Australian Slang - Local Lingo
Unique Phrases - Memorable Quotes - R
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
RAAFIE – an Air Force person
RABBITER - a man who lives by trapping rabbits or who is employd to clear stations from them (Morris 1898)
RABBIT KILLER - quick chop/hit at the nape of neck with side of hand. Used as a term in boxing
RABBITING ON - talking endlessly
RABBIT PROOF FENCE - Western Australia. Completed 1907
RABBITOH - man who sold rabbits (for eating) from his cart
RACK OFF – go away. Exclamation of dismissal
RACK OFF HAIRY LEGS - go away, leave!
RAFFERTYS RULES - no rules at all
RAG - five pound note (prison slang c 1893)
RAGE - party; have a good time
RAGER - an old and fierce bullock or cow that did not fatten (Morris 1898)
RAG-TIMERS - men under sentence of six months in prison (Baker)
RAINBOWS - soldiers who came out after the war storm was over (soldier slang WW1)
RAINING CATS AND DOGS -heavy rain
R.A.N. - Royal Australian Navy, c. 1911 consisted of little more than old colonial gunboats and three destroyers. Once referred to as a 'tin pot navy'
RANGA - offensive term for red headed person
RAPT – Very happy
RAT BAG - cheeky, unpredictable person
RATBAGGERY - nonsense, eccentricity, absurdity
RATSHIT - really bad
RATS OF TOBRUK - Australian soldiers who held the Libyan port of Tobruk against the Afrika Corps, during and after the Siege of Tobruk in World War II
RAW PRAWN, (DON'T COME THE) - asking too much of someone or don't try to take advantage of someone
RAZOO - non existing coin; without a razoo means to be broke
RAZOR GANG - violent criminal gang in Sydney
RAZOR GANG - government committee to reduce spending
READY UP - something that is prepared with an object(Morris 1898)
RECKON – believe
REDBACK - spider
REDHEADS - Australian brand of matchsticks
RED LOT - gold watch and chain (criminal slang 1925)
RED NED - cheap red wine
RED RATTLERS - Old Sydney train carriages
REG GRUNDIES - undies
REINSTOUSHMENTS - Reinforcements (WW1)
RELLIES – Relatives
REMEMBRANCE DAY - Observed on 11 November to recall the end of hostilities of First World War on that date in 1918.
REMITTANCE MAN - shady Englishman usually of good family sent out to Australia and paid an allowance by his family so long as he remained
RETROSPECTIVE BITTERNESS - "It is I believe, a simple but sometimes forgotten truth that the greatest enemy to present joy and high hope is the cultivation of retrospective bitterness" - Speech delivered by Sir Robert Menzies at the United Nations General Assembly 5 October 1960
REV-HEAD - car enthusiast, usually male
RIDGIE DIDGE - true
RIGHT HANDER - strike across the face with an open right hand
RIGHT INTO MY BARROW - just what I want
RIGHTO - OK
RIGHTIO - OK
RING - call or phone
RING (to) - to patrol round and round cattle
RING BARK - to kill a tree by stripping off a ring of bark around the tree
RINGER - fastest shearer in the shed
RING IN - substitute
RING NECK - the equivalent of Jackaroo, a term used in the back clocks in reference to the white collar sometimes worn by a new Jackaroo (Morris 1898)
RINGS, (to run rings around) - to beat out and out
RIP - a stretch of fast moving water which takes swimmers and surfers out to sea
RIP OFF - item that costs more than it should
RIPPER– excellent
RIPSNORTER - excellent
RISING SUN - badge worn on the cap and collar of all Australian soldiers
ROAD TRAIN - truck used in rural Australia. Prime mover plus two or more trailers
ROARING HORSETAILS - a slang name for the Aurora Australis (Morris 1898)
ROBBERY UNDER ARMS - A terms used in court to describe charges against bushrangers
ROBBERY UNDER ARMS - A famous book set in 19th century Australia about convicts and bushrangers written by Australian poet and novelist Thomas Alexander Browne, pseudonym Rolf Boldrewood
ROCK AND ROLL - dole (rhyming slang) - he's on the rock and roll
ROCK AND ROLLERS - bowlers
ROCKET ROD - Rod Laver, champion tennis player
ROCK HOPPER - fisherman on coastal rocks
ROCK LOBSTER - crayfish
ROCK UP - turn up unannounced
ROCKS IN YOUR HEAD (TO HAVE) - to be unwise
ROCKS PUSH - Also The Push. Larrikin gang in Sydney in 1890 s
ROCK SPIDER - a thief who steals from the handbags of couples sitting in parks (criminal slang 1950)
ROGUE - one shilling piece
ROGUE'S CAT - whip with nine thongs as thick as the tip end of the little finger. Each thong had several knots with lead inside. (cat o nine tails). Sydney 1826
ROLL UP - gather for a meeting (goldfields)
ROLL YOUR OWN - making your own cigarette
ROLLED - robbed a person (criminal slang 1950s)
ROLLED GOLD - genuine or first class
ROO - kangaroo
ROO BAR - bar fixed to the front of a vehicle to protect it if a kangaroo is hit. Also bull-bar
ROOK, (to) - to take down (Digger Smith, C.J. Dennis)
ROONED - ruined. We'll all be rooned said Hanrahan , quote from iconic poem Said Hanrahan
ROOT - crude term for sex
ROOT FOR - barrack for a team
ROOTED – tired; also bushed or shagged out
ROOT UTE - panl van with a mattress for sex
ROOTY - a route march (soldier slang WW1)
ROPING POLE- a long pole used for casting a rope over an animal's head in the stockyard (Morris 1898)
RORT - scam; also having a good time
ROSES RED - bed
ROSEMARY - Rosemary is a symbol of remembrance. It is traditional on Anzac Day to wear a sprig of rosemary pinned to a coat lapel
ROSY RED - bed
ROTHBURY COAL MINER'S STRIKE - in November 1929 police opened fire in the crowds wounding five and killing one miner Norman Brown
ROUGH AS BAGS - a coarse person; ill-mannered
ROUGH AS GUTS - vulgar; uncouth
ROUGH END OF THE PINEAPPLE - raw deal; getting the rough end of a deal; poor treatment
ROUGH END OF THE STICK - bad side of a deal
ROUGH NUT - unsophisticated person
ROULETTES - Royal Australian Air Force's aerobatic display team established in 1970
ROUSEABOUT - odd job man on station esp. shearing time
ROWDY - a troublesome bullock or horse (Morris 1898)
ROZZER - policeman (1920s)
RUBBADEDUB - or rubbity dub - a pub or bar (rhyming slang) (WW2)
RUBBER DUCKY - Inflatable Rescue Boat (IRB) introduced into Australia in the 1970s
RUG UP - dress warmly
RUG RAT - child
RUM JAR - type of artillery shell (soldier slang WW1)
RUM REBELLION - an uprising on 26 January 1808 in which William Bligh Governor of New South Wales was deposed by members of the New South Wales Corps
RUN - cattle station
RUN A BANKER - flooded river or creek
RUN AROUND LIKE A CHOOK WITH IT'S HEAD CHOPPED OFF - race around getting nowhere
RUN LIKE A HAIRY GOAT - perform badly in race
RUNNERS – trainers, sneakers
RUN OFF YOUR FEET - extremely busy
RUN RINGS AROUND - defeat another by physical prowess or intelligence
RUSH - to stampede cattle, making it easier to isolate and steal; either by bushrangers or aborigines
RUST BUCKET - old car
RYBUCK (RIBUCK) - correct or genuine. Jewish origin
RYBUCK - feeling in good spirits
RYBUCK SHEARER - expert shearer
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