Australian Slang For Yes (Explained!)

If Australians want to say yes, they will most likely say either the slightly confusing “yeah, nah, yeah”, or they will exclaim “bloody oath!” Beyond that, any slang that they have for yes are terms shared in the whole of the modern English speaking world, such as “yas” or “yeet”.

Australian slang for yes is not limited, then. Most Australians tend to only ever need the ubiquitous “yeah, nah, yeah” which has become a famous Australian slang term.

It serves the purpose just fine whenever a simple “yes” won’t do.

On the other hand, to say something with a bit of force, they might switch to “bloody oath!”

Let’s find out more.

In This Article

What do Australians say for yes?

Australians have a few different choices for expressing yes in slang.

Undoubtedly the most common is the strange and confusing “yeah, nah, yeah” which Australians more or less across the board use today.

This one can certainly be a bit odd to hear at first, and you’d not be blamed for wondering what someone had meant when they said this.

Naturally, this one is most commonly used conversationally.

That said, this phrase has also definitely made its way into the written language, too.

It simply means “yes”, but it does have a slightly more nuanced meaning than that.

It has, on the one hand, the sense of reinforcing whatever you are affirming. “Did he make it in the end?” “Oh, yeah nah yeah he made it no problem,” for example.

It’s like giving extra reassurance, despite that reassurance including the word no.

On the other hand, it can express a degree of uncertainty, or at least the sense that you can’t be completely sure of what you’re saying yes to. “Do you think they’ll win this game?” “Oh, yeah nah yeah, probably,” for example.

The other main slang term in Australia for yes is “bloody oath!”

As I said, and as you can probably guess from the words that make up this phrase, this is a bit more than just “yes”.

This is a strong exclamation, affirming in no uncertain terms that the answer to whatever has been posed is positive.

“Are you looking forward to the weekend?” “Bloody oath I am!” for example.

These are the two main, and uniquely Australian, slang terms for yes.

Beyond that, Australians of course use all the staple English slang terms like “yeah,” “yep,” and so on.

They also make use of more modern slang terms, like “yas”, less commonly.

Why do Australians say “yeah, nah, yeah”?

So, where does this slightly perplexing Australian slang phrase come from?

Well, you may have heard similar phrases in other vernaculars. In large parts of the U.S., something akin to “yeah, no” is very often a sort of extended way of saying yes.

It’s slightly more than saying yes—it more strongly affirms the point you are making.

To a degree, it’s really just a natural speech pattern.

While it has taken on a good deal more significance in Australian slang, being a shared, bread-and-butter aspect of the dialect.

As far as we can tell, though, this modern form of “yeah nah yeah” started to become popular and widely used in the 1990s.

There are any number of possible sources that could have started it—90s hip-hop, Hollywood movies, or it could ujst have arisen naturally.

Where precisely it came from is not clear, for again as I say, it’s a pretty recognizable speech pattern you’re likely to hear in a lot of places.

Australians have just very much made it their own.

Why do Australians say bloody oath?

“Bloody oath” is naturally a lot more opaque and harder to understand at first.

Again, it’s simply an exclamation, and while it is most commonly a stand in for yes, it can also stand on its own to reaffirm something. “It’s hot outside isn’t it?” “Bloody oath!” for example.

The term “bloody” in UK and Australian slang is a mild curse word, with multiple theories on where it originates.

Some think it is to do with a phrase relating to the blood of Christ.

Others prefer the idea that it arose from aristocratic “rowdies” in the 14^th Century known as “bloods”.

In any case, a “bloody oath” plainly derives from this ultimately. How this precise phrase became popularized, though, is unclear.

It’s not something you’ll hear outside Australia, so it’s a bit of a puzzle how it came to be so well established, leaving no trace of its origin.

Why do Australians say “eh”?

One word we haven’t touched on is the commonly used “eh” or “ay” among Australians.

This is sort of like a stand in for yes. It’s something you might tack on to the end of a sentence. “I think this will be a good night, eh?” for example. It’s very similar to the way many of us add “yeah” or some equivalent on to the end of a sentence.

This one is a very common linguistic unit, so it likely stretches much further back in time than any record we have.

But its meaning is less an affirmative response and more just a reemphasising of your point.

There’s room for more than one slang term for yes in Australian English, then, but not much more.

Australian slang is often unique in that it finds an incredibly effective couple of slang terms for any given word and Australians just run with it.

That said, they have also adopted a number of outside terms for “yes”, like “yas” as I mentioned.

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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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