Australian Slang For Chocolate (Helpful Content!)

The most common Australian slang term for chocolate is simply “choccy” or “chockie”. These are widely if not universally used and understood, and can be used for just about any kind of chocolate. Other terms you might hear are “choccy bickie,” “hocho”, “sweetmeat”, or even “hash brownies” in some, more specific cases.

Australians tend to get by just fine with only the word “choccy” for chocolate, then.

This one is the one that is the most generic, the most universal, and the most widely understood even to those who might not use it.

In other English speaking countries, this term might come across as juvenile or childish, but this is not at all the case in Australia.

Let’s find out more.

In This Article

What do Australians call chocolate?

The most common slang term for chocolate in Australian slang is “choccy” or “chockie”.

This one is used more or less throughout the country and can be used to describe any kind of chocolate.

On its own, it most likely just means some kind of pure chocolate, such as a chocolate bar.

At the same time, you can put the word before just about anything that is a chocolate version of something that doesn’t always have chocolate in it.

For example, a “choccy cake” or a “choccy biscuit” or “bickie”.

“Can you get me a choccy bar from the shop?” for example.

As mentioned, this term can seem a bit childish to those outside of Australia.

In other English-speaking countries, this is often the case with slang words which are formed simply by abbreviating the word and adding an –Y sound to the end.

However, in Australia, this is one of the simplest and most universal ways for forming slang other than adding an –O sound at the end.

So, there’s nothing childish about the word “choccy” in Australia, though there might be in other parts of the English speaking world.

Many other terms have taken hold in Australia for describing particular kinds of chocolate or chocolate products.

“Hocho” is common Australian slang for hot chocolate—“Pocky” is a commonly used slang term for chocolate-covered biscuit sticks.

“Japooties” is also sometimes used to describe chocolate-covered almonds.

Finally, you will hear more generic and universal slang terms for chocolate in Australia, such as “sweetmeat” or somewhat unpleasant and juvenile slang terms like “feces”.

Both of these are much less commonly used than most other slang terms for chocolate, but they are nonetheless used by Australians to a degree.

Let’s find out where some of these terms come from.

Why do Australians say “choccy”?

The origin of the term “choccy” is really no more complicated than it sounds.

As mentioned, one very common way of forming slang terms in Australia is shortening a longer word down and altering the ending, usually to an –Y sound.

Such is the case with “choccy” or “chockie” as it is sometimes spelled.

This is a term that has likely been in use in the English speaking world for some time.

As mentioned, it’s also very common for children in other parts of the world to shorten down long words to make them easier to say when learning to talk.

“Choccy,” then, may have spread to Australia through travel or may have arisen there independently—either is possible and equally plausible.

Why do Australians say “choccy bickie”?

The story is much the same when it comes to “choccy bickie”.

Chocolate biscuits are just as popular in Australia as they are anywhere else, so there are a couple of slang terms for them.

“Choccy bickie,” while probably usually said in a slightly humorous, tongue-in-cheek way, is still used.

You get this term, unsurprisingly, by the precise same process as you get “choccy” itself: shorten down the word and change the ending sound to –Y.

It’s naturally very hard to say when this term first started being used, but it is certainly not much longer than four or five decades at most.

Why do Australians say “hocho”?

“Hocho” is a common slang term, widely used in Australia, for a hot chocolate.

This is a sweet hot drink usually made with milk and cocoa powder for cold winter nights.

While this term is by no means exclusively Australian, it is attractive to Australians because it is formed by adding an –O sound to the end of a shortened phrase.

You simply blend the words together and then add the –O sound to get “hocho”.

Why do Australians say “sweetmeat”?

Finally, one more generic slang term for chocolate in Australia is “sweetmeat”.

This is a term used throughout the English speaking world and while it may be a little bit dated and restricted mostly to the older generations, it is far from falling entirely out of use.

The term itself is very old, stretching all the way back to the Old English period.

It took on this modern meaning much more recently, of course, since originally it just meant anything sweet to eat.

So, while the simple “choccy” is without doubt the most common and universal slang term for chocolate, which will for the most part be used to the exclusion of other terms, it isn’t the only one.

There are many other specific terms for different kinds of chocolate such as hot chocolate or biscuits, and even beyond that there are some more universal English-language slang terms that are very commonly used in Australia.

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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