Editing Australian English (section)

===Intrinsic traits===
{{Main|Australian English vocabulary}}
[[File:Banjo Patterson.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Bush poets such as [[Banjo Paterson]] captured the Australian vocabulary of the 19th century in their [[bush ballad]]s.]]
Australian English has many words and idioms which are unique to the dialect.

====Commonly known====
Internationally well-known examples of Australian terminology include ''[[outback]]'', meaning a remote, sparsely populated area, ''[[the bush]]'', meaning either a native forest or a country area in general, and ''g'day'', a greeting. ''Dinkum'', or ''fair dinkum'' means "true", "legitimate" or "is that true?", among other things, depending on context and inflection.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.anu.edu.au/andc/pubs/ozwords/November_98/index.html| title = Frederick Ludowyk, 1998, "Aussie Words: The Dinkum Oil On Dinkum; Where Does It Come From?" (''0zWords'', Australian National Dictionary Centre)| access-date = 5 November 2007| archive-date = 16 March 2011| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110316062047/http://www.anu.edu.au/andc/pubs/ozwords/November_98/index.html| url-status = dead}}. Access date: 5 November 2007.</ref> The derivative ''dinky-di'' means "true" or devoted: a "dinky-di Aussie" is a "true Australian".{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}

====Historical references====
[[Australian performance poetry|Australian poetry]], such as "[[The Man from Snowy River (poem)|The Man from Snowy River]]", as well as [[Australian folk music|folk songs]] such as "[[Waltzing Matilda]]", contain many historical Australian words and phrases that are understood by Australians even though some are not in common usage today.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}

==== British English similarities and differences ====
Australian English, in common with [[British English]], uses the word ''[[mateship|mate]]'' to mean ''[[mate (colloquialism)|friend]]'', as well as the word ''[[bloody]]'' as a mild [[Expletive (linguistics)|expletive]] or [[intensifier]].{{citation needed|date=February 2024}} "Mate" is also used in multiple ways including to indicate "mateship" or formally call out the target of a threat or insult, depending on internation and context.

Several words used by Australians were at one time used in the UK but have since fallen out of usage or changed in meaning there. For example, ''creek'' in Australia, as in North America, means a stream or small river, whereas in the UK it is typically a watercourse in a marshy area; ''paddock'' in Australia means field, whereas in the UK it means a small enclosure for livestock; ''bush'' or ''scrub'' in Australia, as in North America, means a natural, uncultivated area of vegetation or flora, whereas in England they are commonly used only in proper names (such as [[Shepherd's Bush]] and [[Wormwood Scrubs]]).{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}

====Aboriginal-derived words====
{{further|List of English words of Australian Aboriginal origin}}
Some elements of [[Australian Aboriginal languages|Aboriginal languages]] have been [[List of English words of Australian Aboriginal origin|adopted by Australian English]]—mainly as names for places, flora and fauna (for example [[dingo]]) and local culture. Many such are localised, and do not form part of general Australian use, while others, such as ''kangaroo'', ''boomerang'', ''budgerigar'', ''wallaby'' and so on have become international. Other examples are ''[[cooee]]'' and ''hard yakka''. The former is used as a high-pitched call, for attracting attention, (pronounced {{IPA|/ˈkʉːiː/}}) which travels long distances. ''Cooee'' is also a notional distance: "if he's within ''cooee'', we'll spot him". ''Hard yakka'' means "hard work" and is derived from ''yakka'', from the [[Turrubal language|Jagera]]/Yagara language once spoken in the Brisbane region.

The word ''bung'', meaning "dead" was originally a [[Turrbal language|Yagara]] word which was used in the [[pidgin]] widely spoken across Australia.<ref name=ludowyk2004>{{cite journal| url=https://slll.cass.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/andc/Ozwords%20Oct.%202004.pdf |date= October 2004 | volume= 11 |issue= 2| journal=Ozwords|title=Aussie Words: Of Billy, Bong, Bung, & 'Billybong' |page=7|last1=Ludowyk |first1=Frederick| author-link=Frederick Ludowyk| via=[[Australian National University]]| publisher=[[Australian National Dictionary Centre]]}} Also [https://web.archive.org/web/20160623044356/http://andc.anu.edu.au/pubs/ozwords/October_2004/Billy.html here]</ref>

====Places====
Many towns or suburbs of Australia have also been influenced or named after Aboriginal words. The best-known example is the capital, [[Canberra]], named after a local [[Ngunnawal language]] word thought to mean "women's breasts" or "meeting place".<ref>{{cite web|title=Canberra Facts and figures|url=http://www.visitcanberra.com.au/Visitor-Info/Facts-and-figures.aspx|access-date=15 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109134755/http://www.visitcanberra.com.au/Visitor-Info/Facts-and-figures.aspx|archive-date=9 November 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=Frei>{{cite web |last=Frei |first=Patricia |title=Discussion on the Meaning of 'Canberra' |url=http://www.canberrahistoryweb.com/meaningofcanberra.htm |work=Canberra History Web |publisher=Patricia Frei |access-date=11 August 2013 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927182307/http://www.canberrahistoryweb.com/meaningofcanberra.htm |archive-date=27 September 2013}}</ref>

====Figures of speech and abbreviations====
[[Litotes]], such as "not bad", "not much" and "you're not wrong", are also used.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}

[[Diminutive]]s and [[hypocorism]]s are common and are often used to indicate familiarity.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Astle|first=David|date=12 March 2021|title=Why do Aussies shorten everything an itsy-bitsy-teeny-weeny bit?|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|url=https://www.smh.com.au/culture/books/why-do-aussies-shorten-everything-an-itsy-bitsy-teeny-weeny-bit-20210308-p578qe.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220331125115/https://www.smh.com.au/culture/books/why-do-aussies-shorten-everything-an-itsy-bitsy-teeny-weeny-bit-20210308-p578qe.html|archive-date=Mar 31, 2022}}</ref> Some common examples are ''arvo'' (afternoon), ''barbie'' (barbecue), ''[[smoko]]'' (cigarette break), ''[[Aussie]]'' (Australian) and ''Straya'' (Australia). This may also be done with people's names to create nicknames (other English speaking countries create [[English diminutive|similar diminutives]]). For example, "Gazza" from Gary, or "Smitty" from John Smith. The use of the suffix ''-o'' originates in {{langx|ga|ó}},{{Citation needed|date=July 2020}} which is both a postclitic and a suffix with much the same meaning as in Australian English.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}

In informal speech, incomplete comparisons are sometimes used, such as "sweet as" (as in "That car is sweet as."). "Full", "fully" or "heaps" may precede a word to act as an intensifier (as in "The waves at the beach were heaps good."). This was more common in regional Australia and South Australia{{When|date=September 2014}} but has been in common usage in urban Australia for decades. The suffix "-ly" is sometimes omitted in broader Australian English. For instance, "really good" can become "real good".{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}

====Measures====
Australia's switch to the [[metric system]] in the 1970s changed most of the country's vocabulary of measurement from [[imperial units|imperial]] to metric measures.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.measurement.gov.au/measurementsystem/Pages/HistoryofMeasurementinAustralia.aspx |title=History of Measurement in Australia |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |work=web page |publisher=Australian Government National Measurement Institute |access-date=14 February 2013}}</ref> Since the switch to metric, heights of individuals are listed in centimetres on official documents and distances by road on signs are listed in terms of [[kilometre]]s and [[metre]]s.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Wilks|first1=Kevin|title=Metrication in Australia: A review of the effectiveness of policies and procedures in Australia's conversion to the metric system|date=1992|publisher=Australian Government Publishing Service|location=Canberra|isbn=0-644-24860-2|page=114|url=http://themetricmaven.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Metrication-in-Australia-built-2013-06-24.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://themetricmaven.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Metrication-in-Australia-built-2013-06-24.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|access-date=5 August 2017|quote=Measurements used by people in their private lives, in conversation or in estimation of sizes had not noticeably changed nor was such a change even attempted or thought necessary.}}</ref>