British expat’s culture shock moving to Australia

A British expat has listed a bunch of Aussie words that have left her extremely baffled but there’s one in particular she’s “never heard of in her life”.

Aussie slang is something most expats and tourists alike struggle to get the hang of when they visit Australia.

And you can’t really blame them – us Aussies do have a very unique way with our words.

A British expat who goes by the name of Charlee on TikTok has gone viral after she shared a series of clips listing all the biggest culture shocks since moving from London to Sydney in November.

In one clip, the 25-year-old listed nine Aussie slang words that left her extremely baffled – with one in particular she’s “never heard of in her life”.

“If you’re thinking about moving to Australia. Listen up. But first – Australian’s don’t all come at me,” she joked.

Charlee, 25, moved to Sydney from London in November. Picture: TikTok/charleedownunder

“I am very aware I am an uncultured British person which is why I have moved to the other side of the world. I am ready to see the sights.”

Charlee said despite having lived in Australia for a few months now, there are still quite a few words she hears daily that have her wondering what they mean.

“First thing – an eskie. An eskie is a cool box (what they call it in the UK),” she said.

“I do actually quite like the word. It sounds better than ‘cool box’ but still, [I’ve] never heard of it in my life.”

Esky was actually an Australian brand of portable coolers released by Malleys in 1952. The first generation of eskys were known as the ‘Esky Auto Box’ and in true Aussie spirit, it was later shortened to ‘Esky’.

She listed a bunch of Aussie slang words that left her baffled. Picture: TikTok/charleedownunder

The term ‘Esky’ is something she has never heard of. Picture: TikTok/charleedownunder

In some families, there may even be an Esky that has been passed down through the generations.

Another word Charlee struggled to understand was “doona:

“A doona is a duvet. I don’t understand why you would just change the last three letters of the word. It’s quite a nice word, ‘doona’, it sounds very Australian … but it’s just a bit of a strange word.”

In the UK, they refer to a singlet as a vest. And it’s something Charlee also can’t quite comprehend.

Some of the other words included doona, arvo and thongs. Picture: TikTok/charleedownunder

“[It’s] one of those awful things you see gym rats waring especially waling down Bondi Beach,” she joked.

“The next word – arvo. Arvo means afternoon. It’s very self explanatory, however when I hear someone say arvo I think of avo (avocado).”

Like most expats, the term “thongs” always throws them off.

“I know we should all know what thongs are by now – they’re flip-flop. However, on the odd occasion someone will say thong to me and I genuinely think they're asking me about the piece of material wedged between my butt cheeks.”

She also shared another clip about what you should know before moving Down Under, such as ‘how ya going’ which she thought meant ‘where are you going’. Picture: TikTok/charleedownunder

The other words Charlee listed were footy, ‘too easy’, ‘scull’ (ie scull a drink) and pants, which they refer to as trousers in the UK.

The 25-year-old also shared another viral clip listing the six other things “you need to know” before moving to Australia.

She explained she looked foolish when driving as the traffic lights and car indicators differ from the UK, and she thought “how are you going?” meant “where are you going?”

“When I go to indicate I set my wipers off like f***ing crazy,” she said.

@charleedownunder 6 things you need to know if you’re moving to Australia🇦🇺 #movingtoaustralia #expatinaustralia #fyp ♬ original sound - Charlee

Charlee said she’s been beeped at by Aussies for being too slow at intersections when the lights turn green.

“Usually in the UK, it (the lights) turns red and amber at the same time so you know it’s about to turn green.”

“It doesn’t do that in this country – it just shoots from red to green straight away.”

Charlee also explained how when she first moved to Sydney in November and people asked how she was going, “I told them I was going to the supermarket’,” she said.

“They looked at me like I was a crazy person. I do now understand what this means – it means “how are you doing?”’