Dictionary

A Yank, A Pom and an Aussie Walk into a Bar:

A Dictionary of American, British and Australian Colloquialisms

Here is a little dictionary of words and their changing meanings, as I have discovered on my travels.  If I'm wrong, or you'd like to add more, let me know! This page shall keep growing as we go! (And hopefully will help my American friends to understand me a little better, and correct me if I'm misunderstanding them.)

If the text is in this colour it means it's  recent addition!

aggro (Aus.)

=aggressive.  A lovely demonstration of the Aussie penchant for shortening with -ie or -o or -z.  

(are you) alright?

In Australia this is a genuine expression of concern.  In the U.K. it's just a greeting and doesn't require an answer.  Heartless bastards.  (I think it was my sister Sarah who reminded me of this one - thanks Sarah!)

arvo

This means afternoon and is very useful in text messaging.

biscuits (U.S.)

What Aussies would probably call a scone, except that they're usually eaten with a savoury gravy.  What Aussies would call a biscuit the Americans call cookies.  (Thanks Jenn for pointing out that this needs to be on my page! Has caused confusion more than once for both of us I'm sure!)

bless your little heart (Southern U.S.)

A Southern habit of making you feel nice, patronising you, and insulting you, all wrapped up into one darling little quasi-religious phrase.  God bless the South.
(Thanks for teaching me to be on the lookout for this one, Allison!)

bogan (Aus.)

Difficult to define, but the closest U.S. approximation would be "redneck" or "white trash".  I was delighted to find that when I googled it, the third picture that came up was of a guy I know.  Think mullets and wife-beaters and ocker accents and cheap beer.  (See: "singlet" and "ocker".) 

bourgeois (pr. boozhie)

This is a funny one.  Didn't hear the word bourgeois used much at all in Australia outside of socialist theory or talk about the French Revolution, but here in its funny shortened pronunciation it's used surprisingly often (i.e., at all).

bum

Aus. =butt, bottom, ass
U.S. =homeless person
(See how much respect we have for those who have fallen on hard times?)

check (U.S.) = cheque (Aus.) 

(Sometimes.  Obviously not when it's being used as a verb.)

choccas (Aus.)

Full.  Chock-a-block.

chookas (Aus.)

Aussie theatre-speak for "good luck" or "break a leg".  Surprisingly difficult for most Americans to pronounce, in my experience.  Pronounced almost exactly the same as (but don't confuse it with) "choccas" (see above).

Chrissie 

(See the -ie ending? Yeah, we really are fond of that.) Christmas.

come-to-Jesus

This is a hilariously commonly used phrase to describe the kind of deep, difficult conversation that is an encouragement to change someone's ways.  Kind of like an intervention, with an altar-call at the end.

crisps/chips/fries

Now we enter the wonderful and varied world of fried potato snacks.  Crisps in the U.K. are the cold, crunchy, crisp kind.  That kind is called chips in the U.S., which is confusing, because what the Brits call chips the Americans call fries.  Australians tend to call them all chips, and sometimes clarify that by calling the hot ones, inventively, hot chips.  They also are the only ones to sell potato gems, which are apparently not that dissimilar to tater tots, but are far and away better than all the rest, especially the ones at Chequers in Central Square, Ballarat.  With gravy.

cuppa

Aus. = hot beverage

dictaphone (Aus.)

Apparently using this word makes me seem quaint and cute in this country.  Little hand-held device for voice recordings.  Not, as some (i.e., Allison and Ray) would have it, a tape recorder, or at least not usually any more.

doing my head in (Aus.? or just me?)

Confusing me.  Undermining my ability to think clearly.  (Happens to me with disturbing regularity.)

doona (Aus.)

Warm bed-covering that you put inside a washable, more aesthetic doona cover.  Called a duvet in other parts of the world, but it seems to me that maybe quilts, comforters and blankets are more common in the U.S. and therefore both doonas and the words for them are less frequently used.  This came up thanks to a Main Street Theater cast who wouldn't let me have a conversation one day without pointing out all of my unusual words and accent habits.

fanny

In the U.S. this just means your bum (see: bum), but in Australia it's a more intimate place that only women have...you can imagine my horror when a nurse told me she had to put two needles in my fanny...

fortnightly (Aus.)

Every two weeks (or fourteen nights, as it were).  Most Americans haven't seemed to discover this word and make do with much clunkier alternatives, such as "bi-weekly" and "alternate Thursdays".

having a go at me (Aus.) = comin' for me (U.S.)

(This one's for you, Shemica.)

highrise

A highrise apartment in Houston tends to be fancy, the kind of place with a pool and a concierge and floor-to-ceiling windows.  A highrise apartment in Melbourne is often the kind of basic place that is owned by the government for the benefit of those who can't afford all those things.

holiday

in the U.S. means public holiday, or any of those religious (or quasi-) celebrations like Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas.  There's a strong sense of rhythm to the year, and people often talk about having favorite holidays (usually when they're just trying to tell you they like Halloween better than Christmas).  In Australia, it means vacation.

how are you doing (U.S.) = how are you going (Aus.)

Thanks Jenn for reminding me of this one.  Sometimes I forget which one belongs to which country.

interval

... in Australia is intermission in the U.S.  More than once people in a theatre have looked at me blankly for getting this one confused.

john

Can mean toilet or a man seeking the services of a prostitute.  (Thanks for the contribution, Sass!)

ocker (Aus.)

(describing certain Aussie accents): very broad.

pants

...means undies in the U.K.  So I keep being ruder than I mean to be.

pissed

Everyone knows this one.  Here it means angry, back home it means drunk.

postie

Postman.   Mailman.  Mail delivery professional.  

put up

= Australian put away

shattered

U.K. = tired
Aus.= disappointed
U.S. = ....not sure I've heard it used at all, now I come to think of it...

singlet (Aus.)

=U.S. tank top.  Tight men's singlets sold by Bonds are called wife-beaters, for reasons I will leave to your imagination.  (See: "bogan".)

shout

Aus. = pay for
I am enjoying teaching this one to my American friends, particularly in order that they may shout me.

thongs

Aus. = flip-flops
pretty much everywhere else = g-strings

tomoz

Tomorrow.  Also v useful in texting.

uni (Aus.)

=university.  No-one understands me here when I talk about my uni days, so I have to call it "college".