ace – excellent

aggro – agitated, angry

bad trot – a run of hard times

bangtail muster – to cut the end off each cow’s tail hair as they’re being counted (banging the tail)

Big Smoke – the city

blood’s worth bottling – such a good person their blood is worth preserving

bonza – very good, top notch

bowled up to – approached

bull dust – lies, nonsense

bunkum – lies, nonsense

bunyip – imaginary creature

burr up – get angry, annoyed

bushie – one who lives in the bush and understands bush life

bush telly – campfire

cark it – expire, die

cattle duffing – stealing cattle, often by branding over the top of an existing brand

cattle rush – stampede

chips are down – going through a bad situation

city slicker – a city person who doesn’t know much about the bush

cleanskins – unbranded cattle

cobber – mate, friend

cooee – a loud call, typically used in the bush to attract attention

coot – fool, knucklehead

cowboy up – when something is hard, don’t quit but do it with a good attitude

cut – castrate cattle

diddly-squat – little to nothing

dinky-di – honest, genuine

dodgy – not right, poor quality

done like a dinner – worn out, exhausted

dubbed – nicknamed

fair crack of the whip – give someone or something a fair go

fair dinkum – true, genuine

feller – someone who cuts down trees

furphy – an incorrect or false story

galah – a foolish person

get jack of – get tired of, lose patience with

goner – someone or something that is dead or dying and can’t be helped

grit – strong character

heyday – a successful time in a person’s life

high-tailed – moved quickly

hobbled – strapping two legs together (e.g. on a horse) so they can’t move around freely

jaunt on the wallaby track – walking around the bush (traditionally swagmen who went from farm to farm looking for work)

Joe Blake – snake

knock off work to carry bricks – a hard worker, one who keeps working after they’ve finished (knocked off) work

narky – cranky

nerd – a boring, often brainy person

Pat Malone – alone

poddy dodging – stealing calves

ringer – a person who works stock, a drover

ripsnorter – something or someone with amazing characteristics or talents

rubber meets the road – where a theory is tested in real life

step up to the plate – put yourself into position to take responsibilty for something

strine – Australian slang

throwing in the towel – giving up, quitting

tucker – food

twenty to the dozen – going very fast

two bob each way – wanting the best of two worlds without committing to either, sitting on the fence