Lots of Aussie slang ends with a ‘y’ or ‘ie’, just like today’s word ‘chippy’ (or chippie). Chippy sounds like a cute way of saying a potato chip and occasionally Australians will use it in this way. More commonly, though, we’ll use it to mean a ‘carpenter’.
A carpenter is a tradesperson and in Australia we call these people ‘tradies’. We have Aussie slang for all of the common trades. Sometimes it’s easy to understand the connection and other times it’s not. Here are the most common ones:
chippy = carpenter
A carpenter works with wood and when wood is cut it produces woodchips. Hence, chippy.
sparky = electrician
An electrician is a person who puts in, checks, and repairs wires which carry electricity into a building. Electricity can produce a flash of light which is called a spark. This is where sparky comes from.
brickie = bricklayer
A bricklayer is a person who builds walls or buildings using bricks, so I think this one is pretty self-explanatory.
dunny diver = plumber
This one is a little trickier to understand. A plumber is a person whose job is to supply and connect or repair water pipes, baths, toilets, etc. In Aussie slang, dunny means toilet, so a dunny diver is someone who dives into toilets to fix them.
grease monkey = mechanic
A mechanic is someone whose job is repairing the engines of vehicles (e.g. cars, trucks, tractors, etc.) and other machines (e.g. aircraft). This job often deals with grease and oil, hence the grease, and monkey has been used in American English for a long time to refer to someone performing a trade or profession, especially one which involves physical agility.
From the research I did in order to write this post, I’ve discovered that most of these slang expressions are used in other countries as well. All of the ones I mentioned above, apart from dunny diver, are known and used in the U.K. which is not surprising as there are strong links between Australian English and British English. In my opinion, though, these expressions seem to be more warmly embraced in the Australian vernacular.
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Glossary
tradesperson – a person who works in the building industry in a job that involves physical work and practical skill
woodchips – small pieces of wood, especially ones that flake off when felling a tree or splitting a log. They can be used in gardening, cooking, or as fuel.
self-explanatory – easily understood from the information already given and not needing further explanation
dive into something – to start doing something suddenly and energetically, often without stopping to think
agility – the ability to move your body quickly and easily
warmly – in a very friendly or approving way
embrace – to accept something enthusiastically
vernacular – the way people talk in everyday life
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