Australian Slang For Plumber (Helpful Content!)

Australians most commonly refer to a plumber as a “dunny diver”. This is used throughout Australia by all generations and is based on the other slang term “dunny” for toilet. There are some other slang terms used, such as “pipey,” “tradey” or even “Super Mario”. “Dunny diver” is the most common.

Plumbers, and indeed all manner of tradesmen, tend to get a lot of slang applied to them for a variety of reasons.

The simplest is just that they play an active role in all of our lives—we all need to call a plumber at some point or another, so we also use slang terms to describe them!

Let’s find out more.

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What do Australians call plumbers?

The most common and quintessentially Australian slang term for plumber is “dunny diver”.

This one is used very commonly throughout Australia and is one you’ll hear all the time.

That said, some Australians may find it to be a bit vulgar, though most use it simply as a kind of joke slang term.

Most people mean it in good fun, and indeed it is perhaps most commonly used among plumbers themselves.

When they want to describe their job in a jokey way, they will say they are a “dunny diver”. I

I’ll explain exactly what this phrase means soon.

Other than that, there are a variety of other common slang terms used by Australians to describe plumbers.

“Pipey” is a common one you’ll hear, and Australians certainly do love to form slang terms by simply taking a word and applying an –y suffix to the end.

“Pipey” may be more or less common depending on whom you ask—it’s certainly simpler and, some might say, a bit less potentially derogatory than “dunny diver”.

So, this one is somewhat more common at least in some places.

In a similar vein, another slang term you’ll hear for plumber in Australia is “tradey”.

This one is by definition much more general, and can be applied to any kind of tradesperson—mechanics, electricians, plumbers and more.

Plumbers, as I’ve said, are one of those tradespeople with which we are all familiar.

So, plumbers are among the most likely people to be referred to as a tradey.

Finally, one other slang term you may hear, though much less frequently and certainly only among certain parts of the population is “Super Mario”.

I’ll get into exactly why this term is used later, but it certainly bears mentioning that this is far from a commonly used expression.

It’s, again, a bit of a joke, perhaps one you’ll most commonly hear people describe themselves as.

Where do all these terms come from, then?

Why do Australians say “dunny diver”?

“Dunny diver” is an interesting phrase as it illuminates other parts of Australian slang and also the general way it is constructed in a jovial, humorous way.

In Australian slang, a “dunny” is the slang term for toilet.

Related Post – Australian Slang For Toilet

It is used throughout Australia, and originally referred to an outhouse, but has since become a more general term for toilets as a whole.

So, a “dunny diver” would literally be someone who dives into the toilet.

Plumbers, of course, don’t do this, but the joke is that a plumber is someone who would go diving into toilets to fix them.

The term “dunny” was first used in the 1930s, but we aren’t really sure when “dunny diver” first came into use—it’s probably quite old.

More than that, we can’t really say for sure—unsurprisingly, the term doesn’t really appear in print much to help us trace its origin!

Why do Australians say “pipey”?

“Pipey” is another common slang term for a plumber and simply relates to the fact that they are often found fixing pipes or at least tinkering with household appliances which use pipes.

Sinks, toilets, showers, baths, taps—anything with running water will typically be the plumber’s domain.

Thus, they are “pipeys”.

It’s that simple!

Why do Australians say “tradey”?

“Tradey”, as mentioned, is a much broader slang term which can be applied to any tradesperson.

In terms of its origin, we don’t know when it started being used.

Again, it’s so typical a construction of Australian slang that it could have been any time since an English-speaking “Australian” was first considered to be a thing.

We have quotations going back to at least 1993, though the term doubtless is at least a few decades older than that.

It’s just very difficult to say without more written records.

Why do Australians say “Super Mario”?

Finally, we have “Super Mario”, and you may well have figured this one out for yourself if you’re a fan of video games.

“Super Mario”, in case you don’t know, is perhaps the greatest video game icon—the character kick-started a generation of gamers, and he was known to be a plumber.

He would go through pipes and dressed in the overalls that an old fashioned plumber might wear.

Thus, in Australian slang and indeed other forms of slang, plumbers came to be referred to as Super Mario.

It’s far from all that common even today, but it is certainly one you might hear!

So, the most common and uniquely Australian slang phrase for plumber is simply “dunny diver”.

This expression might seem a bit vulgar and indeed reductive—plumbers fix many things besides toilets!

But Australians love some jocular slang, and so that’s what this is.

That said, they also have a variety of other slang phrases which will be just as well understood.

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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