Australian English
Thongs, jumper, capsicum: Australian English vs American English
Thongs meaning Australia: flip flops. Rubber sandals with a strap between the toes, worn to the beach, the servo and, if you're honest, the pub. Nothing to do with underwear. That's a G-string here.
That's the big one, but it's not the only word that swaps meaning when you land. Jumper, capsicum, biscuit, chips, tomato sauce and football all mean something different on this side of the Pacific. Here's the table, then the short version of why each one trips people up, with audio on the ones locals have recorded.
Australian English vs American English: the table
| Australia | United States | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Thongs | Flip flops | Rubber sandals with a strap between the toes |
| Thong (one of them) | Thong (underwear) | Here it's one shoe. The underwear is a G-string |
| Jumper | Sweater | A knitted pullover. A US jumper is a sleeveless dress, called a pinafore here |
| Capsicum | Bell pepper | The big sweet one, red, green or yellow. The hot ones are chillies |
| Biscuit | Cookie, cracker | Sweet or savoury, flat and crunchy. A US biscuit is closer to a scone |
| Chips | Fries, and chips | Hot chips are fries. Packet chips are chips. Same word, so ask |
| Tomato sauce | Ketchup | The red stuff you put on a pie. Pasta sauce is pasta sauce |
| Football, footy | Football (NFL) | Depends where you are. Aussie rules in the south, rugby league up north |
| Servo | Gas station | Where you buy petrol, and a pie at 11pm |
| Petrol | Gas | The fuel. Gas here is the bottle under the barbie |
| Lollies | Candy | Any sweets. Chocolate is still chocolate |
| Prawn | Shrimp | Nobody here has ever thrown a shrimp on anything |
| Entrée | Appetiser | The small plate first. Your main is what Americans call the entrée |
| Coriander | Cilantro | Same plant, different word |
| Soft drink | Soda, pop | Anything fizzy. Lemonade here is clear and fizzy, like Sprite |
| Ute | Pickup truck | Car at the front, tray at the back |
| Toilet, loo, dunny | Bathroom, restroom | Ask for the toilet. Ask for the bathroom and you might get shown a bath |
Thongs vs flip flops
Thongs vs flip flops is one object with two names. Australia says thongs. The US and the UK say flip flops. New Zealand says jandals, which is a separate argument.
One of the pair is a thong. That's where it goes wrong, because in the US a thong is underwear. So if a mate says they lost a thong at the beach, they are describing a shoe, not a wardrobe malfunction.
Hear it
Thongs: thongs
A local says thongs on its own, then in a sentence.
Say it: "Grab your thongs, we're heading down the beach."
Jumper and capsicum
A jumper is a knitted pullover. What Americans call a sweater. Order a jumper in the US and you'll get a sleeveless dress, which is a pinafore here and a surprise anywhere.
Capsicum is the bell pepper. It's on the sign at the greengrocer, it's on the menu, and it's what you're asking for on a pizza. Say bell pepper and they'll work it out, but you'll get a small pause. Hot ones are chillies.
Biscuit, chips and tomato sauce
A biscuit is a cookie or a cracker, depending on whether it's sweet or savoury. A Tim Tam is a biscuit. An Arnott's Sao is a biscuit. The soft buttery American biscuit is closer to what we'd call a scone.
Chips are both hot chips (fries) and packet chips. Say chips at a fish and chip shop and you'll get hot ones. Say chips at a supermarket and you'll be pointed at the packets.
Tomato sauce is ketchup. Sauce on your pie means tomato sauce. Ask for ketchup and you'll get it, plus a look.
Football: ask which footy
Football, or footy, depends on the state. Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania mean Aussie rules, the AFL. New South Wales and Queensland mean rugby league, the NRL. Rugby union is just rugby.
Soccer is soccer to most people, and football to the people who play it. Say soccer and nobody will be confused. The American game is gridiron or American football, and it's on at unhelpful hours.
Servo, petrol and gas
Servo meaning: petrol station. It's "service station" cut in half with an o stuck on the end, the same way arvo and bottle-o were made.
You fill up with petrol, not gas. Gas here is LPG, the bottle under the barbie or what some cars and taxis run on. Ask the servo for gas and you'll be sent to the cage of bottles out the front.
Hear it
Servo: servo
A local says servo on its own, then in a sentence.
Say it: "There's a servo on the highway just before the turnoff."
The rest of the table, quickly
Entrée is the starter. Main is the main. Order an entrée expecting a full plate and you'll be ordering again.
Prawn, never shrimp. That ad was made for you, not for us.
Lemonade is clear and fizzy. If you want the lemon juice and sugar version, ask for lemon squash or just accept your fate.
Ask for the toilet. Nobody is offended by the word, and it gets you to the right room.
Same word, different sound
Half your trouble won't be vocabulary. It will be saying Melbourne with an R in it. The words that are spelled the same but said differently are at the most mispronounced Australian place names.
Where the rest of the words are
This page is the words that mean something different. The words that mean nothing at all until someone explains them, arvo, servo, no worries, yeah nah, are at Australian slang words you will actually hear. The full list is the dictionary.
The Aussie Talk app has the slang dictionary and the translator in your pocket, with locals saying the words, so you can check one at the counter instead of guessing. Get it on the App Store.