American expat shocked by the Aussie phrases he'd NEVER heard of before moving Down Under!

A man from the United States who recently relocated to Australia shared some of the country's slang terms that he was unfamiliar with prior to his move.

Adam Foskey, a resident of Melbourne at the moment, shared his new understanding in a now-viral TikTok video.

6_f3dRBo7V3NPtmPcsvo0HxAJZJkHFSX9HzxMuJ_dOPatSq7OgcPQEgPwasvwzLyrkfu8SncwB80BPJiRF0EsPZ6-7IX1-5msfOsSBbyIW1zwe1vFY1WY6_N3xOVYyBtP-rhxPUWPoQvoGSPTCI

An American expat lists words and phrases that he was unfamiliar with before relocating to Australia. Credit: TikTok/@amfoskey.

"First off, we have the phrase 'flogging a dead horse,'" he says in the video. "It's similar to a saying we have in the south that goes, 'beating a dead horse,' which means you're killing a topic."

In Australia, this expression denotes "wasting energy on a lost cause" or an unchangeable circumstance.

Adam explained: "It just means you're killing a topic, you're wearing it out, let's move on," in his own words.

He went on to say that he favours the Australian alternative because he believes that the word 'flogging' has a more friendly sound to it than the word 'beating.'



The next term on Adam's list is "monobrow," which is an Australian word that describes the appearance of a person whose eyebrows connect in the middle and give the impression that they have a single connected eyebrow.

Adam said he prefers both terms equally but would typically refer to this as a "unibrow" in the US.

Following the word "monobrow," Adam went on to elaborate on the Aussie term for mosquito, which is "mozzie." The American mentioned that he enjoys condensing his speech, so he is completely on board with the idea of calling the pesky insects "mozzies."

"And lastly, we have the word "dunny" which means toilet. I don't quite understand the connection between the two words, so I still think I prefer the word "toilet" over "dunny"," he added.



Since then, more than 154,000 people have watched the video, and it has received over 7,300 likes. Among the comments, some viewers have provided further explanations of the meanings of various Aussie slang terms.

"Dunny usually refers to an outside toilet. It's a shortened version of the British word Dunnekin," one person explained in the comments. Another added: "Some of us say 'loo' instead of 'dunny'."

Some users also gushed about Adam's southern accent, calling it "adorable."

In all sincerity, we might be a bit biased, but we think Australian slang is among the most interesting and one-of-a-kind languages in the world!

If you're interested in seeing even more Americans struggling in their attempts to understand Australian slang, check out the video below:



Credit: Indiana.
 
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Do Americans all live under a rock? Do they have to have subtitles on Aussie films? How did they understand the likes of Crocodile Dundee? Honestly, I'm not from here originally but Aussie slang is universally understood surely. A lot of Aussie slang seems to be falling by the wayside, we need to revive it, it's what makes language unique:)
 
I think Aussie slang is falling by the wayside. I'm guessing it's because we are so multicultural and it's becoming loss. I was in an online group a few years ago with mostly Americans and they would comment sometimes that They could hear my Aussie accent.
I remember growing up with slang . Beego..when someone looked at you
.that's cool...you liked something
.slingo....
even names for police pigs
Spit the dummy
Arvo
Is our slang that hard to understand
 
A man from the United States who recently relocated to Australia shared some of the country's slang terms that he was unfamiliar with prior to his move.

Adam Foskey, a resident of Melbourne at the moment, shared his new understanding in a now-viral TikTok video.

6_f3dRBo7V3NPtmPcsvo0HxAJZJkHFSX9HzxMuJ_dOPatSq7OgcPQEgPwasvwzLyrkfu8SncwB80BPJiRF0EsPZ6-7IX1-5msfOsSBbyIW1zwe1vFY1WY6_N3xOVYyBtP-rhxPUWPoQvoGSPTCI

An American expat lists words and phrases that he was unfamiliar with before relocating to Australia. Credit: TikTok/@amfoskey.

"First off, we have the phrase 'flogging a dead horse,'" he says in the video. "It's similar to a saying we have in the south that goes, 'beating a dead horse,' which means you're killing a topic."

In Australia, this expression denotes "wasting energy on a lost cause" or an unchangeable circumstance.

Adam explained: "It just means you're killing a topic, you're wearing it out, let's move on," in his own words.

He went on to say that he favours the Australian alternative because he believes that the word 'flogging' has a more friendly sound to it than the word 'beating.'



The next term on Adam's list is "monobrow," which is an Australian word that describes the appearance of a person whose eyebrows connect in the middle and give the impression that they have a single connected eyebrow.

Adam said he prefers both terms equally but would typically refer to this as a "unibrow" in the US.

Following the word "monobrow," Adam went on to elaborate on the Aussie term for mosquito, which is "mozzie." The American mentioned that he enjoys condensing his speech, so he is completely on board with the idea of calling the pesky insects "mozzies."

"And lastly, we have the word "dunny" which means toilet. I don't quite understand the connection between the two words, so I still think I prefer the word "toilet" over "dunny"," he added.



Since then, more than 154,000 people have watched the video, and it has received over 7,300 likes. Among the comments, some viewers have provided further explanations of the meanings of various Aussie slang terms.

"Dunny usually refers to an outside toilet. It's a shortened version of the British word Dunnekin," one person explained in the comments. Another added: "Some of us say 'loo' instead of 'dunny'."

Some users also gushed about Adam's southern accent, calling it "adorable."

In all sincerity, we might be a bit biased, but we think Australian slang is among the most interesting and one-of-a-kind languages in the world!

If you're interested in seeing even more Americans struggling in their attempts to understand Australian slang, check out the video below:



Credit: Indiana.

I have made a conscious effort to keep our slang alive by teaching my grand kids these sayings because it's so Australian. I know we have borrowed a few sayings from the Cockney or London slang. The billylids luv it just having a 😃 giggle.
 
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Do Americans all live under a rock? Do they have to have subtitles on Aussie films? How did they understand the likes of Crocodile Dundee? Honestly, I'm not from here originally but Aussie slang is universally understood surely. A lot of Aussie slang seems to be falling by the wayside, we need to revive it, it's what makes language unique:)
Some Australian 'movies', including the sequel to Crocodile Dundee and Babe had American soundtracks. Some TV shows have subtitles.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: Ricci
The one expression I really like is "your bloods worth bottling". Its so obvious its meant as a special commendation. But I used this on my foreign friend and she was so puzzled - she asked - why bottle the blood? - why not just donate the blood? how long will the blood keep in bottles? do you have to go to the blood technician to get it into bottles? can you do it at home? do you need a prescription ...on and on......
Oh my gawd! I had to explain it to her again and again and she was the least bit impressed.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: Ricci

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