Australian Slang - Local Lingo
Unique Phrases - Memorable Quotes - H
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
HAIRY BELLY - sycophant (soldier slang WW1)
HAIRY EYEBALL - give someone the once over or examine closely
HALF A FLAG - ten shillings (criminal slang 1950s)
HALF ARSED - job that is half done
HALF YOUR LUCK - wishing for the good fortune of someone else
HALF WAY DECENT - reasonably attractive person
HAM AND CHICKEN - ammunition (soldier slang WW1)
HAMMER AND TACK - back. To be on someone's hammer is to keep on their back about a task
HANDY AS AN ASH-TRAY ON A MOTOR BIKE - useless
HANGER ON -unwanted person
HANG OF (get the) - to become familiary with
HANG ON A TICK - wait a moment
HANG OUT FOR - anticipate
HANGRY - hungry and angry at the same time
HAPPY AS A DOG WITH TWO TAILS - very happy
HAPPY AS A PIG IN SHIT - very happy
HAPPY AS LARRY - very happy
HAPPY LITTLE VEGEMITE - very happy (advertising jingle)
HARBOUR BRIDGE PASS- in rugby a high looping pass
HARD CASE - an amusing or eccentric person
HARD HITTER - bowler hat
HARD LINES - bad luck
HARD UP - destitute
HARD YAKKA – Hard work
HARD WORD - put the hard word on = make demands
HARRY CAFE DE WHEELS - iconic trailer cafe at Wooloomooloo, Sydney
HATTER - a bushman or digger who worked by himself at a shallow sinking of a gold mine; they became well known for talking to themselves (as in 'mad as a hatter') c1895
HATTER - swagman who travelled alone
HAVE A BLUE - have a fight
HAVE A CAPTAIN COOK - have a look
HAVE A CRACK - have a go
HAVE A GO YA MUG - try harder
HAVE A GOOD ONE - have a good day
HAVE A JIMMY WOODSER - to drink alone
HAVE A NATTER - talk, usually between women
HAVE A SQUIZ - have a look
HAVE A STICKY - pry into the personal affairs of another
HAVE IT OFF WITH - have an affair with
HAVEN'T GOT TWO BOB TO RUB TOGETHER - broke
HAY-P'NY - half-penny
HEAD OVER TURKEY - head over heels
HEAD STATION - house occupied by the owner or manager of a station or run
HEAPS – loads, lots, many
HEAPS GOOD – something that is really good or excellent (South Australia)
HEED THE SPARK OR YOU MAY DREAD THE FIRE - Miles Franklin in My Brilliant Career 1899
HEIDELBERG SCHOOL - An Australian art movement of the late 19th century
HE'S LIKE A SHIVER WAITING FOR A SPINE TO RUN UP - Paul Keating referring to John Hewson
HELL FOR LEATHER - fast
HELLO POSSUMS - Dame Edna Everidge's catch cry
HEN'S NIGHT - bachelorette party
HERBS - (give it some herbs) - adding extra power or putting on extra speed (from cooking, adding more herbs)
HERRINGBONING THE DARLING ON JACKIE DOW'S MUTTON - a wanderer living on the country
HEXHAM GREYS - large mosquitoes found in Hexham district, Newcastle, NSW
HICKORY - Be off. (soldier slang WW1)
HICKS - people who live in the country/bush
HIDEY - children's game - hide and seek
HIGH AS A KITE - high on drugs
HIGH JUMP (The) - Sydney Quarter Sessions (criminal slang 1950s)
HIGH TOBY - bushranger on horse-back as opposed to Low Toby, a footpad
HILL'S HOIST - rotary clothes hoist invented by motor mechanic Lance Hill in 1945 South Australia
HILTON HOTEL BOMBING - An explosion occurred outside the Hilton Hotel in Sydney on 13 February 1978 where a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting was taking place
HISSY FIT - tantrum
HIT FOR SIX - laid low
HIT THE FROG AND TOAD - hit the road - get out!
HMAS SYDNEY - The loss of HMAS Sydney in November 1941 following an encounter with the German raider Kormoran off the W.A. coast is Australia s worst naval disaster, 645 lives having been lost
HOBNAIL EXPRESS - travel by foot
HODDLE STREET SHOOTING - In Melbourne on 9 August 1987 a gunman fired a total of 114 rounds in the space of 45 minutes, killing seven people and wounding a further 19, including two police officers
HOLD YOUR HORSES - request for patience
HOLEY DOLLAR - what remained of a Spanish dollar when the centre of the coin (the dump) had been struck out of it. The holey dollar was worth five shillings, and the dump fifteen pence.
HOLEY DOOLEY - expression of surprise
HOLLYWOOD - shanty town at Lambton NSW c. 1930s
HOME AND DRIED - safe and sound (soldier slang WW1)
HOME AND HOSED - safe and sound
HOME ON THE PIG'S BACK - successful
HOMINY BUS -the gaol tram that ran between Darlinghurst police station and the prison
HONEY JOYS - children's party food made from cornflakes
HONKER - nose
HOOEY - exclamation of disapproval; nonsense
HOOK JOB - Prisoner who is serving two or more years. From having the letter C (a hook) stamped above their prison numbers on their coats
HOON – lout; also bad and fast driver, usually young
HOOROO - see you later
HOOT - money (1946)
HOP IN FOR YOUR CHOP - secure a share for yourself
HOP IN FOR YOUR CUT - Referring to the labour market on the cane fields of Qld, where men could not come from another district and expect to receive work, or, as it was called there, a 'cut'
HOP OUT - a challenge to fight c. 1920
HOP OVER - go over the top to fight (soldier slang WW1)
HORNBAG - Sexually attractive person
HOSPITAL SHEEP - sheep suffering from a contagious disease which necessitates their removal from the rest
HOT AS HADES - a scorcher of a day
HOT SCONE - detective (criminal slang 1940)
HOT UNDER THE COLLAR - angry
HOTTIE - souped up car
HOWARD'S BATTLERS - working class people, traditionally regarded as Labor voters, who were instrumental in electing John Howard’s conservative Coalition to power in 1996
HOW ARE YOU GOING ? - How are you?
HOW WOULD YOU BE? - How are you?
HOW'S THE SERENITY - Darryl Kerrigan in The Castle - how good is this place?
HOWZAT - appeal a decision in cricket
HUGHIE - God; when pleading for rain, bushmen cry 'Send her down, Hughie!
HUMDINGER - remarkable person or thing
HUMIDICRIB - incubator for premature babies
HUMP, (to hump) - to shoulder or carry on the back esp. to hump the swag
HUMP - a long walk with a swag on one's back
HUMPING BLUEY - carrying a swag
HUMP THE DRUM - also on the Wallaby Track - walk to outback or bush
HUMPY - originally 'Oompi' - a bush hut
HUMPY BONG - the old covict settlement in Moreton Bay (Morris 1898)
HUNDREDS AND THOUSANDS - coloured sprinkles for cakes
HUNGRY FOR IT - grasping, do anything to gain advantage
HUNGRY FORTIES - depression of the 1840s
HUNKY DORY - all's well
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