Now Reading
From “Yeah Nah” To Cappuccinos: A New Survey Reveals The Aussie Things We Love The Most

From “Yeah Nah” To Cappuccinos: A New Survey Reveals The Aussie Things We Love The Most

Love us or hate us, Aussies are a unique bunch. Now a new spin on the ‘census’ has revealed extremely important data about us, like our preferred coffee orders, go-to Australian slang words and which major city we really like best.

ING have released the ‘Sense of Us’ report (geddit?) covering off all the weird and wonderful preferences of Aussies aged 18 and over across categories like ‘hobbies & wellbeing’ and ‘marriage & dating’. Read: all the fun things we like to say and do that make us, us.

The Sense of Us report gets into some pretty contentious areas, with hotly debated topics like our top coffee order, the Aussie icon we treasure most (dw, it’s Steve Irwin), our most loved athlete, and our favourite city to visit. But the most shocking in the list? Australia’s favourite anthem – ‘The Horses’ didn’t even place.

Here are a few of our favourite things.

Travel

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Australia (@australia)

Travel-wise, 43 percent of us are saving our travel money for future experiences and not spending it in the now (but maybe that’s worth reconsidering with sales like Jetstar’s ‘return for free’).

The report also found it’s the simple things Aussies get the most pleasure from, including bushwalking (41 percent), swimming at the beach or surfing (39 percent), camping (30 percent) and taking a trip to the hardware store (28 percent). Caaarn Bunnings.

Australian Slang Words

Yeah nah mate, whaddayareckon s’arvo we grab the esky, stop by the Bottle-O and head to the beach for a barbie before it gets choc a bloc down there. Old mate wants to come, but if he keeps having a winge, I’m deadset gonna muzzle the sook.

In other words, our favourite Australian slang words are as follows:

#1 “Yeah Nah” (38 percent)
#2 “Arvo” (38 percent)
#3 “Old Mate” (29 percent)
#4 “Esky (27 percent)
#5 “Barbie” (25 percent)
#6 “Whinge” (23 percent)
#7 “Bottle-O” (20 percent)
#8 “Sook” (20 percent)
#9 “Deadset” (18 percent)
#10“Choc A Bloc” (17 percent)

Aussies also revealed they love a cheeky emoji to communicate, with almost half (43 percent) admitting to using them every day. The top dogs? “Smiling emoji” (35 percent) and “Cry laughing emoji” (24 percent). Gen Z would never.

Career

Aussies are an ambitious bunch, with one in three (30 percent) inspired to focus on career goals and education for the year ahead. Making extra cash is also up there on the list, as nearly half of Aussies (48 percent) either have or are planning to start a side hustle.

Additionally, Australia’s most desired career path is ‘scientist’ with 26 percent, followed by designer at 16 percent and musician at 15 percent.

Aussie Cities

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Melbourne (@visitmelbourne)

In the highly contested battle of the cities, Australians chose Melbourne (28 percent) over Sydney (25 percent) as their favourite city, followed by Brisbane (11 percent), Perth and Adelaide (both 9 percent) respectively.

As for what makes Australia a great place to live and unique to other countries? We recognised the country’s “relaxed attitude” (28 percent), “mix of lifestyles” (25 percent) and “beautiful wildlife” (18 percent).

Entertainment

In news that shocks no one, The Castle (23 percent) was selected as Australia’s favourite movie, with Kath & Kim (19 percent) topping the list for favourite TV series.

The real shock comes from what the respondents chose as the best Aussie anthem. According to the survey, the nation’s most legendary song is Men at Work’s ‘Down Under’ (38 percent), followed by John Farnham’s ‘You’re the Voice’ (25 percent). and Jimmy Barnes’ ‘Working Class Man’ (also 25 percent).

See Also
The Hill I Will Die On: People Really Need To Step Back From The Baggage Carousel

Daryl Braithwaite’s ‘The Horse’s’ didn’t even make the top three and we have feelings.

National Treasures

Thankfully, this category sits exactly as it should – with Australian legend Steve Irwin chosen by more than one in five Aussies as their national icon. This easily beat popular celebrity hunks like Chris Hemsworth who came in second with 11 percent.

Sports

Cathy Freeman takes the favourite sports person cake with 26 percent, followed by Shane Warne (16 percent) and Ian Thorpe (11 percent).

As for actual sports played, Aussie Rules rules at 17 percent, with tennis (16 percent) and Rugby League (13 percent) closely trailing.

Coffee and Food

Our favourite coffee order is apparently a cappuccino with 25 percent of votes. Latte and flat white followed with 19 and 18 percent respectively.

Hilariously, the food category winner is a three-way tie between a roast dinner, seafood and pizza. Pasta and burgers were second and third place. Who said Australians have no culture?

There’s a lot more to the survey, including the fact we much prefer pets to in-laws. Check out the full report here.

(Lead image: Kath & Kim)

Scroll To Top