If you are Visiting Australia, then you need to know about bogans – an Australia sub culture. When you are trying to gain an understanding of what makes us a great nation, understanding our nuances will help you. I know some of you are trying to get a hang of the lingo, like the Gypsy Nesters, and their learning process is worth reading in Help! Heading to Queensland & Our Australian Slang is Rusty!

We, and others have tried to help them and others on their way. We have addressed the etiquette involved in using the term ‘mate’ here down under.

What is a bogan?

Now we need to explain about one of our sub cultures – the Bogans.

A bogan is a slang term about a certain group of people found in Australia. A sub species if you like. Bogans look and act differently to others, and have their own dialect. They tend to live in packs, though they like to mix with others, generally at the pub or at the bowlo.

That’s not to say that bogans are not nice people. Most are really genuinely good blokes and sheila’s. These are the only group, where the use of the term sheila’s is acceptable as it is part of their dialect. Other bogans are just plain bogans in the not so nice sense.

Bogans are just that little bit different to others. Be careful if you call someone a bogan, it may not go down well with many. Yet Bogans are a very proud and interesting species.

How to identify a bogan.

Blue stubbie shorts. For those not familiar with these shorts, they are short – enabling a man’s appendages to hang freely and to be seen visibly by all. They also highlight the builder’s crack, again for those not in the know, this is the bum crack. This term came about when many builders wore the stubbie shorts and when they bent over …. you get the picture. Stubbie is also a name for a beer bottle, and a stubbie holder is what you put your beer in so it does not get hot. Bogans don’t really need stubbie holders.

The stubbies (shorts) are worn with thongs, or flip flops to the Yanks generic cialis vs brand cialis reviews (Americans). Dirty feet and cracked soles are a status symbol among bogans.

A beer gut under a blue singlet is mandatory. This is achieved through hard work and dedication, so the work ethic of the bogan cannot be denied.

Male bogans are still known to favour the mullet haircut. Short top, long back; I think Billy Ray Cyrus might have done it too.

On ‘good occasions’ like going down to the bowlo (the Bowling Club), a bogan might don the old flannelette shirt with some Old Spice cologne to attract the female bogans. It seems to work.

Female bogans are a site and force to be reckoned with. Tracky dacks (track pants/sweat pants) with earrings (large hoop), and bright blue eyeshadow and pink lipstick define their dress. The odd perm and a huge amount of hairspray are also unique features. They chew a lot of gum and tend to have a fag (cigarette) hanging out of their mouth.

Female bogans can sniff out a bargain at a discount chain store and will elbow you out of the way to get a bargain. They then proudly wear their purchases, to the pub or to the bowlo where they will tend to eat some chips (fries) and maybe a very very well done steak. If it isn’t black and dried out, they will not touch it.

Bogans do not like using ‘ing’ at the end of words and have a fairly unique dialect of their own. They often talk about drinkin’ and fishin’ and shootin’. They like to ‘slap the pokies’ (play slot machines) .. are you keeping up?

They also tend to live in a tribal situation and are an interesting species to observe and interact with. They like to go to caravan parks for holidays and like a bit of fishin’ as a group. The men tend to hang around the barbie with stubbies on and stubbies in hand, while the sheila’s do the actual work and comment upon each others ‘really’ good bargain purchases.

SO, if a pride is a group of lions, a pod is a group of whales, what is the collective term for a group of bogans?