Australian Slang - Local Lingo
Unique Phrases - Memorable Quotes - L
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
LAG - old convict
LAGGING - a term of imprisonment c. 1893
LAIR - a show-off
LAKEMAC - Unfortunate nickname applied to Lake Macquarie in recent years
LAMB DOWN (to) - to beat
LAMBED DOWN - (to be) - a shearer who is defrauded by publicans after cashing his cheque
LAMBERT CENTRE - Geographic centre of mainland Australia. Named for cartographer Bruce Lambert
LAMBING FLAT RIOTS - violent riots against the Chinese on the goldfields at Burrangong 1860-61
LAMINGTON - chocolate iced cake rolled in coconut invented by Armand Gallad
LAMINGTON DRIVE - fundraising event selling lamingtons
LANCE-JACK - Lance-corporal (Army 1945)
LAND THE MUSTARD - to win money
LARK - joke
LARRIKIN – young man who’s always up for a laugh; prankster. Clothes worn were shiny black with velvet collar and shoes with high heels (c. 1895)
LARRIKIN HAT - a black wideawake felt hat worn with its brim turned down. c. 1895. This hat was worn by larrikins in place of former Cabbage Tree Hat
LASSETER'S REEF - supposed discovery, announced by Harold Bell Lasseter in 1929 and 1930, of a fabulously rich gold deposit in a remote and desolate corner of central Australia
LAUGHING JACKASS - kookaburra
LAYABOUT - lazy unemployed person
LAY DOWN MISÈRE - a bid in the card game 500 where the player is so sure of losing every trick that they undertake to play with their hand (cards) placed face-up on the table
LEAD OR LEADER - mining slang; a vein of gold
LEAD - used in reference to alluvial mining, and signifies the old river-bed in which gold is found(Morris 1898)
LEAD, TO STRIKE THE - used figuatively for to succeed (Morris 1898)
LEADBEATER COCKATOO - named by Major Mitchell
LEAN AS A DROVER'S DOG - thin bloke
LEANAWAY - one who is tipsy
LEARNER - in shearing, a shearer is regarded as a learner until he has shorn 5000 sheep
LEARNING THE HARD WAY - learning from experience
LEATHER JACKET - dough fried in a pan (pancake). - G. Haydon c. 1846
OI!, LEAVE OUR FLIES ALONE, JARDINE. THEY'RE THE ONLY FRIENDS YOU'VE GOT HERE - by Yabba, heckler at the Sydney Cricket Ground
LEERY - a common person
LEFTIE - derogatory term for a person who supports the left side of politics
LEGGY - leg rope that attaches the surfer to the board
LEG IT - walk
LEGLESS - Someone who is really drunk; can't stand up
LEMON - something useless or in bad repair; car
LET THE WORD 'AUSTRALIAN' DIGNIFY THE LOWLIEST MAN - by poet Arthur Balydon
LET US NEVER FORGET AUSTRALIA [N'OUBLIONS JAMAIS L'AUSTRALIE]- words emblazoned on plaques in Villers-Bretonneaux, France in remembrance of the re-capture of the town by Australian soldiers in April 1918
LIBERAL PARTY - We took the name 'Liberal' because we were determined to be a progressive party, willing to make experiments, in no sense reactionary but believing in the individual, his rights, and his enterprise, and rejecting the socialist panacea - quote from Sir Robert Menzies' memoir 'Afternoon Light'
LID - a hat
LIE DOWN - to retract a previous confession or statement in court (criminal slang 1950s)
LIFE. BE IN IT - Australian Government slogan
LIFE WASN'T MEANT TO BE EASY - Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser quoting George Bernard Shaw
LIFT - to drive cattle or sheep to market from the run (Morris 1898)
LIGHT HORSE - Australian cavalry
LIGHT ON - short of manpower
LIGHT ON THE HILL - Australian labour party catch phrase from the speech of Ben Chifley - "We have a great objective - the light on the hill - which we aim to reach by working for the betterment of mankind not only here but anywhere we may give a helping hand. If it were not for that, the Labour movement would not be worth fighting for"
LIGHTS ON THE HILL - Iconic song written by Joy McKean and made famous by her husband Slim Dusty
LIKE BILLYO - energetically
LIKE A BLOW FLY IN A PICKLE BOTTLE - agitated
LIKE A RAT UP A RAFTER - very fast
LIKE A RAT UP A DRAINPIPE - very fast
LIKE A SHAG ON A ROCK - stands out; standing around alone; lonely
LIKE A SHIVER WAITING FOR A SPINE TO RUN UP - Paul Keating describing John Hewson
LIKE A TERRIER - Never gives up
LIKE PITT STREET, SYDNEY - busy; lot of traffic
LILLY PILLY - large timber tree, species Acmena, sometimes calle Native Banana. Small fruit, white with purplish tint were eaten by aborigines (Morris 1898)
LIMA DECLARATION - Disastrous for Australia, the Lima Declaration called for the redistribution of world industry so that developing countries would have 25% of it by the year 2000. Signed by Whitlam in 1975, ratified by Fraser
LIME BURNER - man without any money (1885)
LIME-JUICE - new chum (1887)
LIME-JUICE LICKER - immigrant from England
LINDT CAFE SEIGE - Hostages taken by Islamic State operative Man Monis on Monday 15 December 2014 at the Lindt Cafe, Sydney
LINGO - Language
LIPPIE - lipstick
LIQUID AMBER - beer
LIQUID LUNCH - beer only for lunch
LITTLE AUSSIE BATTLER - hard working Australian down on his luck
LITTLE AUSSIE BLEEDER - referring to Australian comedian Norman Gunston
LITTLE DIGGER - Billy Hughes, Australia's 7th Prime Minister
LIVING OFF THE SHEEP'S BACK - referring to Australia s prosperity because of the wool industry
LIVE OFF THE SMELL OF AN OILY RAG - to live frugally
LOADED - with money; rich
LOB - to lob somewhere is to arrive at a place
LOG HUT - hut built with walls of horizontal tree trunks (Morris 1898)
LOGS - the lock-up. In early colonial days a log hut and often keeping the name when it was made more secure. Sometimes when there was no lock up the prisoners were chained to leavy logs of trees (Morris 1898)
LOLA MONTEZ - famous gold-fields performer 1850s
LOLLIES – Sweets, shortened from the English word lollipop
LOLLY WATER- fizzy drink
LONDON TO A BRICK - certainty
LONG JETTY - sweaty (rhyming slang)
LONG-STOPPER - a superior type of cockatoo, or a man who gives warning at the approach of police
LONG-TOM - species of Garfish NSW (Morris 1898)
LOO - toilet
LOOKED LIKE HE'D SWALLOWED A SHEEP - carrying too much weight; obese. - Shane Warne to Sri Lankan Arjuna Ranatunga
LOOK SEE - have a look
LOOK TO THE WALLS - to check wanted posters with a possible intention of collecting a reward
LOOSE CANNON - out of control; unpredictable
LOST THE PLOT - lost site of objective
LOUIE THE FLY - Mortein advertisement
LOUSY BASTARD - skinflint; tight arse; stingy person
LOVE APPLES - tomatoes (1895)
LUGS - ears
LUMBER - place where stolen jewellry and other valuables are disposed of (criminal slang 1925)
LUMBERED - robbed a person. Also rolled, done a ginger, tickled a peter (criminal slang 1950s)
LUNA PARK - heritage-listed amusement park at Milsons Point, on Sydney Harbour. The park was constructed during 1935
LUNA PARK FIRE - On 9 June 1979 at approximately 10:45pm, six children and one adult were killed when a ghost train amusement ride at Luna Park caught fire
LURK - a scheme for success; a racket; dishonourable; also known as a dart or a rort
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