Your Aussie Uncle

Home
Australia
Sydney, NSW
Your Aussie Uncle

🇦🇺 Your English isn't the problem.

The unwritten rules are.
🦘 Workplace culture • Small talk • Aussie Slang
👨🏻‍🏫 15+ yrs experience • 10k+ students taught • TEFL certified
👇 Get your confidence back

20/09/2026

Correcting someone at work in Australia starts by blaming yourself first.

"Might just be me, but should that number be forty?"

You put the doubt on your own reading so the person holding the wrong number never has to defend anything. And it is never the same sentence twice. "Reckon I've read that wrong, is it Friday or Monday?" Different sentence, same move.

Where you say it decides what it costs. In the meeting in front of everyone is expensive. In the group chat where anyone can scroll back is worse. Quietly, at the kettle, before it goes anywhere, is free.

If you have been sitting on a wrong number for two days because you could not work out how to raise it, this is the video.

The mistake gets fixed either way. What changes is whether anybody had to be wrong in public. The words take the blame off them. The place takes it off you.

Comment QUIZ and I'll send you the free two-minute Aussie Workplace Ready check. It shows you the unwritten rule underneath this one.

19/09/2026

A place and a time said in front of you is an invitation in an Australian office.

Nobody says your name, so you never hear it.

"We're at the Royal from five."
"If you're keen."
Two of them sorting Friday out while you stand there.
"We usually get lunch downstairs about twelve."

Four open doors. None of them addressed to you.

Nobody's being cold about it. They genuinely think they asked.

And that pub at five isn't the social part of the job. It's where senior people get easier to reach.

So stop listening for your name. Listen for a place and a time, and turn up.

If you're Australian and you've got a new starter who never comes: say their name once. That's all it takes.

Comment QUIZ and I'll send you the free two-minute Aussie Workplace Ready check. It names the unwritten rule you keep missing.

18/09/2026

Five one-word replies from your manager, and the full stop is the tell.

Yep and Cool are fine. That's someone clearing an inbox at speed.

Righto depends on where you're standing: warm across a desk, flat with a full stop on the end, same six letters.

Then Sure. with a full stop and nothing after it. Then Right. on its own, which is the same thing with the patience gone.

That's the rule. In an Australian work chat, friendly comes in bare. Yep, cool, no worries. Add one full stop and it turns.

You've read it eleven times. You'll never read it right off the message. Send this instead: "Anything I should've done differently on that one?" One question, no drama. It ends the guessing.

Five replies. Two you can take at face value. And nobody will tell you which one you got.

Comment QUIZ and I'll send you the free two-minute Aussie Workplace Ready check. It finds the rest of the unwritten rules.

17/09/2026

"No rush on this one" is a deadline with no date in it. It usually means this week.

They'll ask about it on Friday.

"When you get a chance" often means today.

"Whenever you get five minutes" often means today too. They reckon it's a five-minute job, so they expect it back in one.

Here's what's going on. Nobody here wants to sound like they're giving you an order, so they take the order out and leave the ask. The date goes with it. That's manners, not extra time.

The politeness is about the order, not the timing. You can't read the date off the words.

You don't have to guess. One line ends it.

"Yep, can do. Want that today, or is later in the week alright?"

That's not pushy. That's what a senior person sounds like.

Comment QUIZ and I'll send you the free two-minute Aussie Workplace Ready check. It shows you which unwritten rule is costing you.

16/09/2026

Aussie driving instructions don't sound like Google Maps.

"Make a U-turn at the traffic lights" is "chuck a U-ey at the lights."

"Turn left, then turn right" is "chuck a left, then chuck a right." Or hang a left, hang a right.

"Accelerate quickly" is "floor it." Or "give it some stick."

"Stop at the service station" is "pull up at the servo."

"Can we stop at McDonald's" is "can we swing by Maccas?"

Same directions. You just sound like you've been here a while.

Comment APP and I'll send you Slang Mate, my free Aussie slang app 👇

15/09/2026

Nobody in Australia says "I made a mistake."

There's a ladder, and where you land on it tells people how bad it was.

Stuffed up. The everyday one. "I stuffed up the dates on our flights."

Mucked up. Sounds the same, slightly softer. "I mucked up the recipe."

Buggered it up. Now it's a proper problem. "I tried to fix the sink and buggered it up."

Absolutely cooked it. The top of the ladder. Hours on a presentation, never pressed save, computer crashes. "Mate, I absolutely cooked it."

Owning it in the local words is half the recovery.

Comment QUIZ and I'll send you a free two minute check on how Aussie workplace ready you are, with a personalised report 👇

14/09/2026

Three lines you can use at work on Tuesday and nobody will notice anything changed. How you open, how long you hold it, and how you get out without the strange pause at the end. About 45 minutes, questions at the end.

14/09/2026

"That's very interesting." Perfect English. Not how anyone here says it.

Someone tells you a story, you say "interesting", and the conversation stops dead.

What locals say instead:

"Is that right?" Sounds like a question. Isn't one.

"True?" Said going up at the end. Doesn't need an answer either.

"Dead set?" That one means "are you serious?"

And the classic Aussie understatement: "Well, there you go." Or "Well, how about that."

None of them need you to have an opinion. They just keep the other person talking.

Comment CHAT and I'll send you my free Aussie small talk guide 👇

14/09/2026

Someone walks into the kitchen and you wait for them to leave. There's a line for that. ☕

You're not bad at this. You're trying to have a conversation, and nobody else in that kitchen is.

One line about the thing in front of you. No question on the end. Then go.

Three of them in here, ready for tomorrow morning.

I'm live tonight, 7:30pm Sydney time, Facebook and Instagram. I'll start with the ones you can use on Tuesday without anybody noticing.

Save this and pick one for tomorrow.

Comment READY and I'll send you the Aussie Workplace Confidence System 👇

13/09/2026

"I'm fine, thank you. And you?" Nobody here says it.

It's correct. It's also the fastest way to sound like you learned English from a textbook.

What you'll actually hear:

"Yeah, not bad. Yourself?"

"Can't complain, mate. No one listens anyway."

"How you travelling?"

"Not too bad for a Monday."

And when someone's being a bit sarcastic: "Living the dream. You know how it is."

Right, Aussie test. I'll ask, you answer in the comments.

G'day mate, how you going? 👇

Address

Sydney, NSW
2000

Website

http://youraussieuncle.com.au/fbbio

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Your Aussie Uncle posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.