Australian Slang For Breakfast (Explained!)

In Australian slang, breakfast is most commonly “brekkie,” “brekky,” or “breakie.” Any one of these three spellings may be used. This is the most widely used and is heard and understood throughout Australia. Other slang terms used for breakfast might include “googie” for eggs, and “cuppa” for tea or coffee.

So, the one real term that Australians have that can stand in the place of breakfast is simply “brekkie” or any of the other spellings that are used.

But very often, they won’t say breakfast at all, but will just talk about the items that will make up breakfast.

This is similar to the American “eggs and bakey” expression.

Let’s find out more.

In This Article

What do Australians call breakfast?

Apart from just calling it breakfast, the main slang term that is used to refer to breakfast is just brekkie.

This is broadly used across most of Australia as far as we can tell, and has been for rather a long time.

Statistics show that, when it’s written down, the most popular way by far to spell it is this way, “brekkie”.

This term is also used in some parts of the UK, though to a lesser extent.

It can also be spelled “brekky”, though, but the meaning and pronunciation are the same.

“Breakie” is also used, but is really the only spelling that is not broadly accepted.

Of course, when it comes to slang terms, whether or not it’s “accepted” is largely irrelevant, but no doubt it does reflect the actual usage and how it tends to be spelled.

The only other real slang terms that one might use to refer to breakfast are those terms that describe individual breakfast items.

We have many such expressions across the English speaking world—I mentioned “eggs and bakey”, but we also have such metaphors as “waking up and smelling the coffee”, or “having egg on your face”.

So, in Australian slang, you might also refer to breakfast as something like “a plate of googies”, meaning a plate of eggs.

Or, for example, you might say simply “googies and a cuppa?” if offering to make someone breakfast.

“Bubble and squeak” is also a breakfast dish enjoyed in Australia and parts of England which could also serve as a stand in for the word breakfast.

It describes a dish of fried potatoes and other leftovers. While originally a British food, it has taken on a uniquely Australian character, too.

Where do all these terms come from, then?

Why do Australians say brekkie/brekky/breakie?

With slang terms such as this, it’s often very difficult to say when they first came into use.

The fact is that shortening of words to form a slang word for it is a universal practice across all time and languages.

To an extent, this is even truer of the kind of every day words that you would use constantly in daily life, such as names for meals.

So, the short answer is simply that this happens in language.

Words get shortened to be more easily said many times.

As far as we can see in the written record, the term started being used in the 19^th Century—though it likely predates this by some time.

As to the varied spellings, this, too, is a more or less universal feature of colloquial language.

It’s easy to forget that English had no standardized spellings whatsoever until the 18^th Century, and even then there were not universally adopted.

The most widely used spelling is “brekkie”, and phonetically this one makes most sense to English speaking ears.

Vowel sounds tend to shift over time, which leads to different vowels being used for different sounds.

In some areas of Australia, I takes the –ee sound, whereas Y does in other parts of the country.

That’s really all there is to it!

Why do Australians say googie?

So, where do Australians get the term “googie” or “googy”?

Well, this, too, seems to have been imported from Britain in the 19^th Century.

Goggy in the 1800s was a child’s word for an egg, and you also had a slightly different version of the same word in Scotland, where it became “goggie.”

Googie or goggie meant a specific kind of egg dish that you’d give to a child, a soft boiled egg with bread “soldiers” with salt and pepper.

This passed on to Australia where it stuck in the slang of adults, too.

Why do Australians say cuppa?

In Britain, “cuppa” really means a cup of English breakfast tea. In Australia, though, it can really mean any hot beverage you might have at breakfast.

Coffee is the other main alternative, but things like herbal tea or matcha are also candidates.

Again, this is simply a colloquial shortening of “cup of [drink]”, as with “brekkie”.

The earliest examples we have of this one being used are from England in 1925, and it didn’t come to mean “tea” even in Britain until 1934.

It was imported to Australia at some time in the 20^th Century, as drinks like tea and coffee became more broadly available.

Today, it’s used as a slang term for a key part of breakfast.

If you’re looking for a broad slang term that includes any and all kinds of breakfast, then “brekkie” has you covered.

While no one can really agree on the spelling, everyone will know what you mean when you use this term no matter how you spell it.

If you want to get more specific about what is being eaten or what you want to eat, look “googs and a cuppa” or something similar.

More in Australian Slang

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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