Australian Slang For Swimsuit (10 Examples!)

Australia is an enormous country, but the vast majority of the population lives on and around the coasts.

The nation boasts some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, and internationally it’s known for its vibrant “beach culture”.

The beautiful weather and white sand beaches make all sorts of hobbies available to the Australian people, so out of that arises a varied lexicon of slang terms to describe swimsuits.

There are quite a few to look at, so let’s jump into it.

In This Article

Bathers

Firstly we have “bathers,” commonly used throughout many regions in Australia including Victoria, Southern and Western Australia, Tasmania and elsewhere.

It’s a universal slang term that refers to any kind of swimsuit, whether a woman’s one-piece, a man’s trunks or shorts, or any other kind of swimsuit you can imagine.

“Has everyone packed their bathers?” for example.

The term plainly derives from “bathing suit,” which is more typically associated with American slang than Australian.

Nonetheless, this one is perhaps the most common and universal Australian slang term for swimsuit,

When it started being used is not clear, though it doubtless dates back to the idea of “public baths” being a place where people would swim in place of the modern swimming pool.

So, it may be as old as the 19th Century in Australia.

Boardies

Next, we have “boardies”, a more specific slang term in Australia that refers to “board shorts”–that is, the kind of swimwear you would don to go surfing.

It may be a stereotype, but it’s definitely true that Australia has an incredibly lively surfing scene and such scenes have always been hotbeds for new slang.

Most young men, and often women, wear such shorts while surfing or even just while swimming!

“I’ll just grab my boardies, then we can go,” for example.

It’s a very common convention of Australian slang to take a word or phrase, shorten it down and add an -y or -ies sound to the end.

Such is the origin of “boardies”.

Again, it’s not something that appears very often in written records, so it’s not at all easy to say when it first started being used.

Doubtless, though, it was not long after surfing took hold in Australia in the early 20th Century.

Trunks

“Trunks” is another very common slang phrase in Australia for a swimsuit, though typically it refers to men’s swimming shorts rather than swimsuits as a whole.

That said, it certainly can have a broader meaning and you’ll be understood if you use this term for any kind of swimwear.

Trunks might refer to the same kinds of shorts as board shorts does, though it may also mean any type of men’s swimming costume worn only over the tops of the legs.

“I need a new pair of swimming trunks,” for example.

The origin of this term is not certain, though it’s widely agreed to date back again to the practice of old fashioned public baths.

At one time, people would not have worn shorts to go swimming but longjohns which covered their whole “trunks”.

This one is also used in Britain, but it’s believed it got started in Australia.

Speedos

Speedos is a widely used term for a certain kind of swimsuit and, of course, is also in itself a brand name.

It is used for a very specific sort of swimwear today: the scanty, underwear briefs style swimsuit that men wear around their groin and which doesn’t really cover much else.

In Australia, the term remains more or less limited to this kind of swimwear, though some use it in a much more general sense.

“I can’t go out there in these tiny speedos,” for example.

Speedo is a brand of swimwear that actually has its roots in Australia, although they are now based in England and not in Australia.

They were, and are, so popular that the brand name became synonymous with the style, even though many other brands manufacture similar styles of swimwear.

The company was founded in 1914, in Sydney, and the term was in widespread use by the 1950s.

Togs

The term “togs” is quite regional–it’s mostly restricted to Queensland.

That said, it has become more widely used in recent years, now somewhat common in Western Australia and Victoria.

The term refers to any kind of swimwear or swimsuit, and is very general in that sense.

Some might prefer to use it in a more specific way to refer to something like speedos, however. It depends on whom you ask and where you use it.

“I can’t find my togs, I’m sure I packed them,” for example.

It’s not entirely clear where it comes from, although most agree it relates to the Latin word toga.

This was a distinctive garment made of a single length of cloth that would wrap around your body.

The idea is that your swimsuit is like a “toga,” in that it wraps around your waste.

It’s not that recent and appears to have first been used in New Zealand and spread to Australia.

Cossie

Next we have “cossie,” a slang term used in Australia to refer to any kind of swimwear or swimsuit.

This one is mostly used in New South Wales today, although it is widely understood throughout Australia.

It could be a two-piece bikini, a pair of swimming shorts, a tiny pair of speedos–just about anything you could go swimming in.

It may be spelled “cossie” or “cozzie”, but the meaning is the same.

“You can’t go in the sea without your cossie on,” for example.

This one is used in both Britain and Australia, and is simply derived from altering the word “costume”.

“Swimming costume” is a standard expression meaning any kind of swimwear in Australia, deriving again from the older practice of wearing a more complete outfit in which to go swimming.

“Cossie” seems to date from around the early 20th Century.

Swimmers

Swimmers is another common Australian slang expression for a swimsuit.

This one is used most commonly in New South Wales, but you’ll also hear it in Queensland.

Again, it’s very broad and can be used for any kind of swimwear, from speedos to bikinis.

That said, it is probably most commonly used to refer to swimming shorts that men would wear.

“I’ve got a spare pair of swimmers you could borrow,” for example.

The term, like “cossie,” derives from “swimming costume”.

It also came into use in the 20th Century and has been regionally very popular ever since.

It’s certainly one of the more intuitive terms on this list!

Budgie smugglers

Moving into some of the stranger to understand terms used for swimsuits in Australia, next we have “budgie smugglers”.

This is a term, as you might have guessed, used to describe tight fitting, speedo-like swimwear and swimsuits.

It’s one that is used only for men’s swimwear, too, and is definitely one you don’t want to use in polite conversation!

“Did you see him in those budgie smugglers just now?” for example.

The slang is a joke reference to the fact that, in very tight fitting swimwear, a man can appear to be concealing a budgerigar underneath them.

It’s not particularly old, perhaps only dating back a few decades, but it’s become popular enough that the name has now been taken on by a brand of swimwear based in Australia.

Ballhuggers

In a similar vein, another common expression in Australia for tight-fitting men’s swimsuits is “ballhuggers”.

Again, this is one to use among your friends and keep to a minimum elsewhere!

It’s commonly used throughout Australia for speedo type swimming shorts, used primarily among young men but also women to describe men.

“Those are some tight ballhuggers,” for example.

“Ballhuggers” can also mean men’s underwear, and again the term is simply a reference to the tightness of the garment around a man’s groin.

When exactly the term started being used is unclear, though again it’s not much older than a few decades.

Scungies

Yet another slang term for tight-fitting men’s swimsuits in Australia is “scungies”.

This is not as commonly used as the other terms meaning the same thing, and most men will tend to just refer to them as speedos.

That said, “scungies” is quite common in certain parts of Australia.

“I can’t find my shorts so I’ll just wear these old scungies to the beach,” for example.

The term originated in the 1970s, and was derived from the even older slang word “scungy”.

This had the sense of being dirty and disagreeable, and when it came to swimming shorts was supposedly a reference to the perception of people who would wear these extremely revealing and tight fitting swimsuits.

Clearly, Australians have come up with the greatest variety of slang terms to describe tight fitting swimwear that fit snugly around their groins.

But there are also clearly many other slang terms for swimsuits of just about any kind in Australia, from the widely applicable cossies to the more specific boardies or trunks.

Any of these terms should get you by just fine.

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Founder - @PollyWebster

Polly Webster is the founder of Foreign Lingo and a seasoned traveler with a decade of exploration under her belt.

Over the past 10 years, she has journeyed to numerous countries around the globe, immersing herself in diverse cultures, traditions, and languages.

Drawing from her rich experiences, Polly now writes insightful articles about travel, languages, traditions, and cultures, sharing her unique perspectives and invaluable tips with her readers.

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