• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

The Institute of Australian Culture

Heritage, history, and heroes; literature, legends, and larrikins

  • Home
  • Articles
  • Biographies
  • Books
  • Ephemera
  • Poetry & songs
    • Recommended poetry
    • Poetry and songs, 1786-1900
    • Poetry and songs, 1901-1954
    • Rock music and pop music [videos]
    • Early music [videos]
  • Slang
  • Timeline
    • Timeline of Australian history and culture
    • Calendar of Australian history and culture
    • Significant events and commemorative dates
  • Topics

Australian language

Types of language

5 June 2024 · Leave a Comment

Elsewhere on this site is a list of Australian terminology, being a collection of slang, idioms, and colloquialisms used in Australia. The defining of colloquial language, slang, idioms, jargon, and dialects can be fraught with difficulty; the separation of words, phrases, and … [Read more...] about Types of language

Filed Under: IAC articles Tagged With: Australian language, IAC article

Colonial English [letter to the editor, 18 April 1874]

5 March 2022 · Leave a Comment

[Editor: This letter to the editor (apparently from an Englishman), about Australian English, was published in The Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney, NSW), 18 April 1874.] Colonial English. To the Editor of The Herald. Sir, — When the Scotchman went to London he said “It’s … [Read more...] about Colonial English [letter to the editor, 18 April 1874]

Filed Under: articles Tagged With: 500x500, Australian language, SourceTrove, year1874

Kelly, slang for courage [book review, 1 February 1947]

27 May 2021 · Leave a Comment

[Editor: This book review, of The Inner History of the Kelly Gang (by James Jerome Kenneally), was published in The ABC Weekly (Sydney, NSW) 1 February 1947.] Kelly, slang for courage The Inner History of the Kelly Gang, by J. J. Kenneally (J. Roy Stevens, Melbourne), 316 … [Read more...] about Kelly, slang for courage [book review, 1 February 1947]

Filed Under: articles Tagged With: Australian language, book reviews, James Jerome Kenneally (1871-1949) (subject), publication The ABC Weekly (Sydney NSW), SourceTrove, year1947

Our slang: Buckley’s chance [8 March 1941]

21 May 2021 · Leave a Comment

[Editor: This article, about the phrase “Buckley’s chance”, was published in ABC Weekly (Sydney, NSW), 8 March 1941.] Our slang Buckley’s chance Who was the Buckley commemorated in the popular Australian slang expression, Buckley’s Chance? No one knows for certain. Our … [Read more...] about Our slang: Buckley’s chance [8 March 1941]

Filed Under: articles Tagged With: Australian language, Australian slang, graphics added, publication The ABC Weekly (Sydney NSW), SourceTrove, William Buckley (1780-1856) (subject), year1941

“There is nothing wrong with Australian speech” [by Dr. A. G. Mitchell, 12 September 1942]

18 April 2021 · Leave a Comment

[Editor: This article by Dr. A. G. Mitchell was published in The ABC Weekly (Sydney, NSW), 12 September 1942. This was the second of two articles written by Dr. A. G. Mitchell on the subject for The ABC Weekly; the first article, “Australian speech is here to stay”, was published … [Read more...] about “There is nothing wrong with Australian speech” [by Dr. A. G. Mitchell, 12 September 1942]

Filed Under: articles Tagged With: A. G. Mitchell (author), Australian language, cultural nationalism, publication The ABC Weekly (Sydney NSW), SourceTrove, year1942

Australian speech is here to stay [by Dr. A. G. Mitchell, 5 September 1942]

18 April 2021 · Leave a Comment

[Editor: This article by Dr. A. G. Mitchell was published in The ABC Weekly (Sydney, NSW), 5 September 1942. This was the first of two articles written by Dr. A. G. Mitchell on the subject for The ABC Weekly; the second article, “There is nothing wrong with Australian speech”, … [Read more...] about Australian speech is here to stay [by Dr. A. G. Mitchell, 5 September 1942]

Filed Under: articles Tagged With: A. G. Mitchell (author), Australian language, cultural nationalism, publication The ABC Weekly (Sydney NSW), SourceTrove, year1942

[Australians in Gallipoli: Altering the map] [24 June 1915]

26 April 2019 · Leave a Comment

[Editor: This untitled article, regarding the Gallipoli campaign (First World War), was published in The Argus (Melbourne), 24 June 1915. It was subsequently reprinted in The Casterton News, 5 July 1915, under the title of “Australians in Gallipoli: Altering the … [Read more...] about [Australians in Gallipoli: Altering the map] [24 June 1915]

Filed Under: articles Tagged With: Australian language, Gallipoli campaign, SourceTrove, year1915

The Great Australian Adjective [25 February 1900]

10 May 2016 · Leave a Comment

[Editor: An article published in The West Australian Sunday Times, 25 February 1900.] The Great Australian Adjective. There is a certain word which is usually called the “great Australian adjective,” generally indicated in print by a ——, and extremely popular with bards … [Read more...] about The Great Australian Adjective [25 February 1900]

Filed Under: articles Tagged With: Australian language, SourceTrove, year1900

Australian slang, words, and phrases

10 January 2012 · 64 Comments

This is a list of Australian words, phrases, slang, jargon, idioms, and colloquialisms (also known as “Australianisms”). The expression of words in an Australian accent has been described as “Strine” (which is the stereotypical way that Aussies say the word “Australian”). The … [Read more...] about Australian slang, words, and phrases

Filed Under: featured main page top, IAC articles, IAC topics Tagged With: 500x500, Australian colloquialisms, Australian idioms, Australian language, Australian phrases, Australian slang, Australian words, correction or change made per readers' comments, HTML tables (side) div style, IAC list, Ostralian, Straya, Strayyan, Strine

Primary Sidebar

The Institute of Australian Culture
Heritage, history, and heroes. Writers, workers, and wages. Literature, legends, and larrikins. Stories, songs, and sages.

Search this site

Featured books

The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses, by Banjo Paterson A Book for Kids, by C. J. Dennis  The Bulletin Reciter: A Collection of Verses for Recitation from The Bulletin The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke, by C. J. Dennis The Complete Inner History of the Kelly Gang and Their Pursuers, by J. J. Kenneally The Foundations of Culture in Australia, by P. R. Stephensen The Australian Crisis, by C. H. Kirmess Such Is Life, by Joseph Furphy
More books (full text)

Featured lists

Timeline of Australian history and culture
Significant events and commemorative dates
A list of significant Australiana
Australian slang
Books (full text)
Australian explorers
Australian literature
Recommended poetry
Poetry and songs, 1786-1900
Poetry and songs, 1901-1954
Rock music and pop music (videos)
Folk music and bush music (videos)
Early music (videos)
Topics
Links

Featured posts

Advance Australia Fair: How the song became the Australian national anthem
Brian Cadd [music videos and biography]
Ned Kelly: Australian bushranger
Under the Southern Cross I Stand [the Australian cricket team’s victory song]

Some Australian authors

Barcroft Boake
E. J. Brady
John Le Gay Brereton
C. J. Dennis
Mary Hannay Foott
Joseph Furphy
Mary Gilmore
Charles Harpur
Grant Hervey
Lucy Everett Homfray
Rex Ingamells
Henry Kendall
“Kookaburra”
Henry Lawson
Jack Moses
“Dryblower” Murphy
John Shaw Neilson
John O’Brien (Patrick Joseph Hartigan)
“Banjo” Paterson
Marie E. J. Pitt
A. G. Stephens
P. R. Stephensen
Agnes L. Storrie (Agnes L. Kettlewell)

Recent Posts

  • Danger in the Bush [poem re drop bears, 17 September 1891]
  • Armistice [by G. J. Hill, 1 December 1930]
  • Gold in possession: Beaufort man involved: City court convicts: Notice of appeal [20 April 1916]
  • Died on Active Service / Heroes of the Empire [Australian military personnel (WW1, WW2), 24 April 1943]
  • Flooded house on Villiers Street, Grafton (NSW) [postcard, circa 1950]

Top Posts & Pages

  • Australian slang, words, and phrases
  • Said Hanrahan [poem by John O’Brien]
  • The Man from Snowy River [poem by Banjo Paterson]
  • The Bard and the Lizard [poem by John Shaw Neilson]
  • The Bastard from the Bush [bawdy poem, circa 1900]

Archives

Categories

Posts of note

The Bastard from the Bush [poem, circa 1900]
A Book for Kids [by C. J. Dennis, 1921]
Click Go the Shears [traditional Australian song, 1890s]
Core of My Heart [“My Country”, poem by Dorothea Mackellar, 24 October 1908]
Freedom on the Wallaby [poem by Henry Lawson, 16 May 1891]
The Man from Ironbark [poem by Banjo Paterson]
Nationality [poem by Mary Gilmore, 12 May 1942]
The Newcastle song [music video, sung by Bob Hudson]
No Foe Shall Gather Our Harvest [poem by Mary Gilmore, 29 June 1940]
Our pipes [short story by Henry Lawson]
Rommel’s comments on Australian soldiers [1941-1942]
Shooting the moon [short story by Henry Lawson]

Recent Comments

  • DESMOND Fell on The tragic note in Australian literature [book review, 15 June 1946]
  • David Spackman on Chapter 1 [The Complete Inner History of the Kelly Gang and Their Pursuers, by J. J. Kenneally]
  • Greg Kilmartin on Aussie Verse and Verse-Writers: 1. Banjo Paterson [16 February 1918]
  • Nick on The Sliprails and the Spur [poem by Henry Lawson]
  • Hayden Giles on Drop Bears

For Australia

Copyright © 2026 · Log in