificant or unfashionable person; loser. |
| A drongo | A slow-witted or stupid person |
| Tracky-dacks | Tracksuit bottoms |
| To pash | To kiss passionately |
| To pike out | To back out of doing something you agreed to do |
| KALOF – Keep a lookout for | BOLO – Be on the lookout for |
| Not the brightest button on the blouse | Not very smart |
| A garbo | Garbage collector |
| A journo | Journalist |
| A towie | Tow truck driver |
| A truckie | Big rig truck driver |
| Don’t get your Y-fronts in a tangle | Don’t get your knickers in a twist (and I’ll skip the other translations) |
| A tinny | Small aluminum boat |
| Shonky | Of poor or dubious quality, shoddy, unreliable; deviously dishonest, fraudulent. |
| To dob | To report someone to the authorities; rat on them. |
That’s it for now! We’ll see if I find any good new cop shows to watch on BritBox, and maybe I can give you some more phrases from other English-speaking countries.
Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory | Technical Publications
Pronouns: she/her | Call via Teams | jackhenry.com
Editor’s Corner Archives: https://episystechpubs.com/
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