Living in Australia is not just about acclimatizing to the surroundings. It also involves communicating with others around you to go about your daily chores and needs. Since this is an English speaking country, one may think that the terms used elsewhere is the same Down Under. Unfortunately, there are some terms that mean one thing in Australia and another thing in another country.

The following are but some of the common expressions used in Australia that an immigrant must learn to get through their day Down Under.

1. G'day - These means hello or hi in Australian. It is actually a conjunction of two words, good and day;

2. Hoo Roo - This means goodbye or so long in Australian slang English;

3. Ta - This means Thanks or thank you very much to services done to you;

4. Dunny - This means the toilet or the john or the bathroom or little boy's room;

5. Mate - A generic term for anybody you know. A Sheila is an Australian girl while a Bloke is an Aussie man;

6. Barbie - This means Barbecue in Aussie slang and not the doll;

7. Crickey! - This is an expression of surprise at something that is either good or bad;

8. Thongs - This means slippers or flip-flops and not the underwear. In Australian, undies mean underwear;

9. Watering Hole - This means pub where alcohol is served. A Bottle O is where alcohol is bought or sold, like a wine shop. A durry is a cigarette, just so you know the vices;

10. Dirt Nap - This means someone who has died or passed away. Other terms of the same meaning include "karked it" or "are cactus";

11. Hoot n Holler - Often used in the Outback, this means that the place you want to go to is just a distance a head, where distance is very subjective;

12. Not the sharpest knife in the drawer - An Aussie idiomatic expression meaning not the smartest person in the room;

As can be seen, there are many words and expressions that differ immensely from the American English or the British English equivalent. This, complemented by the Australian drawl certainly makes learning Aussie English all the more complicated. Asking a particular word or phrase's meaning is okay in some quarters, but if you really want to know, it would be best to learn it the real way, by talking to Blokes and Sheilas Down Under in a Watering Hole over some durry. Have a good one learning mate!