The Macquarie Dictionary is generally considered to be the authoritative source on Australian English. Their Aussie Word of the Week blog is updated weekly on their website:
This is a good starting point to collect authentic examples of Australian slang, both new and old. Consider how these examples may reflect Australian cultural values, our informal, laidback national identity, and our affinity for linguistic creativity.
A good strategy is to choose examples that give you the best opportunity to show off your metalinguistic knowledge:
| Definition | Metalanguage |
Falcon | Getting hit in the head with the ball during footy | noun, jargon from the semantic field of football, semantic change |
Brickie | Bricklayer | noun, colloquialism, suffix |
Cactus | Broken; ruined; dead | adjective, semantic change |
Hospo | The hospitality industry | noun, shortening, suffix |
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