People reminisce about the ‘old Aussie phrases’ you don’t hear any more

More than 2,000 mums have reminisced about the old Australian phrases they never hear anymore, and revealed the ones they wish would come back into the vernacular.

‘What’s an old Aussie saying you don’t hear people say anymore?’ the popular Facebook page Mums Central asked their 822,000 followers.

The question incited a wave of nostalgia for the Australian slang and old phrases of yore.

One of the popular phrases dated back to World War II.

‘Don’t come the raw prawn with me,’ a man said. ‘I still say it all the time – but it’s not as popular.’

The phrase refers to an attempt at deceiving someone or misrepresenting a situation.

Some of the other phrases were more literal. 

‘As useful as an ashtray on a motorbike,’ one man wrote. ‘It really escapes people sometimes.’

‘I love telling people I don’t know someone from a bar of soap.’

A Victorian woman revealed a phrase she had only heard once – but had never forgotten.

‘Someone once told me something was “better than a smack in the belly with a wet fish” and I’ve never heard it since.’

‘My dad always said he was as dry as a dead dingo’s donga,’ another added. ‘I hear it around a fair bit but not as much.’

Another woman’s grandparents used to call eggs ‘bumnuts’ or ‘cackleberries.’

A mum also revealed the one phrase her father still muttered even as his Alzheimer’s worsened. 

‘The one saying my dad held onto even as he went further into his illness was “fit as a mallee bull and twice as dangerous”.’

More than 2,000 mums reminisce about the old Australian phrases that have soured in terms of use, and reveal the ones they wish would come back into the vernacular (stock image)

A man also shared a funny story that would often deceive him and his siblings as children.

‘My dad would always say “I’m going to see a man about a dog” when he wanted to go off for a smoke, but it completely went over our heads.’

He added, ‘Every few days we would think we’re getting a puppy.’