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• "Be off like a bride’s nightie." Depart quickly, move with a sudden burst of speed. It is likely that this expression was first used in horseracing to refer to a horse that moved very quickly out of the starting gates. • "Beyond the black stump." An Australian idiom idicating that even if you go as far as you can, the black stump is still a little further. • "Blood is worth bottling." If an Australian says to you "Your blood is worth bottling", he/she is complimenting or praising you for doing something or being someone very special. • "Cut down the tall poppies." If people cut down the tall poppies, they criticise people who stand out from the crowd. • "Dog-whistle politics." When political parties have policies that will appeal to racists while not being overtly racist, they are indulging in dog-whistle politics. • "Dry as a wooden god." Very dry area or very thirsty: That desert is as dry as a wooden god
"Flat out like a lizard drinking." Extremely busy, at top speed. This is word play on two different meanings of the standard English ‘flat out’. The literal sense is to lie fully stretched out (like a lizard), and the figurative sense means as fast as possible. The phrase also alludes to the rapid tongue-movement of a drinking lizard. It is sometimes shortened, as in ‘we’re flat out like a lizard trying to meet the deadline’. •"Flat out like a lizard drinking." An Australian idiom meaning extremely busy, which is a word play which humorously mixes two meanings of the term flat out. • "Mad as a cut snake." One who is mad as a cut snake has lost all sense of reason, is crazy, out of control. • "On the wallaby track." In Australian English, if you're on the wallaby track, you are unemployed.
• "secret men’s business."In Australian indigenous culture secret men’s business refers to ceremony and ritual open only to men. The term has been transferred into standard Australian English where it is used, often jokingly, to refer to stereotypically male activities, talk and interests: ‘Kingswood driving is secret men’s business — just as pushing a shopping trolley straight is secret women’s business’. • "See which way the cat jumps." If you see which way the cat jumps, you postpone making a decision or acting until you have seen how things are developing. • "She'll be apples." A very popular old Australian saying meaning everything will be all right, often used when there is some doubt. •"Spit the dummy." To indulge in a sudden display of anger or frustration; to lose one’s temper. The phrase is usually used of an adult, and the implication is that the outburst is childish, like a baby spitting out its dummy in a tantrum and refusing to be pacified. •"Stolen generations." Aboriginal children who were taken from their families and placed in institutions or fostered with white families from 1883 to 1969. • "Stone the crows." Stone the crows is used to convey shock or surprise similarly to "Oh my God". "Stone the flamin' crows" is a more emphatic form of the expression. • "such is life." The last words spoken by the bushranger Ned Kelly before he was hanged at Melbourne Gaol in 1880. The phrase is used to express a philosophical acceptance of the bad things that happen in life. • "Talk the legs off an iron pot." Somebody who is excessively talkative or is especially convincing is said to talk the legs off an iron pot. • "Up a gum tree." If you're up a gum tree, you're in trouble or a big mess.
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