Australian Colloquialisms Trivia Quiz

Answer: A soldier

Originally the term "digger" referred to the miners, but the current context of the word coincided with, firstly, the 2nd Boer War where the Australian soldiers, as ex-miners, earned a reputation as being quick in digging a defense dugout regardless of the terrain. With WWI the term "digger" became a term for the Australian and New Zealand corps and has become linked to the ANZAC legend "embodying the qualities of 'endurance, courage, ingenuity, good humour, and most importantly mateship'".

Answer: Dawn

At dawn all the sparrows get up and let out a little "fart" to indicate they are awake. Australian Slang does make sense when you think about it! "Arvo" refers to the afternoon.

Answer: A useless person

Contrary to popular belief the word "Drongo" is not referring to the bird with the same name. "Drongo" was the name of an Australian racehorse in the 1920's, that never won a race, thus "useless horse" becomes "useless person", i.e. "Drongo". It also was a popular nickname for the recruits to the Australian Airforce (RAAF) in WWII.

Answer: Good - Honestly - Truly

The most popular belief is the term "fair dinkum" began with the gold rush era in Australia, where the non-drinkers/gamblers had an unfair advantage so the "fair drinking honour" was thought up, where all would drink together at the end of the day. In this era there were a lot immigrants from all over the world so the pronunciation was "fair dinkum" to some.

Answer: A male swimming costume

Male swimming briefs have been called "Togs", "Aussie cozzie", "Speedos", and, since the late 1990s, they have become known as the "budgie smuggler". They were invented and designed by Australian Peter Travis, when he worked for the Australian iconic Speedo company in the 1960s. This design of swim-wear was the preferred type worn by Olympic swimmers for many years, and at some time every Australian male would have worn a pair. Peter Travis passed away on December 1st 2016 at the age of 89. A "Budgie" is a shorter name for a Budgerigar, a small green and yellow parrot.

Answer: A place a long distance from anywhere

As Australia's inland, commonly referred to as the Outback, is so vast there are often hundreds if not thousands of kilometres of isolated territory from one small town to another. "Black stump" is used colloquially as "an imaginary marker on the edge of civilized settlement".

The most common belief of the origin of "black stump" is blackened tree stumps, due to fires, were used as markers for directions to take when navigating the Australian Outback. If an Australian tells you that "you are going beyond the black stump" it is wise to prepare with plenty of fuel, water and food for the journey.

Answer: Police vehicle used in Random Breath Testing

It is not uncommon for police forces in Australia to randomly stop motorists and submit them to a breath test, which detects elevated levels of blood alcohol in the driver of the vehicle. Victoria Police conducted their first test in July 1976. Refusing to partake in a roadside test is an offense, and the penalty is as severe as high range drunk driving.

In most parts of Australia the legal limit is 0.05 blood alcohol. Random roadside drug testing is also performed now in Australia, which uses saliva samples to detect illicit drugs.

Answer: Someone is acting in a frantic manner

"Fair suck of the sav" refers to anything that questions the fairness of a situation which is generally upsetting to the individual. A "sav" is a saveloy, a highly seasoned pork sausage. When visiting Australia you may see at food outlets a "Dagwood Dog", or "Pluto Pup" advertised.

This food is generally a saveloy on a stick, though it can be any sausage, deep fried in batter, served with tomato sauce - and not recommended if you suffer from Gastric Reflux.

Answer: It's the brand name of a beer

"XXXX or Fourex" is the favourite beer from the State of Queensland. It is presented in a Gold coloured can or with a Gold coloured sticker on a bottle. People from other States of Australia claim that it is called XXXX as Queenslanders are unable to read or write, but this is an example of the light-hearted banter that exists between the states.

Answer: You have won unexpectedly

At the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002, Australia's Steven Bradbury, through a series of events, won the Olympic Gold in short-track speed skating. In the quarter final, Steven progressed due to the disqualification of another competitor. In the semi-final 3 of the 5 competitors fell allowing Steven to progress to the final by finishing 2nd.

In the final, though trailing the field, the other 4 competitors all crashed on the final turn and Steven skated through to win the gold medal. Steven became an Australian legend and the term "to do a Bradbury" was established in the Australian vernacular.