The land down under is not backward in adding its own unique stamp to the language. Here are a few Australian words that have made it in, with meanings that give clues to what preoccupies our antipodean cousins:
ARVO afternoon
BIFFO fighting or aggressive behaviour
BOOFY strong but stupid
EVO evening
EXO excellent
NOAH a shark (from Noah’s Ark)
RELLO a relative
SHYPOO poor quality liquor
SMOKO a cigarette break
I don’t know why Aussies seem so hell bent on putting an O on the end of everything. Probably seemed an exo idea at the time!
By Barry Grossman
Barry is a leading UK Scrabble player and winner of several tournaments. He is the author of Scrabble for Beginners (Chambers), Need to Know Scrabble, Scrabble – Play to Win and The Little Book of Scrabble Trickster. He has also contributed to numerous other books on the subject of words and word-games, has been a series champion of Channel 4’s Countdown, and has written four comedy series for BBC Radio 4. He lives in Hertford.
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